Crest Records was a subsidiary record label of music publisher American Music owned by Sylvester Cross.

History

Crest Records started operating in 1954, released its first records in 1955. Its offices were located at 9109 Sunset Boulevard in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Crest Records recorded a long list of artists in a wide variety of styles and were more of a pop label, similar to

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous rev ...

for instance. The label scored a hit with the song Three Stars a tribute record to

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died i ...

and

The Big Bopper Jiles Perry Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), better known by his stage name The Big Bopper, was an American musician and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include " Chantilly Lace," " Running Bear", and " White Ligh ...

, written and performed by DJ Tommy Dee. Another hit was Turn Around, Look at Me by

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

. Crest closed its activities in 1963.

Sylvester Cross

Sylvester Cross, president of American Music, Inc. published thousands of songs during the 1940s, in most cases for a fee of about $60. Although the company was charging songwriters to record and publish their music, they did have hundreds of hit songs. Sylvester Cross was a real estate developer by trade ran American Music as his secondary business. After his death his wife quickly sold his publishing company to Hill and Range Songs.

Artists

Among the artists who recorded for the label were Jewel Akens,

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith; born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 65 years. Kaye began play ...

, Bobby Edwards, Jimmy Bowen, Tom Tall, Donna Loren, Bob Denton, Terry Fell and

References

External links

Crest Records discography on Rockin' Country Style

American independent record labels Record labels established in 1954 Record labels disestablished in 1963 1953 establishments in California 1963 disestablishments in California {{US-record-label-stub