| Curb Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (under MGM Records, 1969-73) |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder | Mike Curb |
| Distributor(s) | MGM Records (former) Word Records (current) |
| Genre | rock, country, pop, gospel |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Official Website | http://www.curb.com |
Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973 Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of MGM and Verve Records.
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Throughout the years the Curb Companies have had major successes with such artists as the Stone Poneys (featuring Linda Rondstadt), Eric Burdon and War, Sammy Davis Jr., the Osmond Family (including Donny & Marie), Lou Rawls, Exile, the Righteous Brothers, Solomon Burke, Gloria Gaynor, the Hondells, the Arrows (featuring Davie Allan), Lyle Lovett, Roy Orbison, the Electric Flag (featuring Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles), the Sylvers, and the Four Seasons. The Four Seasons comeback album, Who Loves You, including "December 1963 Oh What A Night" which was the first single to spend more than one year on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Curb's roster has included many successful country music artists, such as Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Hank Williams, Jr., Wynonna, Sawyer Brown, Rodney Atkins, the Bellamy Brothers, Chris Hillman's Desert Rose Band, Lee Greenwood, Steve Holy, the Judds, Hal Ketchum, Jo Dee Messina, Rio Grand, Trick Pony (featuring Heidi Newfield), Mel Tillis, T.G. Sheppard, Jim Stafford and Ray Stevens.
In late 2002 Curb Records also acquired a stake in Word Records from then-owners Time Warner. Curb still holds partnership in Word even though Time Warner's stake was sold to newly formed spin-off Warner Music Group in 2004.
Four-time GMA Music Award Female Vocalist of the Year Natalie Grant is signed to Curb Records in addition to the 5 time GMA music award winning group Selah . Throughout the years Curb has had success with other Gospel music artists such as MercyMe, the Second Chapter of Acts, Degarmo and Key, Patti Cabrera, Michael English, Debby Boone, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Barlowgirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Building 429, Fernando Ortega, Downhere, Group 1 Crew, Nicole C. Mullen, Larry Norman, Jonathan Pierce, Plumb, Point of Grace, Salvador, Jamie Slocum, Steller Kart, Jaci Velasquez and Mark Schultz.
In 2006 Curb launched a sister rock label, Bruc Records, the name of which is an acronym for "Blues, Rock, Urban, Country" (the name is also "Curb" spelled backwards). Straight to Hell by alternative country artist Hank Williams III was the first album to be released on the new imprint.
Curb Records supports charitable programs through the Mike Curb Family Foundation. Some of the supported programs include; the Mike Curb Family Welcome Center at Second Harvest, Curb Youth Symphony, Curb Young Musicians Competition, Curb Concerto Competition, the Curb Family Humane Center, the Curb Junior Achievement Center in Los Angeles and Nashville, the Curb Family Pediatric Center, the Nashville Boy Scout Conference Center, the Patriots Theatre at Fort Campbell, the Curb Family Education Oasis Center and the Stella Curb Teacher Development Classrooms.
The Curb Foundation is very active in Education including the Curb Center at Vanderbilt (which has launched the Curb Creative Campus Program), the Curb College for Music Business at Belmont University, the Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication at Cal State University, the Curb Beaman Jubilee Singers Chair at Fisk University, the Curb College of Arts, Music and Sciences at Daytona State College, the Business and Law Chair and Facility at Claremont McKenna College, the Curb Learning Lab for Music and Entertainment at Baylor University, the Curb Keller Dormitories at Neve Yerushalayim in Jerusalem University and the Curb History Institute at Rhodes College.
In conjunction with Curb's educational projects, Curb has purchased and restored Elvis Presley's first home in Memphis, TN, the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville, TN, the Historic RCA Studio B, and Columbia's Historic Quonset Hut which was the first recording studio on Nashville's famed Music Row. These historic facilities are being used by students at the various Curb supported colleges and universities for the purpose of studying music history.
In October 2008 the 6,000 seat Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, TN hosted the Town Hall Presidential debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.
In the United Kingdom, Curb artists (apart from those sub-licensed to majors) are eligible for the UK 'independent' charts. In January 2006, Curb scored a top ten hit with Brian Kennedy and Peter Corry's 'Tribute to George Best', an EP featuring recordings of You Raise Me Up amongst others. Earlier major hits in Europe with the Four Seasons, the Osmonds, LeAnn Rimes, and Soundtracks such as Coyote Ugly.