Downey Records was an American record label owned by Bill Wenzel (July 26, 1912 – November 20, 1999) in

Downey, California Downey is a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is considered part of the Gateway Cities. The city is the birthplace of the Apollo space program and Taco Bell. It is ...

, and distributed at times by

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

. Wenzel worked as a

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

for

MGM studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro ...

and in 1958, opened Wenzel's Music Town in Downey, California. In 1959, he began the Jack Bee label which he eventually turned into the Downey label with a studio in the back of the record store. Wenzel operated the store with his wife, his son and daughter-in-law. When they were not creating masters in the studio, the studio was rented out. Wenzel produced Downey Records at his studio and made dubs of out-of-stock songs upon request. When Wenzel retired from the business in the 1960s, his son Tom Wenzel (1935–2008) and Tom's wife Maxine continued running the shop. The biggest hit on the label was the instrumental "

Pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...

" by the Chantay's, which peaked at No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 11 on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in 1963. Singer-songwriter

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Canto's on Downey Records in 1965, and released his first recordings under the name Lee Barry on the label in 1966. During the early 1960s, Downey was also producing records by The Rumblers, whose biggest hit "Boss" was leased to

, as well as "Pipeline", which had been leased around the same time. In 2007, Big Beat Records released the compilation album ''

It Came from the Garage! Nuggets from Southern California ''It Came from the Garage! Nuggets from Southern California'' is a garage rock compilation that features music made by acts who recorded for Downey Records in Downey, California during the 1960s. The label was founded by brothers Jack and Bill W ...

'', compiled from Downey recordings.

Selected discography

References

American record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Rock and roll record labels Pop record labels Record labels established in 1961 Record labels disestablished in 1967 Downey, California Defunct record labels of the United States {{US-independent-record-label-stub