MGM Records was a record label founded by the

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

film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the 1970s. The company also released soundtrack albums of the music for some of their non-musical films as well, and on rare occasions, cast albums of off-Broadway musicals such as ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two ne ...

'' and the 1954 revival of ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

''. In one instance, MGM Records released the highly successful soundtrack album of a film made by another studio,

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

's '' Born Free'' (1966).

Background

There was also a short-lived Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Records that began in 1928, which produced recordings of music featured in MGM movies, not sold to the general public but made to be played in movie theater lobbies. These Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer records were manufactured under contract with the studio by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

History

Soundtrack albums

Their first soundtrack was of '' Till the Clouds Roll By'', a 1946 film based on the life of composer

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

. It was the first soundtrack album of a live-action film originally issued as a set of four 10-inch 78-rpm records. As in many early MGM soundtrack albums, only eight selections from the film were included on the original version of the album. In order to fit the songs onto the record sides the musical material needed editing and manipulation. This was before tape existed, so the record producer needed to copy segments from the playback discs used on set, then copy and re-copy them from one disc to another, adding transitions and cross-fades until the final master was created. Needless to say, it was several generations removed from the original and the sound quality suffered. Also, the playback recordings were purposely recorded very "dry" (without reverberation) otherwise it would come across as too hollow sounding in large movie theaters. This made these albums sound flat and boxy. MGM Records called these "original cast albums" in the style of Decca's Broadway show cast albums. They also coined the phrase "recorded directly from the soundtrack". Over the years the term "soundtrack" began to be commonly applied to any recording from a film, whether taken from the actual film soundtrack or re-recorded. The phrase is also sometimes incorrectly used for Broadway cast recordings. Among MGM's most successful soundtrack albums were those of the films '' Good News'' (the 1947 version), '' Easter Parade'', '' Annie Get Your Gun'', '' Singin' in the Rain'', ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

'' (the 1951 version), '' The Band Wagon'', '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'', and '' Gigi''. When the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' was first shown on television in 1956 (by CBS), the label issued a soundtrack album of songs and dialog excerpts recorded directly from the film, as they had done with their LP of music and dialog from '' Quo Vadis'' in 1951. '' Aba Daba Honeymoon'', performed by

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

and Carleton Carpenter in the film '' Two Weeks With Love'', became the first soundtrack single to become a national hit, selling a million copies and charting at No. 3. By 1950,

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magnetic ...

had been perfected for recording use. This markedly improved the sound quality on long play (LP) albums from 1951 forward. MGM Records also issued albums of film scores, including '' Ben-Hur'', ''

King of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...

'', '' Doctor Zhivago'', '' How the West Was Won'', the 1967 simulated-stereo 70mm re-release of ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'', and '' 2001: A Space Odyssey''. The ''Ben-Hur'' and ''King of Kings'' albums were studio recreations of the scores, but done with the original orchestrations, while ''How the West Was Won'', ''Gone With the Wind'', ''2001'', and ''Doctor Zhivago'' albums were the genuine soundtracks. MGM Records also released a second soundtrack album of ''Quo Vadis'', this one containing only music from the film. Beginning in the 1990s, authentic soundtrack albums of the musical scores to ''Ben-Hur'' and ''King of Kings'' became available. The

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 ...

editions of these albums featured literally the entire scores, including outtakes. Rhino also released a full-length two-disc album of the score of ''Gone with the Wind'', recorded from the soundtrack in the original mono. As in the case of the non-musical films, Rhino Records, which obtained the rights to the MGM soundtracks (owned by Turner Entertainment Co.) in the 1990s, issued longer versions of their movie musical albums, containing virtually all of the songs and music. Rhino's license expired at the end of 2011 and the albums Rhino issued were deleted. Warner Bros. now owns the MGM soundtracks first issued by MGM Records and Warner Bros.' WaterTower Music unit now has the rights to release the MGM soundtracks.

Record manufacturing

MGM operated their own record manufacturing plant at Bloomfield, New Jersey, from 1947 until 1972; pressing not only their own records but a great deal of sub-contract work for other record companies, including

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 ...

. For several years in the late 1940s-early 1950s, MGM operated a radio syndication business, producing '' The MGM Theater of the Air'' and a variety of other series based on inactive movie properties such as '' Dr. Kildare'', Andy Hardy, Maisie, and '' Crime Does Not Pay''. The MGM record pressing plant also manufactured the

electrical transcriptions Electrical transcriptions are special phonograph recordings made exclusively for radio broadcasting,Browne, Ray B. and Browne, Pat, eds. (2001). ''The Guide to United States Popular Culture''. The University of Wisconsin Press. . P. 263. which wer ...

used to distribute the shows to local stations. The record manufacturing division was closed when MGM Records was sold to PolyGram; after which MGM's former competitors began manufacturing records issued by MGM.

