Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distributed by

ABC 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 ...

. The first Dunhill single was "My Prayer/Pretty Please" (catalog #D-4001) by Shelley Fabares, who was married to Adler at the time. In the summer of 1967 Adler sold his shares to ABC Records, creating ABC-Dunhill Records, after which he started yet another label Ode Records (which was first distributed by CBS and later by A&M Records). Until 1975, ABC continued to release records on the Dunhill label, after which all remaining artists were absorbed into the ABC Records roster before

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

bought the label outright in 1979. Buluu Dunhill Records was an offshoot of the ABC/Dunhill days using catalog series #B-73001 (45 RPM singles) and #B-60001 (LP). Today, the Dunhill catalog is managed by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and ...

. A later independent reissue label called Dunhill Compact Classics was formed in 1986 to reissue recordings on the new CD format. British American Tobacco, a UK tobacco company, sued the company because of the use of the " Dunhill" name, forcing the company to rename itself DCC Compact Classics.

Dunhill label variations

*1965-1968—Black label with DUNHILL in white outline letters inside yellow frame *1968—Same as above, but with the "abc" logo added in front of the DUNHILL logo *1968-1969—Black label with 3-compartment multi-color box consisting of smaller DUNHILL logo (now in white letters inside white frame) in the left hand box and the white circular "abc" logo and "RECORDS" in the right hand boxes *1969-1973—Same as above, but with the multicolor "DUNHILL" and "abc RECORDS" boxes separated *1973-1974—Black label with DUNHILL spelled out in children's blocks (followed by a block with the "abc" logo) in white box (This variation only lasted a few months before the label was changed back to the multi-color box logo in which both the "one box" and "two box" variations were used) *1974-1975—Yellow, orange, red and purple label with "abc Dunhill" ("abc" circle logo in black) in between two black lines *White labels were used for most promotional issues.

Dunhill (ABC/Dunhill) Records artists

Ranji Colonel H. H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II, Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, (10 September 1872 – 2 April 1933), often known as Ranji or K. S. Ranjitsinhji, was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Nawanagar from 1907 to 1933, as ...

* Steve Allen * Andwella * Attlee * Bangor Flying Circus * Birtha * Hal Blaine * Bobby Bland * The Brass Ring * Jimmy Buffett *The Bully Boys Band * Solomon Burke * Bush * Eddie Cano and His Quintet *

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

* Cashman & West * Zach Clark *

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

* Danny Cox * Denny Doherty * Cass Elliot * Shelley Fabares *Mickie Finn * Four Tops * Ernie Freeman *Fresh Start * Giorgio *Gladstone * Grapefruit * The Grass Roots * Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds *The Happy Day Choir * Richard Harris * Roy Head *Headstone * The Hello People * Thelma Houston *Jamme * John Kay *

Thomas Jefferson Kaye Thomas Jefferson Kontos (1940 – September 16, 1994), better known as Thomas Jefferson Kaye, was an American record producer, singer-songwriter and musician. He collaborated with The Shirelles, Loudon Wainwright III, and Gene Clark, and also r ...

* Andy Kim *

B. B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

& Bobby Bland * The Artie Kornfeld Tree *

Kracker Kracker were an American rock band active in the 1970s. Biography The band was originally formed in South Florida in 1970, but moved to Chicago in April 1971, where they were introduced to producer Jimmy Miller. With Miller, they recorded thei ...

* Dennis Lambert *

The Lamp of Childhood The Lamp of Childhood was a short-lived American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. The band released three singles which failed to chart and disbanded in 1967, but had several notable members. History The band was founded b ...

* Richard Landis * Locomotiv GT *

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor, on 15 June 1215. ...

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of ...

* Kenneth Mars * Tony Martin * Gayle McCormick * Barry McGuire * Mighty Clouds of Joy *

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 ...

* Daniel Moore *Murphy's Law *Lady Nelson and the Lords *Noah *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He s ...

* Pacific Gas & Electric * Freda Payne * John Phillips * Pratt & McClain * Jim Price *Pure Love & Pleasure * Genya Ravan *Rejoice! *Rincon Surfside Band * Emitt Rhodes *The Road Home *The Rock & Roll Revival *William St. James * Shango * Del Shannon * P. F. Sloan * Smith *Sonoma (band) * Dusty Springfield *The Stapleton-Morley Expression * Steppenwolf * Alex Taylor * Three Dog Night * Three's a Crowd *

Tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

*The Trousdale Strings and the Dawn Chorale * Van der Graaf Generator * The John Verity Band *Bengt Arne Wallin * Joe Walsh * Bobby Whitlock *

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...

(1968 band) * Charles Wright

References

External links

The Dunhill Records Story

Profile of Dunhill Records at Discogs
{{Authority control American record labels Pop record labels Record labels based in California Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1964 Record labels disestablished in 1975 1975 disestablishments in California