Era Records was an independent American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

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 founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in 1955 as a pop,

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

label. In 1959 Bedell sold his interest in the label to Newman. Era had a No. 1 hit in 1956 with

Gogi Grant Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg (September 20, 1924 – March 10, 2016), known professionally as Gogi Grant, was an American pop singer. She is best known for her No. 1 hit in 1956, "The Wayward Wind". Life and career Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arin ...

's "

The Wayward Wind "The Wayward Wind" is a country song written by Stanley Lebowsky (music) and Herb Newman (lyrics). Members of the Western Writers of America chose the song as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Background The “Wayward Wind” of the ...

" written by Newman. Musicians with hits on Era include Ketty Lester ("Love Letters"), Larry Verne ("Mr. Custer"),

Donnie Brooks Donnie Brooks (born John Dee Abohosh; February 6, 1936 – February 23, 2007) was an American pop music singer. Brooks is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Early life Born in Dallas, Texas, Abohosh moved to Ventura, California in his te ...

(" Mission Bell"), Dorsey Burnette ("Tall Oak Tree"), Art & Dotty Todd ("Chanson D' Amour"), and The Castells ("So This Is Love"). Era distributed other labels, including Monogram, Gregmark, and Eden. From 1969 to 1971, Era was associated with Happy Tiger, which reissued and distributed some of Era's oldies. In 1972, Newman added the RTV label which released the psychedelic album ''Mu''. In the mid-1970s Newman sold the Era label and catalog to

K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynami ...

. In 1993, K-tel began reissuing some of the early Era material using the original Era label and logo.

Notable artists

Jewel Akens Jewel Eugene Akens (September 12, 1933 – March 1, 2013) was an American singing, singer and record producer. Career He recorded with The Medallions on Dootone, with The Four Dots on Freedom, and then with singer Eddie Daniels as "Jewel and Edd ...

Dorsey Burnette Dorsey William Burnett Jr. (December 28, 1932 – August 19, 1979) was an American early rockabilly singer. With his younger brother Johnny Burnette and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founder member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He is als ...

The Castells The Castells were a male vocal quartet from Santa Rosa, California best remembered for their hits "Sacred" (No. 20 in 1961) and "So This Is Love" (No. 21 in 1962), both released on Era Records. Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hit ...

The Crescents The Crescents were a vocal harmony group which formed in Sydney, Australia in late 1958 under the name The 4 Tops (not associated with American quartet, the Four Tops). The Crescents were best known for their Top 10 hit " Mr. Blue" and for t ...

* Keith Colley *

Ketty Lester Ketty Lester (born Revoyda Frierson; August 16, 1934) is an American singer and actress known for her 1961 hit single "Love Letters", which reached the top 5 of the charts in the U.S. and the UK. She is also known for her role as Hester-Sue Terh ...

* Colleen Lovett * The Moments *

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

The Sentinals The Sentinals were a surf rock band from San Luis Obispo, California (1961–1965). The band is notable for a Latino influence in some works, such as "Latin'ia" (1962). Notable band members included Tommy Nuñes, drummer John Barbata (later of T ...

* Mike Smith *

Larry Verne Larry Vern Erickson (February 8, 1936 – October 8, 2013) was an American novelty song vocalist. Biography Verne recorded two U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart hit singles in 1960, "Mister Livingston" (No. 75) and "Mr. Custer" (No. 1, and No. ...

* Ty Wagner * Bob Wilson

Other labels

Dore Records Dore or Doré may refer to: Geography Places *Dore, South Yorkshire, England **Dore and Totley, electoral ward that includes this village *Abbey Dore, village in Herefordshire, England *Dore, in the district of Gweedore, Ireland *Dore Lake, Sa ...

(

Teddy Bears A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear ...

Jan & Dean Jan and Dean was an American rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles ...

, Hudson & Landry) *

Happy Tiger Records Happy Tiger Records was an independent American record label that was owned by the Flying Tiger Line air freight company. Happy Tiger operated from 1969 to 1971. During this time the label produced more than two dozen albums by Count Basie, Mason ...

(

Mason Proffit Mason Proffit was an American country rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana, that released five albums between 1969 and 1973. They are known for their song "Two Hangmen", which garnered a significant amount of Album Oriented Rock airplay. Histor ...

Them Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

) *Monogram Records (

Chris Montez Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montañez on January 17, 1943) is an American guitarist and vocalist, whose stylistic approach has ranged from rock & roll to pop standards and Latin music. His rock sound is exemplified in songs such as hi ...

Kathy Young Kathy Young (born October 21, 1945) is an American musician; she was a teen pop singer during the early 1960s, whose rendition of "A Thousand Stars", at age 15, rose to No. 3 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Biography A native of Southern Ca ...

) *RTV *Trey Records *Zen Records (Pastel Six)

References

Record labels established in 1955 Defunct record labels of the United States Pop record labels American country music record labels Jazz record labels American independent record labels Companies based in Los Angeles County, California 1955 establishments in California {{US-record-label-stub

Notable artists

Other labels

See also

References