As a pop label

In the early 1950s, MGM Records was considered one of the "major" record companies (besides Columbia,

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, Decca/

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, Capitol and Mercury) due to owning its own manufacturing facilities. Subsidiary Cub Records was launched in the late 1950s and

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

(predominately a Jazz label) was acquired from

Norman Granz Norman Granz (August 6, 1918 – November 22, 2001) was an American jazz record producer and concert promoter. He founded the record labels Clef, Norgran, Down Home, Verve, and Pablo and the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series. Gra ...

in December 1960. Other MGM subsidiaries and distributed labels included: Kama Sutra (from 1965 until Kama Sutra's sister label Buddah Records took over distribution in 1969), Ava, Heritage, Lion and Metro (for budget albums), Leo (children's records),

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''. Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...

, MGM South, Pride, CoBurt, L&R, and Lionel. MGM moved successfully into the rock and roll era with many hit records by

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

, Herman's Hermits,

the Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

the Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill Cowsill, B ...

, Lou Christie, the Osmonds, and Cub-subsidiary singer Jimmy Jones, whose hits were on MGM in the UK. Pre-rock pop singer Joni James and country singer Conway Twitty also scored hits on the rock and roll charts. James' "There Goes My Heart" in 1958 was promoted as the first 45 rpm record to be released in stereophonic sound. Although it was the first stereo single to come out of the major record companies, edging out the

release of

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer, actor, and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, from 1943 until 1987 ...

's " Love Makes the World Go 'Round" by mere days, the single was issued in September 1958, while the first overall 45 rpm records to be released in stereophonic sound were issued by Bel Canto Records in June 1958. MGM also distributed Cameo-Parkway Records briefly in 1967. Four albums and two singles were released under this arrangement before Allen Klein bought the Cameo-Parkway catalog and renamed the label ABKCO. Another label distributed by MGM was American International Records, the record label division of

American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...

, whose film library is now owned by MGM.

Country music

MGM Records' first president Frank Walker discovered and signed

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

who became the linchpin of MGM Records' country music operations. Other notable MGM artists of this genre include Hank Williams Jr., Sheb Wooley, Conway Twitty, Sandy Posey, Marvin Rainwater, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, Roy Acuff, Carolina Cotton, Jimmy Newman, Mel Tillis,

Marie Osmond Olive Marie Osmond (born October 13, 1959) is an American singer, actress, television personality, author, and businesswoman. She is known for her girl next door, girl-next-door image and her decades-long career in many different areas. Her musi ...

, Jim Stafford and C.W. McCall.

Classical music

MGM Records issued music of a variety of musical genres, but used the same set of catalog numbers. The label also offered a modest catalog of classical recordings beginning in 1951; among them was catalog number E3711, an account of two sonatas by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, billed as the first in a complete cycle, recorded by pianist Beveridge Webster. In 1962, MGM Records picked up American distribution of the prestigious German classical music label Deutsche Grammophon Records. The arrangement lasted until 1969 when

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

established its American office.

Sale to PolyGram and phase out

MGM Records was sold to PolyGram in 1972. As part of the deal, PolyGram received perpetual rights to the "MGM Records" name and a ten-year license to use the MGM trademark and logo. In 1976, MGM Records, including its artists, was absorbed into PolyGram's

. However, PolyGram continued releasing MGM soundtrack albums and reissues using the MGM Records imprint until 1982. With PolyGram's abandonment of the MGM Records trademark, MGM was able to reclaim its rights to that trademark in 1997. The MGM Records catalog is now split. Although the first three entities remain under the aegis of

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, ...

, the pop music catalog is managed by

Universal Music Enterprises Universal Music Enterprises (UME, stylized as UMe) is the catalogue division of Universal Music Group. It includes Hip-O Records, Universal Chronicles, and UM3 or UMC (which is the international division of the company). Under various divisions, ...

and bears the Polydor imprint, with distribution in North America by

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 ...

, the

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

catalog is now released by Decca Broadway, and the country music catalog is managed by Universal Music Group Nashville with reissues bearing the Mercury Records Nashville imprint. MGM's film soundtracks are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment via its WaterTower Music unit and the catalogs of a few other artists also have new owners.

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

regained control of his MGM/Verve recordings (including those with his group

the Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an ...

) in mid 1977 after two years of negotiations. Zappa later licensed the recordings to

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...

, starting in 1987. In 2012, Gail Zappa licensed her deceased husband's catalogue to

MGM Music

In 1986, MGM formed MGM Music for the licensing of music of which MGM owns the rights. It focuses on licensing soundtracks. It manages the music and music publishing rights of MGM films from 1986 and beyond. ( Warner Bros. Discovery's Turner Entertainment unit owns the pre-1986 MGM soundtracks.) It also manages the music and music publishing rights of

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

and Orion films.

Notable artists

Billy Eckstine William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...

* Bobby Bloom (L&R) * Chris Bartley (Vando) *

Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of Witchcraft, witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English lan ...

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

( Amaret) *

Daddy Dewdrop Daddy Dewdrop is a pseudonym for the American songwriter Richard "Dick" Monda (born 1940, Cleveland, Ohio, United States). He is best known for his 1971 hit "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)". Biography Monda's family moved from Ohio to Calif ...

