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Embassy Records was a UK budget
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
that produced
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of current hit songs, which were sold exclusively in Woolworths shops at a lower price than the original recordings. The original label was active between 1954 and 1965, after which it disappeared when its parent company, Oriole, was taken over by CBS Records. Later, between 1973 and 1980, CBS Records revived the Embassy imprint to release budget versions of albums in the UK and Europe by artists who were signed to its parent company,
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
.


History 1954–1965

Embassy Records was the result of a contractual arrangement between Oriole Records and Woolworths, with Embassy's product being sold exclusively through the latter's stores. Between November 1954 and January 1965, Embassy released around 1,200 songs recorded by about 150 different artists and these releases were sold for half the price of a major label release of the era. The label's releases mostly consisted of
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
singles that were cover versions of then-current or predicted UK
Top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...
hits, and it was not unusual for different artists or contrasting pop styles to appear on either side of a record. Embassy can therefore be seen as a UK equivalent of U.S. labels such as Hit and (in its early days)
Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...
. The label's product was recorded at the Embassy Recording Studios in
New Bond Street New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
,
Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...
, and manufactured by Oriole, who also licensed the material to many foreign outlets. The tight Embassy recording schedule required four different songs to be recorded in one three-hour session. Included in this standard three-hour session was the initial studio set-up time, before any actual songs were recorded, and a mandatory musicians' coffee break. This meant that on average there was a little over 30 minutes allowed for the recording of an individual song, which, in turn, meant that the artists who did the actual singing had to be first-rate professional singers who could enter a studio and record a song in very few
take A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each ...
s. As a result, Embassy artists tended to be very experienced
big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
or session singers, who would also regularly broadcast live on
BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
. Sometimes these musicians used their professional name when recording for Embassy, but very often they used pseudonyms. The recording sessions usually took place on a Thursday, so that the cover version discs could be rushed out into the stores by the following Monday to compete with the real thing. As well as releasing covers of current hit singles, Embassy Records also produced
EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
of
trad jazz Trad jazz, short for "traditional jazz", is a form of jazz in the United States and Britain that flourished from the 1930s to 1960s, based on the earlier New Orleans Dixieland jazz style. Prominent English trad jazz musicians such as Chris Barb ...
,
children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studie ...
s, light
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
, and songs from
musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
. In late 1964, Embassy's parent label, Oriole, was taken over by CBS Records (Columbia Records in America). Following this purchase, the label was discontinued, with the final Embassy release of the 1960s being " Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)" by Paul Rich and the Beatmen (b/w "The Special Years" by Burt Shane) in January 1965. By this time, the concept of budget cover version releases of current hit songs had been imitated by other labels such as Cannon, Crossbow, Top Six, and Top Pops. CBS subsidiary
Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...
/ Pickwick launched the ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' series of albums a few years after the demise of Embassy, but unlike Embassy's releases, no artists were ever identified on the records.


The artists

The artist whose name appears on the greatest number of Embassy recordings is Paul Rich, a singer with the Lou Preager Orchestra, who recorded for Embassy between 1957 and 1965. However, the artist who actually recorded the most songs for Embassy was Ray Pilgrim. Between 1960 and 1965 he recorded almost 150 songs for the Embassy label using the pseudonyms Bobby Stevens, the Typhoons, the Jaybirds, and the Starlings. Mike Redway, who had been a singer with the Oscar Rabin Band, recorded for Embassy under the pseudonym Redd Wayne, in addition to appearing on many of the Typhoons, Jaybirds and Starlings recordings for the label between 1962 and 1965. Redway later sang the vocal version of the "Casino Royale Theme" over the closing credits of the 1967 '' Casino Royale'' film. Ken Barrie, who later became the voice of Postman Pat, recorded for Embassy under the name of Les Carle. The female singers who made the most recordings for the label were Jean Campbell, Joan Baxter,
Maureen Evans Maureen Evans (born 23 March 1940, Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh pop singer who achieved fame in the 1950s and 1960s. Career Evans career began as a singer with Waldini's Gypsy Band in the mid-1950s, mainly doing summer seasons at UK holiday re ...
and Barbara Kay, with all but the latter recording for Embassy under their own names. Maureen Evans went on to have a hit for Oriole with " Like I Do" and Barbara Kay was one of the members of the Carefrees, who released the
novelty record A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
" We Love You Beatles" in 1964. Barbara Kay, who was yet another singer who had previously been with the Oscar Rabin Band, was usually credited as Kay Barry on Embassy releases.
Instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
recordings would feature whatever session musicians were booked for that day, so the names used for the label, such as Bud Ashton, the Beatmen and the Happy Knights, did not imply any particular participants. Similarly, the group names such as the Typhoons, the Jaybirds, and the Starlings did not imply any consistent membership and were generally made up of any musicians who were available on that particular day. Additionally,
backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
on many Embassy releases were provided by the Mike Sammes Singers but usually went uncredited.


History 1973–1980

CBS Records revived the Embassy imprint in 1973, with the slogan "All the Best from Embassy", to release budget albums of
out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...
, unissued, or foreign material in the UK and Europe, which had originally been released by
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
(or its subsidiaries). Initially, 39 albums were released by the label in October, 1973, including titles by
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
,
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel, and R&B, became a pivotal influence on subsequent Amer ...
,
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
, and
Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...
, among others. Many other Columbia artists had albums reissued on Embassy during the 1970s, including
Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...
,
the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...
,
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
,
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
,
Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...
, and Spirit. CBS Records once again discontinued the Embassy imprint and ceased issuing albums in the UK and Europe in 1980. However, there are known to be some Mexican Embassy releases from much later on in the 1980s.


Other uses of name

*Embassy Records, a short-lived label that distributed recordings for the Warriors Dance record label during the 1990s *Embassy Records, an
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
, based in New Orleans *Embassy Productions, a heavy metal record label from the 1990s *Avco Embassy, a record label that released records by
the Chambers Brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1968 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions ...
,
the Stylistics The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All ...
and Henry Mancini (amongst others) in the 1960s and 1970s *Embassy 9 Records, a Canadian electronic
independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
, based out of Chilliwack, BC


See also

* Conqueror Records, Sears store brand record label * Oriole Records (U.S.), McCrory's store brand record label *
List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...


References


External links


Embassy Records 1964 - 1965 tribute website


{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom Pop record labels British jazz record labels Record labels established in 1954 Record labels disestablished in 1965 Record labels established in 1970 Record labels disestablished in 1980 Re-established companies Columbia Records Store brands