Liberty 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 pr ...

founded in the United States by chairman

Simon Waronker Simon Waronker (March 4, 1915 – June 7, 2005) was an American violinist and record producer from Los Angeles, California, best known for co-founding Liberty Records. Biography Graduating from high school at 13 years old, he won a scholarship ...

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 revivals.

History

1950s

Liberty's early releases focused on film and orchestral music. Its first single was Lionel Newman's "The Girl Upstairs". Its first big hit, in 1955, was by Julie London singing her version of the torch song, " Cry Me a River", which climbed to No. 9 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It helped Liberty sell her first album, '' Julie Is Her Name''. In 1956, Liberty signed Henry Mancini and released two singles and several albums by him. He left in 1958, signing with

RCA Victor 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 ...

, where his record sales increased.

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with s ...

and Lee David's song " Tonight You Belong to Me" reached number 4 (US) and number 28 (UK) when it was performed by teen sisters

Patience and Prudence Patience Ann McIntyre (born August 15, 1942) and Prudence Ann McIntyre (born July 12, 1945), known professionally as Patience and Prudence, are two sisters who were a young vocal duo active from 1956 to 1964. Career Patience and Prudence McIntyre ...

(McIntyre), selling over a million copies. Liberty also scored a Top 10 hit with Margie Rayburn's "I'm Available" and the singer went on to record two dozen singles for them. The label's biggest rock singer was

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", "C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

who starred in his second film, ''

Untamed Youth ''Untamed Youth'' is a 1957 American teen film directed by Howard W. Koch, written by John C. Higgins and Stephen Longstreet, and starring Mamie Van Doren and Lori Nelson as two starstruck sisters who are sentenced to farm labor. Plot Sisters ...

''. His first hit for the label was John D. Loudermilk's "Sittin' in the Balcony" in 1957, then came " Summertime Blues" and "

C'mon Everybody "C'mon Everybody" is a 1958 song by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart, originally released as a B-side. Background When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the song called "Let's Get Together". ...

". The roster included R&B act Billy Ward and His Dominoes after

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

quit, replacing him with ex- Lark Eugene Mumford. Their version of Hoagy Carmichael's 1927 song "

Stardust Stardust may refer to: * A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space Entertainment Songs * “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael * “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974 * “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012 * ...

" reached No. 13 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and 13 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1957. It was the group's only million seller. By 1958, Liberty was close to bankruptcy when singer-songwriter

Ross Bagdasarian Ross S. Bagdasarian (; January 27, 1919 – January 16, 1972), known professionally by his stage name David Seville, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor, best known for creating the cartoon band Alvin and the Chipmun ...

, performing as David Seville, had a number one hit with his novelty song " Witch Doctor". Later that year, he combined multi-track recording with the altered speed technique he had used in "Witch Doctor" and introduced the Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore—named after Liberty executives Bennett, Waronker, and Keep, respectively.) in "

The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" is a novelty Christmas song written by Ross Bagdasarian (under the stage name of David Seville) in 1958. Bagdasarian sang and recorded the song, varying the tape speeds to produce high-pitched "chi ...

". In the months leading to Christmas of 1958, the record went to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the first Christmas record to reach number 1 on that chart and selling 4.5 million copies. Also in 1958, Liberty formed a sublabel called

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

which lasted through 1959, when Liberty moved to its long-time address at 6920 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

1960s and 1970s

Liberty's most successful signing of the early 1960s was Bobby Vee, picking up "Suzie Baby", a single he recorded with the Shadows for

Soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

. He covered

the Clovers The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/ doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s.The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music. General Editor: Colin Larkin. First published 1993 (UK). . The Clovers p77. They h ...

' 1955

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 ...

ballad " Devil or Angel" in mid-1960 and later that year recorded Gene Pitney's "

Rubber Ball A bouncy ball or rubber ball is a spherical toy ball, usually fairly small, made of elastic material which allows it to bounce against hard surfaces. When thrown against a hard surface, bouncy balls retain their momentum and much of their kinet ...

", which made him an international star. In the summer of 1961 Vee had a hit with "

Take Good Care of My Baby "Take Good Care of My Baby" is a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. The song was made famous by Bobby Vee, when it was released in 1961. Bobby Vee versions While searching for material for Bobby Vee to record, Vee's producer Snuff G ...

", which peaked at number one (US) and number 3 (UK). He had hits until 1970. Other acts on the roster were

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

, Jan and Dean, Johnny Burnette, Gene McDaniels, Del Shannon, Ralph Williams/The Marauders, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Timi Yuro, and Vikki Carr. Snuff Garrett produced

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

albums credited to "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett". The name of the group was sold to Sony before being acquired by Tom Ficara and Combined Artists in 1997. Liberty sent an annual report for the fiscal year ended January 31, 1962 that included a limited edition 33-1/3 vinyl record with songs by Bobby Vee, Timi Yuro, Gene McDaniels, Si Zentner, and Tommy Garrett. A welcome message recorded by Simon Waronker was also included. In 1963, Liberty was sold to electronics corporation

Avnet Avnet, Inc. is a distributor of electronic components headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, named after Charles Avnet, who founded the company in 1921. After its start on Manhattan's Radio Row, the company became incorporated in 1955 and began t ...

for $12 million. Avnet also bought Blue Note,

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

, Dolton,

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

, and Minit. After two years of losses, Avnet sold the labels back to Al Bennett for $8 million. Liberty earlier acquired

Pacific Jazz Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded in 1952 by producer Richard Bock (1927–1988) and drummer Roy Harte (1924–2003). Harte, in 1954, also co-founded ...

