Old Town 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 ...

set up by

Hy Weiss Hyman Y. "Hy" Weiss (February 12, 1923 – March 20, 2007) was an American record producer of pop and rhythm and blues music in the 1950s and 1960s, and the founder of Old Town Records. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Cuca, Argeș County, ...

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 ...

. It operated between 1953 and 1966, and was responsible for several R&B and

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

hit records. Weiss, who was born in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, lived in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

from the 1920s, and began working as a

furrier Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing, and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific i ...

. In the mid-1940s, with his brother Sam, he started distributing records produced in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Leon René Leon René (February 6, 1902 – May 30, 1982) was an American music composer of pop, R&B and rock and roll songs and a record producer in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. He sometimes used the songwriting pseudonym Jimmy Thomas or Jimmie Thom ...

, soon expanding into distributing records by other companies including

Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

. In 1953, he set up his own label, Old Town, taking its name, and its early stationery, from that of a wholesale paper business in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

for whom Weiss worked.Marv Goldberg, "Old Town Records", ''UncaMarvy.com'', 2009
Retrieved 31 March 2019
Retrieved 31 March 2019 Weiss took sole control of the label in 1956. He was primarily a producer of

vocal groups List *Archie Bell & the Drells *Backstreet Boys * Bee Gees * Black Ivory * Bloodstone * Blue Magic *Boney M. * Boyz II Men * Brisbane Birralee Voices * Brownstone *Cliff Adams Singers * Crosby Stills & Nash *Danny & the Juniors *Dion & the Belm ...

, as well as

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 ...

music.Sisario, Ben
"Hy Weiss, 84, Music Executive From Rock 'n' Roll's Early Days, Dies"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 31, 2007. Accessed November 26, 2007. Old Town had its first

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

with the 1958

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

We Belong Together "We Belong Together" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her 10th studio album, ''The Emancipation of Mimi'' (2005). The song was released on March 15, 2005, through Island Records, as the second single from the album. ...

" by

Robert & Johnny Robert & Johnny were an American doo-wop duo from The Bronx, composed of Robert Carr and Johnny Mitchell. Biography The duo released about a dozen singles for Old Town Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Two of them charted: "We Belo ...

, and had further hits by

Billy Bland Billy Bland (April 5, 1932 – March 22, 2017) was an American R&B singer and songwriter. Life and career Bland, the youngest of 19 children, first sang professionally in 1947 in New York City, and sang with a group called The Bees in the 1950 ...

(" Let the Little Girl Dance"),

the Solitaires The Solitaires are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1957 hit single " Walking Along". Although they never had a national chart hit, they were one of the most popular vocal groups in New York in the late 1950s. History The Solitai ...

(" Walking Along "),

the Fiestas The Fiestas were an American rhythm and blues musical group from Newark, New Jersey, United States. Organized in 1958, The Fiestas contracted with Old Town Records company in 1959, after the company's owner, Hy Weiss, overheard the group singing i ...

(" So Fine"),

the Capris ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(" There's a Moon Out Tonight"),

the Earls ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(" Remember Then"), and others.

Arthur Prysock Arthur Prysock Jr. (January 1, 1924 Sonny Terry Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...

. In addition, Old Town released many vocal records that were successful in the New York area, but did not break nationally or internationally. The Old Town catalog was sold by Weiss to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in 1970.''Billboard'', "Atlantic Buys Old Town Line", 12 September 1970, p.8
/ref> The label re-emerged between 1973 and 1978, issuing several albums by Arthur Prysock. Weiss died in 2007.

References

External links

1953 establishments in New York City American record labels Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1953 Record labels disestablished in 1966 Rock and roll record labels {{US-record-label-stub