4 Star Records was a

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 ...

that recorded many well-known

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

acts in the 1950s. The label, founded after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was home to singers such as

Hank Locklin Hank Locklin (born Lawrence Hankins Locklin; February 15, 1918 – March 8, 2009) was an American country music singer-songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number one hits on ''Billboard''s country chart. His biggest hits included ...

Maddox Brothers and Rose The Maddox Brothers and Rose were an American country music group active from the 1930s to 1950s, consisting of four brothers, Fred, Cal, Cliff, and Don Maddox, along with their sister Rose; Cliff died in 1949 and was replaced by brother Henry. Orig ...

, Rose Maddox,

Webb Pierce Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was an American honky-tonk vocalist, songwriter and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number one hits than any other country artist during the ...

, Cousin Ford Lewis and T. Texas Tyler, who all regularly issued records on the label, mostly as 78rpm singles.

Label history

The label was founded in 1945 by William A. "Bill" McCall Jr., Clifford McDonald, and Richard A. Nelson. By November 1946, McCall was in complete control of 4 Star. Although record labels give a

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, ...

address, the actual address was on 800 Western Avenue in Los Angeles until 1949, when operations were moved to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Besides country music, 4 Star also recorded

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

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 ...

(

Wingy Manone Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included " Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a ...

, Slim Gaillard, and

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

(such as

Ivory Joe Hunter Ivory Joe Hunter (October 10, 1914 – November 8, 1974) was an American rhythm-and-blues singer, songwriter, and pianist. After a series of hits on the US R&B chart starting in the mid-1940s, he became more widely known for his hit recording ...

's " Pretty Mamma Blues",

Cecil Gant Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 – February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, whose recordings of both ballads and "fiery piano rockers" were successful in the mid- and late 1940s, and influenced the early development of ...

's remake of his hit " I Wonder" and Ed "The Great" Gates), and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...

recordings. 4 Star re-released "hillbilly boogie" guitarist

Porky Freeman Quilla Hugh "Porky" Freeman (June 29, 1916 in Vera Cruz, Missouri, United States – July 8, 2001) was an American Western swing performer, bandleader, and songwriter. He was also an electric guitar pioneer and inventor. In the 1940s he led ...

's 1945 hit "Boogie Woogie On Strings" in 1948, and Charlie Ryan re-recorded his 1955 hit "

Hot Rod Lincoln "Hot Rod Lincoln" is a song by American singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan, first released in 1955. It was written as an answer song to Arkie Shibley's 1950 hit "Hot Rod Race" (US #29). It describes a drive north on US Route 99 (predecessor to ...

" for the label in 1959.

Smokey Rogers Eugene Rogers (March 23, 1917–November 23, 1993), known professionally as Smokey Rogers, was an American Western swing musician and songwriter active during the 1940s and 50s on the West Coast. Born in McMinnville, Tennessee, Rogers joined ...

(as 'Buck Rogers & His Texans', 1946-1947),

Terry Fell Terry Fell (May 13, 1921 – April 4, 2007) was an American country musician. Biography Childhood and adolescence Fell was born in Dora, Alabama on May 13, 1921, and got his first guitar at the age of nine. Later, he learned mandolin and too ...

(later of "

Truck Drivin' Man "Truck Drivin' Man" is a popular country song written and recorded by Terry Fell in 1954. One of his band members, Buck Owens, sang harmony with him on the recording. In 1965, Owens recorded the song himself, omitting the fourth verse - "When I ...

" fame, 1947),

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...

(as 'Terry Preston', 1949-1950), Billy Jack Wills (youngest brother of

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although ...

, 1951),

Ramblin' Tommy Scott Ramblin' Tommy Scott (June 24, 1917 – September 30, 2013), aka "Doc" Tommy Scott, was an American country and rockabilly musician. Biography Thomas Scott was born outside of Toccoa, Georgia, United States, and began playing the guitar at ag ...

(1955), and

Sammy Masters Samuel T. Lawmaster (July 18, 1930 – March 8, 2013), known by his stage name Sammy Masters, was an American rockabilly musician. He is perhaps best known for his 1960 hit, "Rockin' Red Wing". Career Born Samuel T. Lawmaster in Sasakwa, Oklahoma ...

(1956) were also 4 Star recording artists. 4 Star released their music on 78rpm (later on 45rpm) discs in three numerical series: the main 1000-series (1000 to 1765), the X-series (1 to 100) and the P-series (101 to 112). In the late 1970s, producer Joe Johnson headed up an organization that purchased 4 Star Records and moved all of its operations to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. Johnson insisted on building state-of-the-art studios and bringing in the best talent available to run them. 4 Star hired successful record producer Steve Clark, who in turn brought to 4 Star a stable of talented artist and writers, including Barbara South, Debi Bass, and

Joe Nelson Joseph George Nelson (born October 25, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. High school Nelson attended St. Joseph's High School in Alameda, California. At St. Joseph, Nelson played basketball with NBA star Jason Kidd. Colle ...

. Several chart records were produced, including Debi Bass' "Till I'm Strong Enough to Love Again" and "I Need a Hero", both written by

. 4 Star's financial problems continued to mount; in the early 1980s the company was closed, and the catalogue absorbed by its creditors.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

owns the catalogue today.

Patsy Cline

On September 30, 1954, singer

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

signed a recording contract with 4 Star. However, not a single one of Cline's subsequent recordings for 4 Star appeared on the 4 Star label; instead they appeared on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, and Decca's subsidiary

Coral Records Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer. Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head o ...

, under a special licensing agreement through 4 Star. Cline's 4 Star contract expired on September 30, 1960, at which point Decca was able to take full advantage of Cline's services in the two-and-a-half years left to her.

References

External links

4 Star Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control American country music record labels Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1945

Label history

Patsy Cline

See also

References

External links