, founded in 1952. In 1966,

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spr ...

was started to reissue records from the acquired labels. Sunset's catalog included Eddie Harris (''The Explosive Eddie Harris''), Jimmy Reed (''Something Else''), Les McCann (''Django''), Teddy Buckner (''A Salute to Satchmo''), Wild Bill Davis (''Flying Home''), Lester Young (''Giant of Jazz''), and Chet Baker (''Swings Pretty''). Liberty recordings were distributed in the UK by the Decca group on

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, then by EMI on Liberty. Liberty established a branch office in London, which signed the

Bonzo Dog Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, ...

, Idle Race, and the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation. After moving distribution to

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

in 1967, they returned to EMI in 1970. Liberty also signed

the Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...

. In 1967, Liberty issued the first single by

Family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Ron Kass Ron Kass (March 30, 1935 – October 17, 1986) was an American businessman, recording executive, manager of The Beatles, and film producer. Kass worked with at least four recording companies: Liberty, MGM, Warner Brothers, and Apple Records. Ea ...

, onetime president of Liberty, became the head of

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

, the label of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Ron Bledsoe, assistant to Al Bennett, was picked by

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 19 ...

to run the Nashville branch of Columbia. In 1966 singer Johnny Rivers started another Liberty subsidiary, Soul City. The following year, Liberty discontinued the Dolton label and moved its catalog to the parent label. In 1967, Liberty signed Canned Heat, which had three hit singles for the label. In 1968, Liberty was bought for $24 million by Transamerica Corporation, an insurance company, and combined with

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. Two years later Imperial and Minit were shut down and transferred its catalog and artists to Liberty and United Artists. In 1970 Sugarloaf scored a top 10 hit in the United States with "

Green-Eyed Lady "Green-Eyed Lady" is a popular single by the American rock band Sugarloaf. Written by Jerry Corbetta, J.C. Phillips and David Riordan, it was featured on the band's debut album, ''Sugarloaf'' and was their first single. It peaked at number three ...

", which reached number 3 on the '' Billboard''

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. Sugarloaf would score again in 1975 with " Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" (US number 9). In 1971, Liberty and its remaining labels (except for Soul City, whose catalog was sold to Bell and Blue Note) were shifted to United Artists, and Liberty was no more. In 1978, Artie Mogull and Jerry Rubinstein acquired United Artists and Liberty with money they borrowed from Capitol. In February 1979, Capitol's parent company EMI foreclosed on them and took over Liberty. Eight months later, Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI to form Thorn EMI.

1980s and 1990s

In 1980, EMI dropped the United Artists name and revived the Liberty name. EMI used Liberty to reissue the catalogs of United Artists, Liberty, and Imperial. From 1980 to 1984, Capitol used Liberty in America primarily as a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

label for acts such as

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

and

Dottie West Dorothy Marie Marsh West (October 11, 1932 – September 4, 1991) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most i ...

, though heavy metal band

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

was also signed to the company. In the United Kingdom, many new wave acts like The Stranglers were moved over to the 'new' label from United Artists (as

Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beve ...

had purchased the name for his film company) and were soon joined by new acts such as New Romantic band Classix Nouveaux. In 1991, Capitol-EMI renamed its Capitol Nashville label to Liberty before returning to the Capitol Nashville name four years later. In 1994, Liberty president Jimmy Bowen founded a sister label called Patriot Records, whose roster included

Bryan Austin Bryan Cuevas (born September 12, 1967 in Pass Christian, Mississippi) is an American country music artist, known professionally as Bryan Austin. Signed to Liberty Records' sister label Patriot Records in 1994, he released an album and two sing ...

, Lisa Brokop, John Berry,

Deana Carter Deana Kay Carter (born January 4, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter who broke through in 1996 with the release of her debut album '' Did I Shave My Legs for This?'', which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States ...

, John Bunzow, and Noah Gordon. After the label closed in 1995, Berry, Brokop, and Carter transferred to Capitol Nashville.

2000s to 2010s

After releasing many late-1990s Europop acts like the

Hermes House Band The Hermes House Band is a Dutch pop band, established in 1982 by members of the Rotterdamsch Studenten Corps, a fraternity/sorority in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They have released more than 25 albums and singles. History The band rose to fame in ...

, EMI reformatted the label in 2001 to focus on 'heritage acts'. The label, operating in a similar sphere to that of rival

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

, signed The Alarm (then branded as the Alarm MMVI) and Prefab Sprout, with the Stranglers releasing their first EMI album in over twenty years, '' Norfolk Coast'', on the label in 2004. Liberty also licensed the Bangles' 2003 album '' Doll Revolution'' from their own indie label Down Kiddie! Records, distributing it in Canada and some European countries alongside the United Kingdom. The label later went into abeyance, never bringing out newer releases again.

Liberty Records artists

References

External links

* {{Authority control American record labels British record labels Jazz record labels 1955 establishments in New York (state) 1971 disestablishments in New York (state) 1980 establishments in the United States 1984 disestablishments in the United States 1991 establishments in the United States 1995 disestablishments in the United States 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom 2004 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Record labels established in 1955 Record labels disestablished in 1971 Record labels established in 1980 Record labels disestablished in 1984 Record labels established in 1991 Record labels disestablished in 1995 Record labels established in 2001 Record labels disestablished in 2004 Re-established companies EMI United Artists Records American companies established in 1955 Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom Defunct record labels of the United States