Hit Records was a record company based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, which specialized in

sound-alike A sound-alike is a sound recording, recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice ...

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 hit records. These types of releases are often categorized as exploito.

Background

It was run by entrepreneurs Bill Beasley and Alan Bubis. The records they produced were sold via convenience stores throughout the United States. Prior to HIT, they started Tennessee Records in 1950 and the Republic label in 1952. In 1959, they took advantage of buying up overstocked hits at low prices and selling them cheaply via the racks throughout the country. Then with Hit Records which they formed, they added their own twin side records to the mix. At 39¢ (US), the records were less than half the price of the hit recordings they were covering. The label was located in Nashville, the home base for the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

recording business in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The company folded in 1969 due to competition from record companies such as

K-Tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

which issued various artists compilation albums featuring the actual hit recordings licensed from the various record companies. Many Hit Records are very collectable and some of the performers on these recordings have developed their own fan base.. There was also an outfit called Hit Records Inc. in Chicago which had been in business since about 1957. With around 600 outlets, they sold their releases via racks in supermarkets and businesses which included Jewel Food and Osko Drugstores in the Chicago area. This company was owned and managed by Charles Stephens.

Business history

In 1965, legal action was taken against director Beasley and Record Service by Harry Fox Office who were represented by Abeles & Clark, a law firm. This was for royalties relating to recordings on a Hit record album, namely ''26 Top Hits''. Harry Fox Office won the case and the sum of $37,000 was awarded to them. The money was paid by Record Service, the owner of Hit Records.

Artists

The company had a pool of singers and musicians to record the cover songs. Some of these performers would later become successful on their own such as Sandy Posey,

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...

Bobby Russell Bobby Russell (April 19, 1940 – November 19, 1992) was an American singer and songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he had five singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, including the crossover pop hit "Saturday Morning Confusion". Russell w ...

, and Sam Moore of

Sam & Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (1935–2025) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", " ...

. . Herbert Hunter, who was a prolific performer on the Hit label, used his own name as well as the name "Leroy Jones" for some of his recordings.Soulful Kinda Music
HerbertHunter
/ref>

References

External links

Hit Records tribute site

* - A sample of some of the music offered by the "HIT" label. {{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1962 Record labels disestablished in 1969