Judd Records was started by Jud Phillips (died 1992), brother of

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

co-founder

Sam Phillips Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...

. Early releases were mostly recorded in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, but carried an address of Memphis,

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 ...

, and

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

(Phillips' hometown). Judd Records was named for its founder but the name was misspelled in the artwork of the label having two "D's". From Judd 1016 onward, the label was pressed and distributed by

National Recording Corporation National Recording Corporation was an American record label, established in Atlanta in 1958. See also * List of record labels * National Recording Corporation artists National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality � ...

, and the label sported the NRC logo and/or the words "National Recording Corporation -

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA". According to Jud Phillips' son, NRC acquired the Judd label originally on a handshake deal. Judd's biggest single was "Rockin' Little Angel" by Ray Smith, which topped out at #22 on the Billboard charts. Another Judd artist who went on to score on other labels was

Tommy Roe Thomas David "Tommy" Roe (born May 9, 1942) is a retired American rock and pop singer-songwriter. Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" (1962) and " Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late ...

. Roe's initial recordings on Judd were originally released on Mark Four, a label produced by Roe's manager, Cleve Warnock, but recorded at the NRC Studios in Atlanta.

Arthur Alexander Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff ...

also released his first single on Judd "Sally Sue Brown/The Girl That Radiates That Charm" under his high-school nickname June Alexander. The only Judd album, Ray Smith's "Rockin' Little Angel", has been released on CD by NRC. Other Ray Smith single cuts have been released on CD by London-based Ace Records. Almost all of Ray Smith's Judd and Sun studio tracks and cuts have been released on Germany's

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History The label has been in existence since ...

Records. NRC, Judd, and affiliated labels are owned and administered by

References

Defunct record labels of the United States {{US-record-label-stub