Jubilee Records was an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, specializing in

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 ...

and novelty records. It was founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1946 by

Herb Abramson Herbert Charles Abramson (November 16, 1916 – November 9, 1999) was an American record executive, record producer, and co-founder of Atlantic Records. Life and career Abramson was born in 1916 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He studied to be a ...

. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the company in 1947, when Abramson went on to co-found

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

with

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun ( ; , ; July 31, 1923 – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and championed many lead ...

. The company name was Jay-Gee Recording Company, a subsidiary of the Cosnat Corporation. Cosnat was a wholesale record distributor.

History

Jubilee was the first

to reach the white market with a black vocal group, when the Orioles' recording of "

Crying in the Chapel "Crying in the Chapel" is a song written by Artie Glenn and recorded by his son Darrell Glenn. The song was released in 1953 and reached number six on the ''Billboard'' chart. The song has also been recorded by many artists including the ...

" reached the Top Twenty on the Pop chart in 1953. The Four Tunes started recording for Jubilee in 1953. The biggest early hit for Jubilee was "Crying in the Chapel" by the Orioles. A subsidiary label, Josie Records, was formed in 1954 and issued more uptempo material. Hits on Josie included " Speedoo" by the Cadillacs (number 3 R&B, number 17 pop) and " Do You Want to Dance" by Bobby Freeman (number 2 R&B, number 5 pop). The biggest success was the million-seller " Last Kiss", by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, which reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1964. In the late 1960s, The Meters, a group of New Orleans session musicians, released a series of R&B instrumental hits, including " Cissy Strut", which reached number 4 R&B and number 23 pop. The label's last

rock-and-roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African American music such as jazz, rhythm and ...

hit was the rhythm-and-blues instrumental "Poor Boy"/"Wail!" by the Royaltones (number 17, 1957). Of the label's novelty recordings, releases by the

blooper A blooper, or gag reel, is short clip from a film, television program or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or ...

compiler

Kermit Schaefer Kermit Schafer (March 24, 1914 – March 8, 1979) was an American writer and producer for radio and television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his collections of "bloopers"—the word Schafer popularized for mistakes and gaffes o ...

, and the comedian Rusty Warren were successful. Jubilee/Josie also had a custom label, Gross Records, whose only artist was Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts; their material was so off-color that the Jubilee and Josie names appeared nowhere on their albums. In 1970, Jubilee/Josie, in financial difficulties, was sold to Viewlex, which owned

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

, and Blaine left the company. The catalog was eventually taken over by Roulette Records. The label was declared bankrupt in 1971. In the late 1980s, Roulette was sold jointly to

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

and EMI, and in the 1990s, Rhino was sold to

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...

. The rights to the Jubilee Records archives in North America are now owned by Warner Music, with EMI holding the rights in the rest of the world until 2013.

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

now has worldwide rights to the Roulette/Jubilee catalogue as a result of acquiring

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

in 2013.

Roster

This is a list of recording artists who have had at least one recording released on the Jubilee Records label. *

The Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from Los Angeles, California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts (including "Windy (The Association song), Windy" ...

* Sil Austin * Jim Backus *

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

Polly Bergen Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930 – September 20, 2014) was an American actress, singer, television host, writer, and entrepreneur. She won an Emmy Award in 1958 for her performance as Helen Morgan (singer), Helen ...

* The Blades of Grass * The Bobbettes * Jimmy Boyd * Piney Brown * Tedd Browne * Vinnie Burke * The Cadillacs * The Channels * Bobby Comstock and the Counts * Don Cornell * Eddie Costa *

Bob Crewe Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. Crewe co-wrote and produced a string of Top 10 singles with Bob Gaudio for the Four Seasons. As a songw ...

* The Cues *

Alan Dale Alan Hugh Dale (born 6 May 1947) is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale enjoyed theatre and rugby. After retiring from the sport, he took on a number of occupations, before deciding to become a professional actor at age 27. Dale subsequent ...

* Vivian Dandridge * The Delta Rhythm Boys *

The Dominoes Billy Ward and his Dominoes were an American R&B vocal group. One of the most successful R&B groups of the early 1950s, the Dominoes helped launch the singing careers of two notable members, Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson. Early life B ...

Dorothy Donegan Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was an American classically trained jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical. Biography Early li ...

* Ray Draper *

Dave Dudley Dave Dudley (born David Darwin Pedruska; May 3, 1928 – December 22, 2003) was an American country music singer best known for his truck-driving country anthems of the 1960s and 1970s and his somewhat-slurred bass. His signature song was "Six ...

* The Fifth Estate * The Five Sharps * The Four Coins * The Four Tunes * Bobby Freeman * The Gallahads * Erroll Garner * Herb Geller * The Happenings * Betty Harris *

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

* Jack Haskell * Dick Haymes * Autry Inman *

Conrad Janis Conrad Janis (February 11, 1928 – March 1, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist and actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s, and continued acting right up until 2012. He played the role of Mi ...

and the Tailgaters * The Jesters *Aliza Kashi * The King Sisters * Baker Knight * Moe Koffman * The Larks *Little Sylvia (Sylvia Robinson) * Bill Mack * The Marylanders * Lou McGarity *

Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen ( ; ; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and composer. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide ...

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

* Domenico Modugno * Lou Monte *

Vaughn Monroe Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another f ...

* Oliver *

Sy Oliver Melvin James "Sy" Oliver (December 17, 1910 – May 28, 1988) was an American jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader. Life Sy Oliver was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. His mother was a piano teacher, and his f ...

* The Orioles * Frankie Ortega *

Billy Paul Paul Williams (December 1, 1934 – April 24, 2016), known professionally as Billy Paul, was an American soul music, soul singer, known for his 1972 Record chart, No. 1 single "Me and Mrs. Jones". His 1973 album and single ''War of the Gods (alb ...

* The Raindrops * Carl Ravazza * The Ray-O-Vacs * The Rebels *

Della Reese Della Reese (born Delloreese Patricia Early; July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017) was an American singer, actress, television personality, author and ordained minister. As a singer, she recorded blues, gospel, jazz and pop. Several of her singl ...

*Sylvia Robbins (Sylvia Robinson) * Sylvia Robinson * Don Rondo * The Royal Teens *

* Walter Scharf * Allan Sherman * Bobby Sherwood * The Sidewalk Surfers * Lu Ann Simms * Smith & Dale * Lou Stein * Larry Storch * Enzo Stuarti * Gene Summers and His Rebels * Donna Theodore * Jo Ann Tolley * The Top Notes * The Valentinos * The Volumes * Billy Ward and the Dominoes * Rusty Warren *

Dee Dee Warwick Delia Juanita Warrick (September 25, 1942 – October 18, 2008), known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick, was an American soul singer. Born in East Orange, New Jersey, she was the sister of singer Dionne Warwick, the niece of Cissy Houston, a ...

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

Mary Wells Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s. Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...

* Randy Weston * Ilene Woods * Ethel Ennis

Josie Records artists

This is a list of recording artists who have had at least one recording released on the Josie Records label. * The Cadillacs * The Chaperones *

Carol Fran Carol Fran (born Carol Augustus Anthony; October 23, 1933 – September 1, 2021) was an American soul blues singer, pianist, and songwriter, best known for her string of single releases in the 1950s and 1960s, and her later musical association ...

* Bobby Freeman * The Meters * J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers

References

External links

Jerry Blaine

Jubilee Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1946 Record labels disestablished in 1970 Rhythm and blues record labels American independent record labels 1946 establishments in New York City

History

Roster

Josie Records artists

See also

References

External links