Doré Records (pronounced "dorrie") was a record label founded in

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

, in 1958 by Lew (or Lou) Bedell and his cousin Herb Newman.

History

In 1955 Bedell and Newman had set up

Era Records Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California. History Era Records was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in March 1955 as a popular music, pop and rhythm and blues outlet. The label later expanded into ...

, which had several hits with such artists as

Gogi Grant Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg (September 20, 1924 – March 10, 2016), known professionally as Gogi Grant, was an American pop singer. She had a No. 1 hit in 1956 with " The Wayward Wind". Life and career Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in P ...

(" The Wayward Wind") and Art and Dotty Todd (" Chanson d'Amour"). However, Era had failed to break into the

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

market, which Bedell was anxious to do. Bedell and Newman set up Doré Records in June 1958, with the support of record distributor George Jay. The label was named after Bedell's young son Doré, who himself had been named for Bedell's grandmother Dora Newman. Rob Finnis, ''Liner notes: The Dore Story Vol.1'', 2011, reprinted at LinerNotes.com
. Retrieved 14 February 2013 The label's first big hit was " To Know Him Is to Love Him" by

the Teddy Bears The Teddy Bears were an American pop music group. They were record producer Phil Spector's first vocal group. History Following graduation from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California, Phil Spector became obsessed with " To Know Him Is ...

, written by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

, who was a member of the group. Bedell insisted on releasing the record as it had been recorded, although Newman wanted to

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

strings. This disagreement contributed to Bedell and Newman deciding to end their partnership in 1959, with Newman retaining control of Era and Bedell running the Doré label. Lou Bedell at Black Cat Rockabilly
Retrieved 14 February 2013 Billboard, ''Sister labels split to go it on own'', 8 June 1959
Retrieved 14 February 2013 Among the early staff at Doré were

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter, pianist, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, conductor, painter, sculptor and theatre producer, who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass (sometimes called "Herb Alpe ...

and

Lou Adler Lester Louis Adler (born December 13, 1933) is an American record and film producer and the co-owner of the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California. Adler has produced and developed a number of high-profile musical artists, including The G ...

. The Doré label had several major pop and

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

hits over the next few years, including "

Baby Talk Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parente ...

" by

Jan and Dean Jan and Dean were an American rock music, rock duo consisting of William Jan Berry (April 3, 1941 – March 26, 2004) and Dean Ormsby Torrence (born March 10, 1940). In the early 1960s, they were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf m ...

, and "Percolator (Twist)", credited to Billy Joe & the Checkmates but actually recorded by session musicians directed by

Ernie Freeman Ernest Aaron Freeman (August 16, 1922 – May 16, 1981) was an American pianist, organist, bandleader, and arranger. He was responsible for arranging many successful rhythm and blues and pop music, pop records from the 1950s to the 1970s. B ...

. The label also released singles by John and Judy (John was John Maus, later of

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker (musician), John Walker (real name John Maus) and Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), with Gary Walker (musician), Gary Wal ...

Little Ray Little Ray also known as Ray Jimenez, is an American Chicano rock and brown-eyed soul musician, prominent in the 1960s. Jimenez was born and raised in Delano, California, and later moved to East Los Angeles. Jimenez briefly sang with Thee Midnit ...

, Ronnie Cook ("Goo Goo Muck", later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

the Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2009. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

), and many others.''45 Discography for Dore Records'', Global Dog Productions
Retrieved 14 February 2013 In the mid-1960s, the Doré label issued pop and R&B records, including releases by

the Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

, Richard "Dimples" Fields, and

Toussaint McCall Toussaint McCall (1934 – August 7, 2023) was an American R&B singer and organist. Biography Toussaint McCall was born in Delhi, Louisiana, but was a long-time resident of nearby Monroe, Louisiana. His father, Rev. D. L. McCall, was a pastor ...

. Doré also issued comedy albums, and its most successful act was the comedy duo of Hudson & Landry.Mike Callahan, David Edwards, ''Doré Album Discography'', Both Sides Now Publications
Retrieved 14 February 2013 Bedell continued to run Doré Records until shortly before his death in 2001. The catalogue is now owned by Ace Records of the UK.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dore Records American record labels Record labels established in 1958 1958 establishments in California