Derby Records was an independent record label founded by

Larry Newton Larry Newton ''(né'' Louis I. Nutinsky May 7, 1920 – January 30, 2005) was an American record company entrepreneur who, earlier in his career, worked with several independent labels. He then became sales manager at the 1955 startup of ABC-Para ...

in 1949. The label's logo featured a Derby hat. First headquartered in New York City, it moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

shortly before going out of business in 1964. The label offered selections in various styles of

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

of the era, including

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 ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

, and

Western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...

. Derby recording artists included singer

Mel Carter Mel Carter (born April 22, 1939) is an American soul and pop singer and actor. He is best known for his 1965 million-selling recording "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me". Biography Carter was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. At age 16, he studied singi ...

, saxophonist

Freddie Mitchell Freddie Lee Mitchell II (born November 28, 1978) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver for four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was chosen ...

, singer and session artist

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

, and Vann "Piano Man" Walls. Singer Jaye P. Morgan made her recording debut for Derby in 1950.

Sunny Gale Sunny Gale (born Selma Segal, February 20, 1927 – 2022) was an American pop singer who was popular in the 1950s. Gale reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 several times throughout the earlier half of the decade, scoring her biggest hit with " Whe ...

had a hit for Derby in 1952 with "Wheel of Fortune", which reached No. 13 and sold c. 50,000 copies.

References

External links

Derby Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1963 Record labels disestablished in 1964 American jazz record labels {{US-record-label-stub

See also

References

External links