Straight Records
Encyclopedia
Straight Records was a record label
formed in 1969
to distribute productions and discoveries of Frank Zappa
and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen
. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion label, Bizarre Records
. Straight and Bizarre were manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by the Warner Bros. Records
family of labels, which also included Reprise Records
. Straight Records recordings were distributed in the U.K. by CBS Records.
Frank Zappa himself chose most of the artists for the Straight label. His original intention was to release albums by avant-garde artists on Bizarre, and recordings by more mainstream artists on Straight. However the original concept failed to work out as expected due to issues with record distribution and artist management. Frank Zappa
, The Mothers of Invention
, Wild Man Fischer
, and Lenny Bruce
certainly fit in at Bizarre, but all others ended up on Straight. This led to some very unusual albums on the Straight label especially those by Captain Beefheart
, Alice Cooper
and The GTOs
.
Zappa was also responsible for The Persuasions
' first LP Acappella. Over the phone from a New Jersey record shop he heard a recording of The Persuasions singing. Due to his passion for doo-wop
Zappa immediately flew the vocal group to Los Angeles to record. Other notable Straight artists included Tim Buckley
, and the duo of Judy Henske
& Jerry Yester
. These musicians came to the label through an association with manager Herb Cohen.
The first issue of Love It to Death
by Alice Cooper
was on Straight. However, by the time the album became a success it had already been re-issued on Warner Bros. Starting in 1972 this and other Straight recordings were re-issued by either Reprise or Warner Bros. By 1973 the Bizarre and Straight distribution agreement with Warner ended. Under a new agreement starting that year Zappa and Cohen's business ventures with Warner were merged and re-named to create DiscReet Records
. The Zappa/Cohen business partnership ended acrimoniously with litigation from both sides in 1976. In the settlement, reached a few years later, Zappa retained ownership of his work and Herb Cohen assumed ownership of most of the non-Zappa material from Bizarre, Straight and DiscReet.
In 1988 and 1989 Straight recordings by Captain Beefheart
, Alice Cooper
, Tim Buckley
, The GTOs
, The Persuasions
, and Lord Buckley
were briefly re-issued on CD and cassette by the Enigma Retro
label. Zappa died at age 53 in 1993. Cohen died at age 73 in 2010. Unsubstantiated rumors have been made that since the early 1990s the ownership of some Straight Records recordings has become unclear. This may have prevented further re-issues of some Straight Records material.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
formed in 1969
1969 in music
-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event...
to distribute productions and discoveries of Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen
Herb Cohen
Herbert "Herb" Cohen was an American personal manager, record company executive, and music publisher, best known as the manager of Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, and many other Los Angeles-based musicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Life and career:Cohen was born in New York...
. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion label, Bizarre Records
Bizarre Records
Bizarre Records was a record label formed for artists discovered by rock musician Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen.Bizarre was originally formed as a production company...
. Straight and Bizarre were manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by the Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
family of labels, which also included Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
. Straight Records recordings were distributed in the U.K. by CBS Records.
Frank Zappa himself chose most of the artists for the Straight label. His original intention was to release albums by avant-garde artists on Bizarre, and recordings by more mainstream artists on Straight. However the original concept failed to work out as expected due to issues with record distribution and artist management. Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...
, Wild Man Fischer
Wild Man Fischer
Larry Wayne Fischer , better known as Wild Man Fischer, was an American songwriter in the outsider genre. He was notable for being responsible for Rhino Records' first release, Go To Rhino Records...
, and Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
certainly fit in at Bizarre, but all others ended up on Straight. This led to some very unusual albums on the Straight label especially those by Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
and The GTOs
The GTOs
The GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
.
Zappa was also responsible for The Persuasions
The Persuasions
The Persuasions are an a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1960s. They have performed interpretations of both secular and non-secular music, and have covered a wide range of musical genres....
' first LP Acappella. Over the phone from a New Jersey record shop he heard a recording of The Persuasions singing. Due to his passion for doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
Zappa immediately flew the vocal group to Los Angeles to record. Other notable Straight artists included Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
, and the duo of Judy Henske
Judy Henske
Judy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
& Jerry Yester
Jerry Yester
Jerry Yester is an American folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger.Growing up in Burbank, California, Yester formed a duo with brother Jim Yester, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing folk clubs in Los Angeles in 1960...
. These musicians came to the label through an association with manager Herb Cohen.
The first issue of Love It to Death
Love It to Death
Rolling Stones John Mendelsohn found it favorable. He explained that it "represents at least a modest oasis in the desert of dreary blue-jeaned aloofness served up in concert by most American rock-and-rollers." However, referring to "Black Juju" he also stated that "the one bummer on this album is...
by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
was on Straight. However, by the time the album became a success it had already been re-issued on Warner Bros. Starting in 1972 this and other Straight recordings were re-issued by either Reprise or Warner Bros. By 1973 the Bizarre and Straight distribution agreement with Warner ended. Under a new agreement starting that year Zappa and Cohen's business ventures with Warner were merged and re-named to create DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records was a company founded by Frank Zappa and his then business partner/manager Herb Cohen. It was created in 1973 when their previous companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records were discontinued...
. The Zappa/Cohen business partnership ended acrimoniously with litigation from both sides in 1976. In the settlement, reached a few years later, Zappa retained ownership of his work and Herb Cohen assumed ownership of most of the non-Zappa material from Bizarre, Straight and DiscReet.
In 1988 and 1989 Straight recordings by Captain Beefheart
Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
, The GTOs
The GTOs
The GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
, The Persuasions
The Persuasions
The Persuasions are an a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1960s. They have performed interpretations of both secular and non-secular music, and have covered a wide range of musical genres....
, and Lord Buckley
Lord Buckley
Lord Richard Buckley was an American stage performer, recording artist, monologist, and hip poet/comic...
were briefly re-issued on CD and cassette by the Enigma Retro
Enigma Records
Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...
label. Zappa died at age 53 in 1993. Cohen died at age 73 in 2010. Unsubstantiated rumors have been made that since the early 1990s the ownership of some Straight Records recordings has become unclear. This may have prevented further re-issues of some Straight Records material.
List of Straight Records artists
- Captain BeefheartCaptain BeefheartDon Van Vliet January 15, 1941 December 17, 2010) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. His musical work was conducted with a rotating ensemble of musicians called The Magic Band, active between 1965 and 1982, with whom he recorded 12...
- Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
- Tim BuckleyTim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
- Jeff SimmonsJeff Simmons (musician)Jeff Simmons, born May 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels in mid 1971...
- Junier Mintz (aka Frank Zappa and The Mothers)
- Lord BuckleyLord BuckleyLord Richard Buckley was an American stage performer, recording artist, monologist, and hip poet/comic...
- Judy HenskeJudy HenskeJudy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
& Jerry YesterJerry YesterJerry Yester is an American folk rock musician, record producer, and arranger.Growing up in Burbank, California, Yester formed a duo with brother Jim Yester, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing folk clubs in Los Angeles in 1960... - The GTOsThe GTOsThe GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
(Girls Together Outrageously) - Tim Dawe
- Mayf Nutter
- The PersuasionsThe PersuasionsThe Persuasions are an a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1960s. They have performed interpretations of both secular and non-secular music, and have covered a wide range of musical genres....
- RosebudRosebud (band)Rosebud was the name of an American popular music group which released a single, eponymous album in 1971.Its members were Judy Henske, Jerry Yester, Craig Doerge, John Seiter, and David Vaught. The album was a follow-up to the Henske-Yester collaboration, Farewell Aldebaran...