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 prod ...

started in 1968 by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

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

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,

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 const ...

, Holly Maxwell, the

Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21, ...

, 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). Dur ...

' 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., RSO Records, and finally Boardwalk Records, before closing for good in 1980 (although the first Curtom 45s were independently distributed). The Curtom master tapes are now owned by the

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. (trade name, d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York C ...

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

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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

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