Tikva Records was a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

which was operated by Allen B. Jacobs in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

from the 1940s to the 1970s, releasing around 170 LPs of

Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originat ...

and

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

History

Allen B. Jacobs, who had previously run other record labels, started Tikva Records around 1947 as a budget label; he recorded the albums cheaply, designed the covers and mixed the music himself, for the most part. The label released many kinds of Jewish music. It released religious Jewish music by singers such as David Kusevitsky and the Malavsky Family, Israeli music by Jo Amar and

Tova Ben Zvi Tova Ben Zvi (born 1928) is an Israeli singer. She is also a survivor of the Holocaust. Biography Ben Zvi was born in Łódź where she lived in the ghetto. Her father was a Jewish cantor. After the ghetto began to be emptied, she was sent to ...

, klezmer music by

Dave Tarras Dave Tarras (c. 1895 – February 13, 1989) was a Ukrainian-born American klezmer clarinetist and bandleader, a celebrated klezmer musician, instrumental in Klezmer revival. Biography Early life Tarras was born David Tarasiuk in Teplyk, Ukrai ...

and Marty Levitt, Yiddish singers such as

Leo Fuld Lazarus 'Leo' Fuld (Yiddish: לעאָ פֿולד; Rotterdam, October 29, 1912 – Amsterdam, June 10, 1997) was a Dutch singer who specialised in Yiddish songs. Possessing an instantaneously recognizable voice, Fuld recorded throughout Europe and ...

Ben Bonus Ben Bonus ( yi, בען באָנוס, 1920–1984) was a prominent American Yiddish theatre and Broadway actor and Yiddish language singer of the twentieth century. He and his wife Mina Bern were credited with keeping Yiddish theatre alive in United ...

and

Martha Schlamme Martha Schlamme (née Haftel; September 25, 1923 – October 6, 1985) was an Austrian-born American singer and actress. She was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Vienna, Austria in 1923. Her parents were Meier Haftel and Gisa Braten. For ...

, Hasidic music, spoken word, and many more eclectic or unknown artists. Most of these releases have been archived on such sites as

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

'
Judaic Collection
or th
Dartmouth Jewish Sound Archive
The eventual end of Tikva Records is poorly documented. A member of the

Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation Idelson may refer to: People with the surname Idelson: * Beba Idelson (1895-1975), Israeli politician * Benjamin Idelson (1911-1972), Israeli Architect * Bill Idelson (1919-2007), American actor and scriptwriter * Naum Idelson (1885–1951), Russia ...

who researched its history said he believes the original masters and records were all destroyed after a shady deal by Jacobs. In 2011, the Idelsohn Society released a compilation of Tikva Records materials titled ''Songs for the Jewish-American Jet Set: The Tikva Records Story 1950-1973''. To promote the release, they recreated a pop-up shop on

Mission Street Mission Street is a north-south arterial thoroughfare in Daly City and San Francisco, California that runs from Daly City's southern border to San Francisco's northeast waterfront. The street and San Francisco's Mission District through which it r ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, in which they recreated a 1960s-style

record store A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...

filled with Tikva Records LPs.

External links

Discogs profile on Tikva RecordsAllMusic review of Tikva reissue album

References

Jewish music Defunct record labels of the United States {{record-label-stub