All for One Records, better known as AFO, was an African American musician-owned
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...
Harold Battiste
Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. (October 28, 1931 – June 19, 2015) was an American music composer, arranger, performer, and teacher. A native of, and later community leader in, New Orleans, he is best known for his work as an arranger on record ...
, who was an established composer, arranger, and performer. AFO was established as a musicians' collective. According to AFO alumnus Wallace Johnson, Battiste "said it was time for New Orleans musicians that make the music to make the money – not out-of-town companies that came here to record." House musicians for AFO included
Harold Battiste
Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. (October 28, 1931 – June 19, 2015) was an American music composer, arranger, performer, and teacher. A native of, and later community leader in, New Orleans, he is best known for his work as an arranger on record ...
Peter Badie
Peter "Chuck" Badie (born May 17, 1925) is an American jazz bass player.
Badie was born in New Orleans in May 1925. His father was a prominent jazz saxophone player who played with the "Eureka" and the "Original Olympia" brass bands. He left th ...
Sue Records
''Sue Records was also the name of a Louisiana-based record company which owned Jewel Records (Shreveport record label).''
Sue Records ("The Sound of Soul") was an American record label founded by Henry 'Juggy' Murray and Bobby Robinson in 1957. ...
.
In 1961, AFO released
Barbara George
Barbara George (16 August 1942 – 10 August 2006) was an American R&B singer and songwriter.
Biography
Born Barbara Ann Smith at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, she was raised in the 9th ward New Orleans, and began si ...
's song "
I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)
"I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" is an R&B song written and recorded by American singer Barbara George, released as her debut single in 1961. It became her signature song and her only major hit in United States, reaching number-one on the ''Bi ...
", which reached the top of the R&B chart and #3 on the Hot 100 chart.
In 1963, Battiste and other members of the collective moved to Los Angeles, in hopes of greater success. Battiste's band, the AFO Executives, became a
backup band
A backup band or backing band is a musical ensemble that typically accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a recording session, and the group may or may not have its own name, such ...
for Sam Cooke and other SAR Records artists until Cooke's death in 1964. The collective soon diffused, and AFO went on "extended hiatus".
In 1991, Battiste, who had returned to New Orleans, restarted the project and leased much of the AFO catalog to Ace Records, who used them to produce a series of compilations beginning with ''Gumbo Stew''.
By 2007, Battiste created the AFO Foundation to protect and nurture the resources of AFO Records and Battiste's music publishing company, At Last Publishing.