Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of

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 ...

(from 1971 part of WEA) and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was formed as an outlet for

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

, R&B,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

, pop, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. Its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About a Mover", reached the R&B charts. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded to include

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, folk-rock, gospel, jazz and comedy. In 1976, the label started focusing on disco and R&B. At that point, Cotillion's catalog albums outside those genres were reissued on Atlantic. Among its acts were the post-

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

Impressions;

Slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

;

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), known professionally as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter whose music transcended rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres in the 1950s and 1960s, with ...

; Sister Sledge; Stacy Lattisaw; The Fatback Band; Young-Holt Unlimited;

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

; Jean Knight;

Mass Production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

; Garland Green;

The Dynamics The Dynamics were an American R&B group from Detroit, Michigan. The Dynamics were formed in the early 1960s. Their first hit was 1963's "Misery", which formed the basis for the Who's first record, " Zoot Suit". In the late 1960s the group w ...

; The Fabulous Counts; ;

Lou Donaldson Louis Andrew Donaldson Jr. (November 1, 1926 – November 9, 2024) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He was best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was he ...

;

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 ...

; Danny O'Keefe;

Mylon LeFevre Mylon Rae LeFevre (October 6, 1944 – September 8, 2023) was an American Christian rock singer known for his work with his band Mylon and Broken Heart. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and traveled around the United States, mi ...

; Stevie Woods; Johnny Gill;

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards) of The Nice, Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitars, producer) ...

;

Slade Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The '' British Hit Singl ...

; and Screaming Lord SutchDavid 'Screaming Lord' Sutch, Pop Star, Politician 1940–1999
NME Retrieved 03 May 2025

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

recorded for them, and had his own record label subsidiary there, Embryo Records, in the 1970s. Cotillion is also responsible for launching the career of

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, who was in a three-member group called Luther (the rights now lay with his estate as he had bought them back when he was alive preventing reissues until 2024). The label also released music from the Woodstock festival in 1970. Cotillion was closed down in 1986 and Johnny Gill, Stacy Lattisaw, Slave, and Sister Sledge were moved to its parent label Atlantic Records. For Record Store Day 2013,

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 ...

released the 7-inch boxset ''Cotillion Records: Soul 45s (1968–1970)'', with ten 45 rpm singles from Darrell Banks, Otis Clay, Moses Smith, and Baby Washington. The release was a limited edition of 2500 copies worldwide.

References

External links

Discography
{{Authority control Warner Music labels Atlantic Records Record labels established in 1968 Record labels disestablished in 1985 Soul music record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Disco record labels Progressive rock record labels Rock record labels Pop record labels American jazz record labels 1968 establishments in the United States

See also

References

External links