Gusto Records is a

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 ...

-based record company that specializes in reissuing and licensing recordings. The catalogues that Gusto owns include King Records (except for recordings by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

), Starday, Scepter (except for recordings by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

, and the pre-

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

recordings of

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of "Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After c ...

Wand A wand is a thin, light-weight rod that is held with one hand, and is traditionally made of wood, but may also be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic. Long versions of wands are often styled in forms of staves or sceptres, which c ...

(except for recordings by

The Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...

) Musicor,

Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

(except for recordings by

Lynn Anderson Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, "Rose Garden," was a number one hit in the United States and internationally. She charte ...

, whose catalog is owned by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, and a few other artists who bought their own masters),

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

, Audio Lab,

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

, Step One, Atteiram, and others. Gusto is believed to maintain one of the largest independently owned collection of record masters.

History

Gusto was founded in 1973 by Gayron "Moe" Lytle and songwriter Tommy Hill, who owned the Stop Records label. Tommy Hill operated the business while Moe was still in St. Louis. In 1974, Moe Lytle moved to Nashville and bought Tommy Hill's interest in the company, along with the Stop Records label shortly thereafter. It acquired Starday-King Records from Tennessee Recording & Publishing, which was owned by

Freddy Bienstock Freddy Bienstock (April 24, 1923 – September 20, 2009) was an American music publisher who built his career in music by being the person responsible for soliciting and selecting songs for Elvis Presley's early albums and films. Early life Biensto ...

, Hal Neely,

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

, and

Mike Stoller Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such crossover hit songs as " Hound Dog" ( ...

in 1975. In the late-1970s, Gusto purchased the

and

catalogs. Gusto acquired the Musicor, Scepter, and Wand catalogues from the bankrupt Springboard International Records in 1984, along with many masters that were recorded by Springboard itself. Gusto also acquired Little Darlin' Records and a large classical catalog in the same purchase. The

Indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

and Audiograph masters were added in the 1980s. The company’s most recent acquisitions were the

Mel Street King Malachi "Mel" Street (October 21, 1935 – October 21, 1978) was an American country music singer who had 13 top-20 hits on the Billboard country charts. Biography Street was born near Grundy, Virginia, United States.Nelson, Dick (August ...

masters, the

Step On "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (also known as "Step On") is a song originally performed by John Kongos, co-written by Kongos and Christos Demetriou, and first released in 1971 by Fly Records. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 22 May 1971 and sp ...

e master catalog, and the Atteiram masters, which included a large bluegrass catalog. Gusto owns the longest-operating recording studio in Nashville. Known as Starday-King Sound Studios, it opened in 1952 and was used until 2000 for transferring some of the older style masters to other formats and some new recordings. Gusto first signed artist

Red Sovine Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music. His most noted examples are "Giddy ...

in 1974. Moe Lytle was a huge fan of Sovine's and has claimed that one of the main reasons he purchased the Starday/King masters was so that he could own and market the Red Sovine catalog. The first huge hit recorded and distributed by Gusto Records was Red Sovine's single "Teddy Bear", which was released in 1976 using the Starday label and rose to No. 1 on the charts in seven weeks, which was the fastest rise to the No. 1 position for any country music 45-rpm record released before or since (the Beatles did it on the pop charts in two weeks with "I Want to Hold Your Hand"). The song rose to No. 40 on the pop charts. Most recently, Gusto Records released new material recorded by

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...

in the five years prior to his death. Gusto Records does its own licensing, both master licensing and sync licensing, under the name Gusto Music Licensing.

"Louie Louie" controversy

Among the master recordings Gusto acquired in the purchase of the Scepter/Wand catalog were those of the 1960s garage band

the Kingsmen The Kingsmen are a 1960s rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of R&B singer Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the No. 2 spot on the ''Billboard'' charts for six weeks and ha ...

, including "

Louie Louie "Louie Louie" is a rhythm and blues song written and composed by American musician Richard Berry in 1955, recorded in 1956, and released in 1957. It is best known for the 1963 hit version by the Kingsmen and has become a standard in pop and r ...

". In 1993, group members brought legal action against Gusto to have the Wand recordings returned, alleging they had not been paid royalties since 1968. On November 9, 1998, in a story that made national headlines, the Kingsmen were awarded ownership of their Wand recordings.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1973 Reissue record labels

History

"Louie Louie" controversy

See also

References

External links