Sun Records (other companies)
Encyclopedia
Sun Records has been the name of multiple 20th century record label
s.
The first "Sun Records" in Europe
were single-sided disc records
put out by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company Ltd. of Tonbridge
, Kent
, England
, from about 1905 to 1910. (The same company would later produce records under the name Imperial Records
).
A nearly contemporaneous label was produced in the United States
by the Leeds & Catlin
company, about 1905–1907.
The third "Sun Records" was produced by the Sun Record Company of Toronto
, Canada
in the early 1920s
. Many or all of the masters pressed were leased from the USA based Okeh Records
.
There were as many as eight other record companies that preceded and/or were contemporary with the Memphis label Sun Records
run by Sam Phillips
, the most famous of the companies by that name.
The other Sun Records that preceded the Memphis company by nearly forty years in one case, and six years in the other, or even those that were contemporary with it were never as significant to the history of twentieth century music as Sam Phillips' little record company that operated out of his Memphis Recording Service. Since Sam had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain earlier, he also recorded artist starting in 1963 on the label Holiday Inn Records
for Kemmons Wilson
.
Two Sun Records were offered on eBay.com in August and September 2006 and were pressed in Germany, probably around 1905–1912, for the Sun Record Company of Bombay, India, and referred to on the label as the Sun Disc Record to differentiate the discs from cylinder records also produced by the company. This Sun Record Company might have been the first to use that name. By 1919 another Sun Record Company came to life in Canada, but it, too, soon disappeared. The Canadian Sun Records were produced by the Sun Record Company of Toronto
, Canada
(a unit of Compo Company
Ltd.) in the 1920s. Many or all of the masters pressed were leased from the U.S.
based Okeh Records
.http://www.collectionscanada.ca/4/4/m2-3011-e.html
The first American phonograph record to bear the famous “Sun Record” name came into being in the 1910s.
Another Sun Record, founded in New York City in 1946, was intended as an outlet for Jewish musicians and singers, including the famous Yiddish singer, Herman Yablokoff, whose immensely popular Papirossen [Sun 1050] was the top selling record for the label. Billing itself as “The Brightest Thing on Records,” it was already fading into oblivion when the Memphis Recording Service issued its first Sun record in February 1952. But it did contribute one thing, albeit unintentionally, to the Sun Record Company of Memphis, that being the design of the label itself that was copied directly from the New York City-based Sun Record Company.
Another label, an Arabic language
Sun Record Company came into being at about the same time, but little is known about its history.
A legal battle was fought over the name “Sun” between the Memphis Recording Service of Memphis, which was issuing records on the Sun label, and the Sun Recording Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico
, also issuing records on the Sun label. Louise Massey, the “Sweetheart of the West” who co-wrote My Adobe Hacienda and whose brother wrote the theme song for television’s Petticoat Junction, among others, was its top artist. The lawsuit was settled in favor of the Memphis-based label, but no one noticed that the name and similar label had been in existence in New York for more than six years. The New York-based Sun Recording Corporation was virtually extinct by then, so even if anyone had noticed, no legal action was taken. The Memphis-based Sun Record Company went on to become the label that brought rock and roll
music to the world
, enjoying early success with Sun 181, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) by Rufus Thomas
– which also led to Sam Phillips
’ second major lawsuit and the record was re-issued with the phrase (The Answer to Hound Dog) deleted. Sun Records in Memphis
was sold in 1969 and still operates as Sun Records under the parent company Sun Entertainment Corporation. But the use of the name Sun Record Company did not end there. One other Sun existed during a slightly later era
: the Sun Record Company based in Manila
. This company
did not attempt to disguise
its copying of the Memphis
Sun labels and re-issued records released by other American
labels, such as Imperial 5528, Poor Little Fool
written by Eddie Cochran
’s fiancée, Sharon Sheeley
, which became a massive hit
for Ricky Nelson
in 1958.
Even though Sam Phillips
has died, the sun has not yet set on Sun Records. Numerous licenses have been issued to Germany’s Bear Family Records
, England’s Charly Records
, and other companies to issue and re-issue the Memphis Sun Records, some with the familiar brown on yellow label. Other companies are re-issuing Louise Massey’s recordings from the Albuquerque-based Sun Record Company.
Jazz saxophonist Frank Wright
also started Sun Records (jazz)
while living in Paris, France.
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,...
s.
The first "Sun Records" in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
were single-sided disc records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
put out by The Crystalate Gramophone Record Manufacturing Company Ltd. of Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, from about 1905 to 1910. (The same company would later produce records under the name Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...
).
A nearly contemporaneous label was produced in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the Leeds & Catlin
Leeds Talk-O-Phone
Leeds Talk-O-Phone was a record label, producing cylinders from 1894 to 1903 and single-sided lateral-cut disc gramophone records in the United States of America from about 1902 to 1909....
company, about 1905–1907.
The third "Sun Records" was produced by the Sun Record Company of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the early 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
. Many or all of the masters pressed were leased from the USA based Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
.
There were as many as eight other record companies that preceded and/or were contemporary with the Memphis label Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
run by Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, the most famous of the companies by that name.
