Hit Records

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

Hit Records was a record company based in Nashville, Tennessee which specialized in sound-alike cover versions of hit records.

Founded in 1962 by Bill Beasley, Hit Records were sold in dime stores for 39 cents (US), less than half the price of the hit recordings they were covering.[1] Located in Nashville, the home base for the country music recording business in the United States, the company had a pool of talented singers and musicians to record the cover songs. Some of these performers would later become successful on their own such as Sandy Posey [2], Ray Stevens, Bobby Russell and Sam Moore of Sam & Dave.[3]

The company folded in 1969 due to competition from record companies such as K-Tel which issued various artists compilation albums featuring the actual hit recordings licensed from the various record companies. Many Hit Records are very collectable and some of the performers on these recordings have developed their own fan base.