Universal Records was an American

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 ...

record label. Established in 1988 by Jimmy Bowen, it was merged into

Capitol Records Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States–based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee, operating as part of the Music Corporation of America. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records. While under the ...

in 1989.

History

Record producer Jimmy Bowen established the Universal Records label in December 1988. It was distributed by MCA Nashville, and featured its own team of producers, promotion, and

artists and repertoire Artists and repertoire (or A&R for short) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for scouting, financing, and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists and songwriters. It also acts as a l ...

(A&R). The label's roster at foundation consisted of Joe Barnhill, Lacy J. Dalton,

Larry Gatlin Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers are an American country music vocal group. The group consists of lead singer Larry Gatlin (born May 2, 1948) and his brothers, Rudy and Steve Gatlin. The group achieved considerable success within the country ...

and the Gatlin Brothers, Joni Harms, Tim Malchak, Scott McQuaig,

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

Eddie Rabbitt Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as " Kentucky Rain ...

, Eddy Raven, and

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (22 March 1936 – 13 September 2023) was a Kenyan-born British singer-songwriter and musician. His music is an eclectic mixture of folk music and popular songs, the latter variously in a crooning or in a schlager ...

. Dalton's ''Survivor'' was issued in January 1989 as the label's inaugural album. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band also issued '' Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two'' through the label. In July 1989, Bowen announced that Universal would be the first Nashville label not to issue

phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

s. A September 1989 article in ''Billboard'' described the label as "fledgling" and noted that projects by John Anderson, Wild Rose, and other artists had been delayed. Bowen dissolved the Universal label in December 1989, and its entire roster was merged into

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

Nashville when Bowen assumed presidency of that division.

References

{{Authority control American country music record labels Record labels established in 1988 Record labels disestablished in 1989 Defunct record labels of the United States