Curtom Records was a

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 produ ...

started in 1968 by Curtis Mayfield and Impressions manager Eddie Thomas. The label's name was a combination of Mayfield's first name and Thomas' last name. Mayfield had previously made attempts at a record label with the "Mayfield" and "Windy C" labels. It is noted for being one of the first-ever record labels owned by an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

recording artist. Curtom was located in Chicago's former RCA studio (at 1 North Wacker Drive), originally acquired by Mayfield for cutting

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

s. Along with the Impressions' releases and Mayfield's own solo material, artists on or affiliated with Curtom included

the Five Stairsteps The Five Stairsteps, known as "The First Family of Soul" and later "The Invisible Man's Band", was an American Chicago soul group made up of five of Betty and Clarence Burke Sr.'s six children: Alohe Jean, Clarence Jr., James, Dennis, and Kenn ...

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

(principally as a songwriter/orchestration arranger),

Linda Clifford Linda Clifford (born 1944) is an American R&B, disco and house music singer who scored hits from the 1970s to the 1980s, most notably "If My Friends Could See Me Now", " Bridge over Troubled Water", " Runaway Love" and " Red Light". Career ...

Baby Huey and the Babysitters James Thomas Ramey (August 17, 1944 – October 28, 1970), better known as Baby Huey, was an American rock and soul singer. He was the frontman for the band Baby Huey & the Babysitters, whose sole LP for Curtom Records in 1971 was influenti ...

, Leroy Hutson, the Natural Four,

Bobby Whiteside Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a consta ...

Holly Maxwell ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

, the Staple Singers, and

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

' solo efforts. Most of the acts on Curtom's roster were either produced by Mayfield himself or heavily influenced by his style. Eddie Thomas later developed Curtom subsidiary Thomas Records, while Marv Stuart, Mayfield's manager for many years, became a partner in Curtom. The label went through various changes of distribution - first by Buddah Records, then

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, RSO Records, and finally Boardwalk Records, before closing for good in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

(although the first Curtom 45s were independently distributed). The Curtom

master tapes Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the Audio mixing (recorded music), final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all cop ...

are now owned by the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

and the Mayfield family. All subsequent re-issues have been under Warner's supervision.

References

External links

Discogs
{{Authority control Curtis Mayfield American record labels Record labels established in 1968 Record labels disestablished in 1980 Soul music record labels Rhythm and blues record labels 1968 establishments in the United States

See also

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External links