Carlton Records was a record label based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that was formed by former

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

A&R head Joe Carlton in 1957. Guaranteed Records was a sublabel of Carlton. Carlton Records lasted until 1964. The most notable recording artists on Carlton included Jack Scott,

Anita Bryant Anita Jane Bryant (born March 25, 1940) is an American singer known for anti-gay activism. She scored four "Top 40" hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses" which reached No. 5 on the charts. She was th ...

, and Paul Evans. The country music superstar

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

released two of his early singles on the label, namely "

That Crazy Feeling "That Crazy Feeling" is the debut single by American singer Kenny Rogers (then known as Kenneth Rogers). It was released in 1957, first by Kix Records and then picked up in 1958 by Carlton Records. Success The song was a major seller in Houston ...

" and "For you alone." After Carlton Records went bankrupt in 1964, Joe Carlton held positions at

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. He eventually became president of the

Command Records Origin and history Command Records was a record label founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog. The company focused on prod ...

unit of ABC Records in 1968. When ABC Records moved to Los Angeles, Carlton resigned as he stayed in New York and co-founded Organic Productions in 1970. By the late 1970s, he was with Almo Music.

References

External links

Carlton Records story from BSN Pubs
{{Authority control American record labels Defunct record labels of the United States New York (state) record labels Record labels established in 1957 Record labels disestablished in 1964