Windfall 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 ...

founded in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

by Bud Prager and

Felix Pappalardi Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at ...

to distribute records of acts they managed and/or produced. Singer-guitarist

Leslie West Leslie West (born Leslie Abel Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain. Life and career Early years: 1 ...

recorded for Windfall throughout the label's existence, initially as a solo artist (1969) and subsequently with the bands

Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

(1970–72 and 1973–74) and

West, Bruce and Laing West, Bruce & Laing (WBL) were a Scottish–American blues rock power trio super-group formed in 1972 by Leslie West (guitar and vocals; formerly of Mountain (band), Mountain), Jack Bruce (bass, harp, keyboards and vocals; ex-Cream (band), Cream) ...

(1972–73). Windfall was first distributed by

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 ...

, who handled their releases through mid-1972. The label then transferred distribution to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

(now a sister label to Bell's successor

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, which was folded into

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

in 2011) as part of Columbia's signing of West, Bruce and Laing. When WBL dissolved in 1973, Mountain re-formed and distributed their releases through Windfall/Columbia. Windfall folded in 1974, following Mountain's breakup.

See also