Lu Pine Records was a small local

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 ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, founded by Robert West. Mainly active during the late-1950s and 1960s but was reactivated for some time when its owner moved to Las Vegas in the 1970s. The label released records by a number of artists, including Joe Stubbs (brother of Four Tops lead singer

Levi Stubbs Levi Stubbs (born Levi Stubbles, June 6, 1936 – October 17, 2008) was an American baritone singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the R&B group the Four Tops, who released a variety of Motown hit records during the 1960s and 1970s. He h ...

Eddie Floyd Edward Lee Floyd (born June 25, 1937) is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song " Knock on Wood". Biography Floyd was born in ...

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

and The Ohio Untouchables (later renamed the Ohio Players). Prior to the emergence of Motown Records, it was the most significant African-American-owned record label in Detroit. Lu Pine is most notable for releasing the first recorded material from

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

, then known as The Primettes, in March 1960. The quartet (later a trio) recorded two sides for the label: " Tears of Sorrow" (with Diana Ross on lead) and "

Pretty Baby Pretty Baby may refer to: * ''Pretty Baby'' (1950 film), a comedy film featuring Dennis Morgan and Betsy Drake * ''Pretty Baby'' (1978 film), a drama film featuring Brooke Shields ** ''Pretty Baby'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the film ...

" with Mary Wilson on lead. The single failed to make a lasting impression, and The Primettes signed with Motown Records in January 1961 as

. Their other real success was The Falcons' "I Found a Love", featuring

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

on lead vocal. The single was a tremendous hit (#6 Billboard R&B and #75 Billboard Top Pop) in 1962.The Falcons Charts on Allmusic
/ref> This was Pickett's first hit record. Atlantic Records signed a contract with Lu Pine to release selected singles for national distribution. In general, independent Lu Pine singles had a 3-digit number and those picked up and distributed by Atlantic (same label design) had a 4-digit catalog number (111 vs 1011). Lu Pine ran as a separate, independent label concurrent with the occasional Atlantic distributed singles. Lu Pine's recordings were acquired in the 1980s by

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

distributed Relic Records, which then published unissued and previously released material.

References

External links

Lu Pine catalog

45 RPM Records-Lu Pine

Lu Pine Productions
Defunct record labels of the United States Pop record labels The Supremes {{US-record-label-stub

See also

References

External links