Music West Records was an independent record company founded by Allan Kaplan on December 1985 in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...

. The company was initially formed to promote

Ray Lynch Raymond "Ray" Lynch (born July 3, 1943) is an American guitarist, lutenist, keyboardist, and composer. He began his musical career in 1967 by performing in The Renaissance Quartet in New York City before leaving in 1974 and giving up his musical ...

, their first artist. During its run, artists released under the record company included

Jim Chappell James William Chappell (born in Michigan in 1955), professionally known as Jim Chappell, is an American New Age and jazz pianist. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chappell placed five albums in the Top Twenty of ''Billboard's'' Top New Age ...

, Kenneth Nash,

Chris Spheeris Chris Spheeris (; Greek: Χρήστος Σφυρής) is a Greek-American composer of instrumental music. He is a producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Chris is the cousin of Penelope Spheeris and her brother Jimmie Spheeris Jimmie Sp ...

, and

Øystein Sevåg Øystein Sevåg (born March 19, 1957) is a Norwegian composer and keyboardist. His music touches on classical, New Age and jazz styles. Biography Øystein Sevåg is a Norwegian composer, pianist and music producer. He was born in Bærum in 1957 ...

. According to Gary Chappell, the manufacturer for Music West, the artists originated independently, claiming that the company's idea "has a statement that comes directly from the artist with no interference." In 1991, the company attempted to break away from their "New Age" roots. In an interview with

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

on April 1991, Kaplan said "I believe the new age category is shrinking rapidly, but the winning titles–maybe about 200 of them–will continue to sell more than ever." The company attempted to expand the company by releasing tracks from

Sun Studios Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock-and-roll pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label ...

in Kaplan's hometown,

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. However, after a lawsuit by Ray Lynch for allegedly not paying him, the company was foreclosed by Security Pacific Bank on November 1991 with all of its assets sold by June 1992.

Artists

* James Asher * Teja Bell *

* Kimbal Dykes * Ekimi *

* Kenneth Nash * Windsor Riley *

* Mark Sloniker * Dallas Smith *

* The Telling * Paul Voudouris

References

{{Authority control 1985 establishments in California Record labels established in 1985 Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels disestablished in 1991