( Sunflower Records) * Earl Hines * Eric Burdon & War (US) * Erroll Garner * Every Mother's Son * Eydie Gorme (also Steve & Eydie duo) *

Five Man Electrical Band The Five Man Electrical Band (known as The Staccatos from 1963 to 1968) is a Canadian rock music, rock band from Ottawa, Ontario. They had many hits in Canada, including the top 10 entries "Half Past Midnight" (1967) (as The Staccatos), "Absol ...

(Lionel) * Friend and Lover (Verve Forecast) * Frijid Pink (Lion Records) * Geordie (US) *

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "I Have a Right, Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am (Broadway mus ...

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

( Sunflower Records) * Harry Horlick * Herman's Hermits (US) * Johnny Bristol * LeRoy Holmes * Les Fradkin ( Sunflower Records) *

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

* Lou Christie * Mark Dinning *

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. ( ; born March 8, 1945) is an American musician and actor. He was the drummer and one of two primary vocalists for the pop rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and reunions until 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''T ...

* Molly Bee * Otis Blackwell * Paul Frees *

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 ...

(US) *

Randy Edelman Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, Record producer, producer, and composer and Conducting, conductor for Film score, film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway theatre, Broadway's pit orchestras; he ...

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk music, folk, soul music, soul (both of which he frequently cover song, covered), and rhythm and b ...

* Roy Acuff (

) * Sammy Davis Jr. * Shelley Berman (Verve) *

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

(Verve) *

The Animals The Animals, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...

(US) *

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

with

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

(US) * The Blues Project (Verve Forecast) *

The Cowsills The Cowsills are an American singing group from Newport, Rhode Island, six siblings noted for performing professionally and singing harmonies at an early age, later with their mother. The band was formed in early 1965 by brothers Bill Cowsill, B ...

* The Five Satins * The Gentrys * The Hombres ( Verve Forecast) *

The New Seekers The New Seekers were a British pop group, formed in London, in 1969, by Keith Potger, after the break-up of his group, the Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music wou ...

* Tommy Edwards * Tony Blackburn * Woody Herman * Art Mooney * Bob Lind ( Verve Folkways) * Bobby Lewis * C.W. McCall * Davy Jones * Don Meehan *

Eartha Kitt Eartha Mae Kitt (née Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress. She was known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Baby" ...

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

(Pride) * George Mitchell Minstrels (US, where they were renamed the George Mitchell Voices) * George Paxton and His Orchestra *

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

* Ian & Sylvia * Jaime Mendoza-Nava *

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

(Verve/Verve Forecast) * Jasper Wrath * Jaye P. Morgan * Jerry Landis * Jimmy Jones (Cub) * Joni James * Lainie Kazan * Larry Norman, MGM/Verve * Lee Hazlewood * Lou Rawls * Michael Parks * Mike Curb Congregation * Millie Jackson *

Orpheus In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...

* Roy Orbison * Sandy Posey * Steve Lawrence (also Steve & Eydie duo) * The Impalas (Cub) * The Incredible Bongo Band (Pride) *

The Louvin Brothers The Louvin Brothers were an American musical duo composed of brothers Ira and Charlie Louvin (''né'' Loudermilk). The brothers are cousins to John D. Loudermilk, a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member. The brothers wrote and performed ...

The Lovin' Spoonful The Lovin' Spoonful is a Canadian-American folk-rock band formed in Greenwich Village, New York City, in 1964. The band were among the most popular groups in the United States for a short period in the mid-1960s and their music and image influ ...

(Kama Sutra) *

The Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as the Mothers) were an American rock music, rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an ...

(Verve) * The Osmonds (also Donny Osmond solo,

solo, Donny & Marie Osmond duo, & Little Jimmy Osmond solo) * Vaughn Meader (Verve) * Vincent Lopez * Wayne Newton * Andy Starr * Augie Rios * Conway Twitty * David Rose * Dennis Yost & the Classics IV (MGM South) * Donn Reynolds * Elke Sommer *

(Verve) * George Shearing Quintet *

* Hank Williams Jr. * Jeannie C. Riley * Jim Stafford * Jo Ann Tolley * Joey Heatherton *

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who founded the rock band the Lovin' Spoonful in 1964 with Zal Yanovsky. During his time in the Lovin Spoonful, Sebastian wrote and sang some of the ban ...

(Kama Sutra) * Johnny Tillotson * Marvin Rainwater * Mel Tillis *

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

* Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs * Sheb Wooley * Sister Rosetta Tharpe *

Sopwith Camel The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the b ...

(Kama Sutra) *

Teddy Wilson Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive Swing music, swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was high ...

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the L ...

(Verve) * The Royalettes * The Stereos (Cub) * The Sylvers (Pride) * The Tymes *

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

(Verve and MGM) * Tommy Roe (MGM South) * Ultimate Spinach * Walter Wanderley (Verve)

References

{{Authority control Record labels based in California Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Soundtrack record labels Pop record labels American jazz record labels Defunct record labels of the United States Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles Record labels established in 1946 Record labels disestablished in 1982 1946 establishments in California 1982 disestablishments in California 1972 mergers and acquisitions