Specialty Records was an American
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, ...
founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by
Art Rupe
Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music reco ...
. It was known for
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 ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
, and early
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 ...
, and recorded artists such as
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
,
Guitar Slim,
Percy Mayfield, and
Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American R&B and rock 'n' roll singer, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality (Lloyd Price song), Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a ...
.
Rupe established the company under the name Juke Box Records but changed it to Specialty in 1946 when he parted company with a couple of his original partners.
Rupe's daughter, Beverly,
restarted the label in the 1980s.
The major producers for the label were Rupe,
Robert "Bumps" Blackwell,
Johnny Vincent
John Vincent Imbragulio (October 3, 1927 – February 4, 2000), known as Johnny Vincent, was an American record producer for Art Rupe at Specialty Records. He founded Ace Records (US), Ace Records in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, 165 miles awa ...
and
J. W. Alexander.
Rupe was known for hating the practice of
payola
Payola, in the music industry, is the name given to
the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to pla ...
,
but by 1953, "the only way for Specialty to remain competitive was to pay like everybody else."
Specialty owned music publishing companies: Venice Music for
BMI-licensed songs, and Greenwich Music for
ASCAP-licensed songs.
The record label was sold to
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...
in 1991 and is now part of the
Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group was an American independent music company based in Beverly Hills, California, with worldwide (including the U.S.) distribution through Universal Music Group. The company specialized in recordings and music publishing. On Apri ...
. The music publishing unit was sold to
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...
.
Roster
*
The Blind Boys of Alabama
*
Alex Bradford
*
Wynona Carr
*
Clifton Chenier
*
Eugene Church
*
Dorothy Love Coates
*
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...
*
John Lee Hooker
*
Camille Howard
*
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...
*
Guitar Slim
*
Roddy Jackson
*
Jimmy Liggins
*
Joe Liggins
*
Roy Milton
*
Percy Mayfield
*
Lloyd Price
Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American R&B and rock 'n' roll singer, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality (Lloyd Price song), Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a ...
*
Frankie Lee Sims
*
Soul Stirrers
*
Larry Williams
*
Lester Williams
See also
*
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
Official websiteSpecialty Recordson the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control
Specialty Records artists with Wikipedia pages
Record labels established in 1946
Record labels disestablished in 1991
Rhythm and blues record labels
Blues record labels
Rock and roll record labels
Defunct record labels of the United States
Concord Music Group
1946 establishments in California
1991 disestablishments in California