Minit Records was an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, originally based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and founded by Joe Banashak in 1959. Ernie K. Doe,

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is a retired American R&B and soul singer. He has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits in the United States, including three that reached number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. ...

Irma Thomas Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans". Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...

, and Benny Spellman were early artists on the label. Later artists included

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

and

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

History

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

was responsible for much of the label's early success, he wrote, produced, arranged and played piano on a number of tracks. The label's first hit was Toussaint's production of " Ooh Poo Pah Doo - Part 2" by Jessie Hill in 1960. After making a distribution deal with

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to 19 ...

, the label released its biggest hit, " Mother-in Law" by

Ernie K-Doe Ernest Kador Jr. (February 22, 1933 – July 5, 2001), known by the stage name Ernie K-Doe, was an American rhythm-and-blues singer best known for his 1961 hit single "Mother-in-Law", which went to number 1 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart in the U ...

reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the

R&B singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart in 1961. When Allen Toussaint was drafted into the Army in 1963, the hits dried up and the label was sold to Imperial. Banashak also owned

Instant Records Instant Records was an American independent record label based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, which was founded in 1961 by Joe Banashak (owner of Minit Records) and Irvin Smith. It was originally called Valiant Records until another Va ...

, which he kept. Minit was acquired by

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

as part of its acquisition of Imperial Records. In 1968, Liberty was bought by

Transamerica Corporation The Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. ...

and combined with

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

. Two years later Imperial and Minit were shut down and transferred to Liberty. In 1971, Liberty and its remaining labels (except for

Soul City In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, whose catalog was sold to

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

) were absorbed into United Artists. In 1979,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

purchased United Artists. The Minit catalog is currently owned by

UMG Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, successor-in-interest to previous owner EMI.

Label variations

*1961-1963: (catalog #s MR-601-626) Orange with black print and disclaimer indicating "C/O Imperial Records, Hollywood, Calif. Later pressings of some records in this period are on the second label." *1961-1963 (catalog #s 626-666): Black label with multi-color logo centered at top reading "MINIT RECORDS" with clock inside lettering; in middle of label, magenta bars contain publishing information and track time (left), catalog number and performance type (right). Silver print for all other text, including disclaimer at bottom which reads "PRODUCED AND MANUFACTURED BY IMPERIAL RECORDS INC. HOLLYWOOD 28, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A." *1964-1968: (new series, catalog #s 32000-32076) Black label with silver print, multi-color logo on left side with "MINIT" inside the logo and "A PRODUCT OF LIBERTY RECORDS" under MINIT. Disclaimer at bottom of label reads "A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS." *1969-1970: (catalog #s 32077-32088) Same as black label mentioned above but with the "PRODUCT" disclaimer removed under "MINIT" inside the logo. Disclaimer at bottom of label now reads "LIBERTY/UA, INC."

Selected discography

Albums

Singles

References