The other Sun Records that preceded the Memphis company by nearly forty years in one case, and six years in the other, or even those that were contemporary with it were never as significant to the history of twentieth century music as Sam Phillips' little record company that operated out of his Memphis Recording Service. Since Sam had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain earlier, he also recorded artist starting in 1963 on the label Holiday Inn Records
Holiday Inn Records
Holiday Inn Records was a record label founded by D. Wayne Foster in 1961. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for Foster and Kemmons Wilson, as an independent business venture...
for Kemmons Wilson
Kemmons Wilson
Charles Kemmons Wilson was the founder of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels.-Personal life:He was born in Osceola, Arkansas, the only child of Kemmons and Ruby "Doll" Wilson. His father was an insurance salesman who died when Kemmons was nine months old...
.
Two Sun Records were offered on eBay.com in August and September 2006 and were pressed in Germany, probably around 1905–1912, for the Sun Record Company of Bombay, India, and referred to on the label as the Sun Disc Record to differentiate the discs from cylinder records also produced by the company. This Sun Record Company might have been the first to use that name. By 1919 another Sun Record Company came to life in Canada, but it, too, soon disappeared. The Canadian Sun Records were produced by the Sun Record Company of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(a unit of Compo Company
Compo Company
Compo Company Ltd. was Canada's first independent record company.The Compo Company was founded in 1918 in Lachine, Quebec by Herbert Berliner, an executive of Berliner Gramophone of Canada and the oldest son of disc record inventor Emile Berliner....
Ltd.) in the 1920s. Many or all of the masters pressed were leased from the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
based Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
.http://www.collectionscanada.ca/4/4/m2-3011-e.html
The first American phonograph record to bear the famous “Sun Record” name came into being in the 1910s.
Another Sun Record, founded in New York City in 1946, was intended as an outlet for Jewish musicians and singers, including the famous Yiddish singer, Herman Yablokoff, whose immensely popular Papirossen [Sun 1050] was the top selling record for the label. Billing itself as “The Brightest Thing on Records,” it was already fading into oblivion when the Memphis Recording Service issued its first Sun record in February 1952. But it did contribute one thing, albeit unintentionally, to the Sun Record Company of Memphis, that being the design of the label itself that was copied directly from the New York City-based Sun Record Company.
Another label, an Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
Sun Record Company came into being at about the same time, but little is known about its history.
A legal battle was fought over the name “Sun” between the Memphis Recording Service of Memphis, which was issuing records on the Sun label, and the Sun Recording Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, also issuing records on the Sun label. Louise Massey, the “Sweetheart of the West” who co-wrote My Adobe Hacienda and whose brother wrote the theme song for television’s Petticoat Junction, among others, was its top artist. The lawsuit was settled in favor of the Memphis-based label, but no one noticed that the name and similar label had been in existence in New York for more than six years. The New York-based Sun Recording Corporation was virtually extinct by then, so even if anyone had noticed, no legal action was taken. The Memphis-based Sun Record Company went on to become the label that brought rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music to the world
World
World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....
, enjoying early success with Sun 181, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) by Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
– which also led to Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
’ second major lawsuit and the record was re-issued with the phrase (The Answer to Hound Dog) deleted. Sun Records in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
was sold in 1969 and still operates as Sun Records under the parent company Sun Entertainment Corporation. But the use of the name Sun Record Company did not end there. One other Sun existed during a slightly later era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
: the Sun Record Company based in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. This company
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
did not attempt to disguise
Disguise
A disguise can be anything which conceals or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, costume or other ways. Camouflage is one type of disguise for people, animals and objects...
its copying of the Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
Sun labels and re-issued records released by other American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
labels, such as Imperial 5528, Poor Little Fool
Poor Little Fool
"Poor Little Fool" is a pop/rock song written by Sharon Sheeley. It was based on her disappointment following a short-lived relationship with a member of a popular singing duo. The best-known version of the song was recorded by Ricky Nelson on April 17, 1958 and released on Imperial Records 5528...
written by Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
’s fiancée, Sharon Sheeley
Sharon Sheeley
Sharon Sheeley was an American songwriter, born in California, who wrote songs for Glen Campbell, Ricky Nelson, Brenda Lee, and Sheeley's former fiancé, Eddie Cochran.-Life:...
, which became a massive hit
Hit
Hit may mean to strike someone or something to cause physical harm.Hit or HIT may also refer to:-Business:* Hitachi, Ltd. * Hongkong International Terminals Ltd....
for Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
in 1958.
Even though Sam Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
has died, the sun has not yet set on Sun Records. Numerous licenses have been issued to Germany’s Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
, England’s Charly Records
Charly Records
Charly Records is a British record label which specialises in reissued material.-History:Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young, who had been a promoter of...
, and other companies to issue and re-issue the Memphis Sun Records, some with the familiar brown on yellow label. Other companies are re-issuing Louise Massey’s recordings from the Albuquerque-based Sun Record Company.
Jazz saxophonist Frank Wright
Frank Wright (jazz musician)
Frank Wright was a free jazz musician known for his frantic style of tenor saxophone.Wright was born in Grenada, Mississippi. He was originally a bass player, working with B. B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland among others....
also started Sun Records (jazz)
Sun Records (jazz)
Sun Records was a jazz record label begun by saxophonist Frank Wright. Center of the World Records was also set up by Wright around the same time.-Sun:-Center of the World:-See also:* List of record labels...
while living in Paris, France.
See also
- Sun RecordsSun RecordsSun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
for the Memphis based label - Sun Records (jazz)Sun Records (jazz)Sun Records was a jazz record label begun by saxophonist Frank Wright. Center of the World Records was also set up by Wright around the same time.-Sun:-Center of the World:-See also:* List of record labels...
for the label by saxophonist Frank Wright. - List of record labels