Imperial Records is an American record company and

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

Early years to 1979

When Imperial was founded in 1947, it concentrated on

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

(R&B) and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

: Fats Domino, Frankie Ford, Ricky Nelson, and Slim Whitman. In the UK, Imperial was distributed by London Records. During the 1950s and 1960s, Imperial released jazz albums by Sonny Criss, Charlie Mariano, Papa Celestin, Erskine Hawkins, and Harold Land. Imperial bought Aladdin in 1961 and Minit Records in 1963, having distributed Minit since 1960. During the 1950s, Imperial was one of the primary labels issuing a vast quantity of R&B from New Orleans through their involvement with producer and writer Dave Bartholomew and in the 1960s with their distribution (and purchase, a few years later) of Minit. In 1963, after Imperial lost Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson to rival record companies

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, respectively, Chudd sold the label to Liberty Records. Under Liberty's management, the label enjoyed success with Irma Thomas, Johnny Rivers,

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers; August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster who has had many hit song credits beginning in the 1960s, as both a singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-son ...

, Classics IV, and

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

. During the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

, Liberty (whose recordings were distributed by EMI in the UK) licensed the Hollies, Billy J. Kramer, the Dakotas, and the Swinging Blue Jeans from EMI. Recordings by the Bonzo Dog Band and Kim Fowley were issued in the U.S. by Imperial. By 1970, the label had become part of Liberty's merger with

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

but was phased out shortly after, with its roster transferred to United Artists. EMI acquired the Imperial Records catalogue with its acquisition of UA Records in 1979.

1990s to present

Throughout the 1990s, EMI released CD compilations of Imperial artists that featured the original Imperial labels. In June 2006, EMI re-activated the Imperial Records imprint and announced that it would be the urban music division of Caroline Distribution, part of

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

, spearheaded by the urban music veteran Neil Levine. The first signing to the imprint was Raptivism Records.

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

signed with Virgin Records and Imperial Records. Imperial provided resources for developing urban artists with EMI's major labels, including Capitol Records and Virgin Records, which were merged into the Capitol Music Group in January 2007. Universal Music Group acquired the Capitol Music Group as part of its acquisition of the majority of EMI's recorded music operations in 2012. After a few releases, Imperial became dormant again. In 2021, the

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

unit of Universal Music Group revived the Imperial name with the formation of Imperial Music.

Label variations

*Early 1950s to 1954: Blue label with "IMPERIAL" in script letters at the top; 78-RPM counterparts have red labels) *1954–1955: Red label with "IMPERIAL" in script (also silver block) letters at the top *1955–1957: Maroon label with "IMPERIAL" in silver block letters at the top *1957–1963: Black label with colored rays and "IMPERIAL" in white block letters at the top; stereo album counterparts have black labels with silver lettering *1964–1966: Black, white and magenta label with I-R logo in a black box on the left side, "IMPERIAL" under the logo, and "A SUBSIDIARY OF LIBERTY RECORDS" at the bottom *1966–1969: Black and lime green label with I-R logo in a red box on the left side, "IMPERIAL" under the logo, "A PRODUCT OF LIBERTY RECORDS" under "IMPERIAL" and "A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS" *1970: Black and lime green label with I-R logo in a red box on the left side, "IMPERIAL" (in slightly larger letters than the previous label) under the logo, and "LIBERTY/UA, INC"

Imperial Records artists (1947–1970)

* Doris Akers (1953) (IM-694) * Jeff Alexander *Zane Ashton (Bill Aken) * Ross Bagdasarian Sr. * Dave Bartholomew *Lee Bedford, Jr. * Elmer Bernstein *Joe Bill (DeAngelo) * The Bonzo Dog Band * James BookerKatie Van Syckle, James Booker, the 'Black Liberace,' Celebrated in New Doc
Rolling Stone, Retrieved 29 October 2021 * Billy Briggs * Mel Carter * Papa Celestin *

Paul Chambers Paul Laurence Dunbar Chambers Jr. (April 22, 1935 – January 4, 1969) was an American jazz double bassist. A fixture of rhythm sections during the 1950s and 1960s, he has become one of the most widely-known jazz bassists of the hard bop er ...

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

* Classics IV * Clay Cole * Albert Collins * Kenneth Copeland * Sugar Boy Crawford * Sonny Criss * Sonny Curtis * Wild Bill Davis * Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich *

* Fats Domino * Dukes of Dixieland * Georgie Fame * The Fantastic Baggys * Freddy Fender * The Fender IV * Ralph Flanagan * Frankie Ford * Pete Fountain * Kim Fowley * Ernie Freeman * George Girard * Bob Harrington * Peppermint Harris *Ray Harrison Orchestra * Duke Henderson * Adolph Hofner * The Hollies *The Irresistibles *Betty Kay * Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas * Smiley Lewis * George Liberace * Bob Luman *Harley Luse and His Orchestra *The Majors * Wingy Manone *

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

*Reginald G. Marshall * Punch Miller * Garnet Mimms *The Misfits *Bill Mooney and his Cactus Twisters *Carl Myles * Ozzie Nelson * Ricky Nelson * Sandy Nelson * The O'Jays * Don Ralke * Bo Rhambo * Johnny Rivers * Weldon Rogers * Leonard Rosenman * Santo & Johnny * Sheriff John *Dorothy Simmons (1953) (IM-693) * Huey "Piano" Smith *Johnny Spencer & The Kona Koasters (1959) (LP-9076) * The Spiders * April Stevens * The Sunshine Company * The Swinging Blue Jeans * The Teddy Bears * Irma Thomas *Al Toft and His Orchestra * T-Bone Walker * Slim Whitman * Tim Whitsett * Lester Williams * Lew Williams * Warren Zevon

Later artists

* MC Jin * Rasheeda * Julian Park *

The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

References

{{Authority control American jazz record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Rock and roll record labels Hip-hop record labels Record labels based in California Companies based in Los Angeles Universal Music Group EMI Record labels established in 1947 Record labels disestablished in 1970 Record labels established in 2006 1947 establishments in California 1970 disestablishments in California 2006 establishments in California Re-established companies