Amaret Records was a record label that operated between 1968 and 1973. Among the artists that had their recordings released on the label were hard rock group

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...

, Country singer

Judy Lynn Judy Lynn Kelly (born Judy Lynn Voiten; April 16, 1936 – May 26, 2010), better known by her stage name Judy Lynn, was an American country music singer and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Idaho in 1955. Life and career Lynn was born in Boise, ...

and singer

Mrs Miller Elva Ruby Miller (October 5, 1907 – July 5, 1997), who recorded under the name "Mrs. Miller", was an American singer who gained some fame in the 1960s, for her series of shrill and off-tempo renditions of popular songs such as " Moon Rive ...

Background

The label was located on Highland Avenue,

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

. It was formed by

Kenny Myers Kenny Myers was an executive at Mercury Records during the 1960s. He later became general manager for a subsidiary of Dot Records. He also ran his own record label, Amaret Records. He left the music industry in the mid-1970s for the Regensteiner ...

in 1968 who had left

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

and its subsidiary Acta Records in August that year to form the new label. Ronnie Granger formerly of

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

was brought in as sales and promotion director. Overseas distribution was handled by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. Australian distribution was handled by

Astor Records Astor Records was an Australian recorded music manufacturer and distributor that operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Astor was the trade name of the consumer electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation Pty. Ltd, a division of Electron ...

. South African and Spanish distribution were handled by Gallo and Hispavox respectively. By November 1968, he has 30 domestic distributors lined up. The non-exclusive duplication rights for reel-reel, eight-track and cassette were assigned to

Ampex Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...

. In an article in an April 1971 issue of ''Billboard'', Myers said that all of the label's releases would be lyric oriented. He felt that people wanted to get back to the basics. He also said that this was the era of the writer and songs, where songs that were being bought were the ones that concentrated on the message rather than any particular instrumental approach. He used the film '' Love Story'' as an example of having a message that everyone could understand. By 1973, the label was bankrupt.

Artists

Other early artists on the label included rock group New Life and the bubblegum rock acts of Ginny Tieu and Tom & Jerry. There was a pop-rock group from Chicago called Raintree Minority, a pop singer Lilith O'Leary, Triangle a western blues group and

Johnny Cymbal Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr. Bass Man". Overview During a 33-ye ...

. There was also

. 1970, looked to be a busier year, according to an article in the August 1 edition of ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'', the label was putting an emphasis on increasing outside production, and within the next 90 days, a plan to double the number of outside packs. Part of that effort in expansion was the proposed signing of artist

Gil Bernal Gil Bernal (1931–2011) was a singer and a session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as " Searchin'" by The Coasters. In the 1950s he played on Duane Eddy's 1958 album ''Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel''. In later years, ...

under the production of Joe Porter and

Jerry Styner Jerry Howard Styner (born June 18, 1936) is an American songwriter, musician, and former record producer. He has written scores for or had his compositions featured in over 30 films. Some of the artists he has worked with include Chet Baker for h ...

. There was also the signing of a two-man rock act called Honk. There was also some potential promise with Nick Anthony, an artist referred to in ''Billboard'' as possibly "another Tom Jones" who had the album ''High Voltage'' released. In 1972,

had her single "Winterwood" which was a departure from her previous country sound to a more pop MOR sound.

Catalogue (Selective)

Albums

* Mrs. Miller - ''Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing'' - Amaret ST-5000 - (1970) * Triangle - ''How Now Blue Cow'' - Amaret ST-5001 - (1970) * Crow - '' Crow Music'' - Amaret ST-5002 - (1970) * Randy Johnson - ''The Gift of Randy Johnson'' - ST-5003 - (1970) * New Life - ''The New Life Sings the Sidehackers'' - ST-5004 - (1970) * Fresh Air - ''Fresh Air'' - ST-5005 - (1970) * Crow - ''Crow By Crow'' - ST-5006 - (1970) * Dave Antrell - ''Dave Antrell'' - ST-5007 - (1970) * Nick Anthony - ''High Voltage'' - ST-5008 - (1970) * Crow - ''Mosaic By Crow'' - ST-5009 - (1971) * Dian Hart - ''Girl for All Reasons'' - ST-5010 - (1971) * Judy Lynn - ''Parts of Love'' - ST-5011 - (1971) * Crow - ''Best of Crow'' - ST-5012 - (1972) * David Wagner - '' David Wagner D/B/A Crow''- ST-5013 - (1972) * Judy Lynn - '' Naturally'' - ST-5014 - (1972)Global Dog Production
''Amaret Album Discography''
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Links

Amaret singles on 45Cat

References

{{reflist Record labels based in California