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- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...
, United States, which was founded in 1961 by Joe Banashak (owner of
Minit Records
Minit Records was an American independent record label, originally based in New Orleans and founded by Joe Banashak in 1959. Ernie K. Doe, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Benny Spellman were early artists on the label. Later artists included Bobby ...
) and Irvin Smith. It was originally called Valiant Records until another
Valiant Records
Valiant Records was an independent record label distributed in the 1960s by Warner Bros. Records (and briefly by Four Star Television). The label was sold to Warner Bros. in 1967.
History
Valiant Records was formed in 1960 in California, by sin ...
threatened to sue and forced the label's renaming to Instant Records. The most successful artist on Instant was
Chris Kenner
Christophe Kenner (December 25, 1929 – January 25, 1976) was an American, New Orleans-based R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, " I Like It Like That" and "Land of 1000 Dances", which became staples ...
. Several Instant recordings were distributed by
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...
.
Skip Easterling's version of Willie Dixon's " I'm Your Hoochie Koochie Man" (1970) was Easterling's biggest success, but its release on Instant proved to be the finale of the label's chart career.