Imperial Records (1947)
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| Imperial Records | |
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| Parent company | EMI |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Founder(s) | Lew Chudd |
| Distributing label | Capitol Records (In the US) |
| Genre(s) | (historic) various (current) Urban |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Official Website | http://www.imperialrecords.com/ |
The third Imperial Records was a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd.
Contents |
[edit] The independent and Liberty Records years
Imperial was famous for recordings of rhythm & blues and early rock & roll like Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson. Imperial was licensed to London Records in the UK. In 1960 Lew Chudd bought Aladdin Records. Minit Records was acquired in 1963.
Later in 1963, after Imperial lost Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson to rival labels, Chudd sold the label to Liberty Records. Under Liberty's management, the label enjoyed success from such artists as holdover Irma Thomas as well as Johnny Rivers, Jackie DeShannon, Classics IV and Cher.
During the British Invasion years, Liberty (whose recordings were distributed by EMI in the UK) licensed artists including The Hollies, Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas and The Swinging Blue Jeans from EMI for release on the Imperial label.
By 1970 the label became part of Liberty's merger with United Artists, but was phased out shortly thereafter with its artists being transferred to United Artists. EMI now owns the Imperial Records catalogue.
[edit] Label variations
- Early to mid-50s -- Maroon label, IMPERIAL at top
- Late 50s-1963 -- Black label with stars under IMPERIAL at top
- 1964-1966 -- Black, white and magenta label. I-R logo in black box on left side, IMPERIAL shown under logo. Disclaimer at bottom of label shows "A SUBSIDIARY OF LIBERTY RECORDS"
- 1966-1969 -- Black and lime green label, I-R logo in red box on left side, IMPERIAL shown under logo, "A PRODUCT OF LIBERTY RECORDS" shown under IMPERIAL. Disclaimer changed to "A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS"
- 1970 -- Black and lime green label, I-R logo in red box on left side, IMPERIAL shown (in slightly larger letters than the previous label) under logo. Disclaimer reads "LIBERTY/UA, INC"
[edit] Revival
In June of 2006, EMI re-activated the Imperial Records imprint and announced that it will be the full-service Urban Music division of Caroline Distribution, part of Virgin Records, spearheaded by urban music veteran Neil Levine.
The first signing to the imprint is Raptivism Records. Fat Joe has signed with Virgin Records and Imperial Records.
The revived Imperial is a full service label group that offers promotions, marketing and digital services for the independent urban music market. Imperial also provides additional resources for developing urban artists within EMI’s major labels including Capitol Records and Virgin Records which were merged on January 2007 into the Capitol Music Group.
[edit] Imperial Records artists (1947-1970)
- Mel Carter
- Cher
- Petula Clark
- Classics IV (Dennis Yost & The Classics IV)
- Clay Cole
- Sonny Curtis
- Jackie DeShannon
- Fats Domino
- Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames
- Fantastic Baggys
- Ernie Freeman
- Peppermint Harris
- Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
- The Hollies
- Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas
- Smiley Lewis
- Love Generation
- The Majors
- Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters
- Ricky Nelson (Rick Nelson)
- Sandy Nelson
- Johnny Rivers
- Huey "Piano" Smith
- Swinging Blue Jeans
- Teddy Bears
- Irma Thomas
- T-Bone Walker
- Slim Whitman
- Fender IV
[edit] Current artists
- MARK & RONY
- Evidence
- Fat Joe
- Bizzy Bone
- Jin
- Case
- Anthony Hamilton
