At least five

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 ...

s with the name Bullet Records have existed.

Bullet Records, Nashville, 1946-1952

The earliest Bullet Records was a

based in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, United States, which was started in 1946 by Jim Bulleit and C.V. Hitchcock. Bulleit was an early partner in

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

. Its only national hits were by orchestra leader

Francis Craig Francis Craig (September 10, 1900 – November 19, 1966) was an American songwriter, honky tonk piano player, and leader of a Nashville dance band. His works included "Dynamite" and "Near You", the latter being the first Billboard #1 hit out of ...

. The pop hit "

Near You "Near You" is a popular song written and originally recorded by Francis Craig and His Orchestra at Castle Studio in 1947, with lyrics by Kermit Goell, that has gone on to become a pop standard. Background The recording by Francis Craig (t ...

" made in early 1947 was a monster, topping the charts for seventeen weeks and having a chart run of twenty-five weeks. Craig also made the charts at #3 with "Beg Your Pardon", but no further hits were forthcoming.Pop Memories 1890-1954. Joel Whitburn. 1986. Record Research Inc. p. 232. Despite these hits, the label was known for country music artists such as Boots Woodall's Radio Wranglers, who also recorded for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, and Southern Gospel artists such as the Rangers Quartet and Speer Family. The label also recorded blues singer and pianist

Cecil Gant Cecil Gant (April 4, 1913 – February 4, 1951) was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, whose recordings of both ballads and "fiery piano rockers" were successful in the mid- and late 1940s, and influenced the early development of ...

. In 1949 they released

B. B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shimm ...

's first commercial single, "Miss Martha King". Too much money was spent in hope of repeating the success of Francis Craig's "Near You" and the label was in trouble by 1949. Jim Bulleit sold out to his share to Hitchcock in February of that year. The label limped on for a few years but was out of business by 1952. The Bullet, Sur-Speed and Delta catalogs were purchased by Bluesland Productions in the mid-1990s.

Other Bullet record labels

Another label with the same name was a short-lived subsidiary of American

Bang Records Bang Records was created by Bert Berns in 1965 together with his partners from Atlantic Records: Ahmet Ertegun, Nesuhi Ertegun and Jerry Wexler. The first letters of their names (Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, Gerald) formed the label's name. Forming the ...

. Only one album by

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson ...

in 1976 was ever released. Bryson's next label

now owns the rights to the album ''

Peabo ''Peabo'' is the debut album by soul vocalist Peabo Bryson. Luther Vandross and Cissy Houston were among the background vocalists on this album. Reception Released in 1976 on Bullet Records, this was Bryson's only album with the label before ...

'' and Bryson's unreleased Bullet material. The third known

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, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

with this name was based in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the early 1980s, and released

NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

artists. Among known releases is the self-titled 1983 debut EP from

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

Pretty Maids Pretty Maids is a Danish hard rock/ heavy metal band from Horsens. Formed in 1981 by Ken Hammer, and completed with Ronnie Atkins in 1982, their sound and music can be described as classic guitar-laden heavy rock with a strong emphasis on melod ...

. Bullet Records UK was an offshoot of Bullet Mail Order. Because of its close ties with the British heavy metal scene at that time, it seemed a logical progression to form a label to promote little-known unsigned bands. Amongst the bands on the label were Wrathchild, Pretty Maids, Black Rose

rom N.E.England Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

Le Griffe, Crisis (from Salt Lake City, US), Silverwing,

Chrome Molly Chrome Molly are an English hard rock band from Leicester. They formed in 1982, releasing four albums before splitting up in 1991. They re-formed in 2009. History The band formed in 1982, and after an early demo settled on a line-up of sin ...

and Taipan

rom Australia Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

Whilst many of the releases were critically acclaimed, the company suffered from a lack of experience and through various reasons, cash-flow being one, was forced to cease trading in 1984 Bullet Records is currently a Registered Trademark owned by Clark Enslin.

References

External links

Bullet Records (Nashville)
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
* http://www.trademarkia.com/bullet-records-85305508.html {{Authority control American record labels British record labels

Bullet Records, Nashville, 1946-1952

Other Bullet record labels

See also

References

External links