Vault Records was a

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 by Jack Lewerke and Ralph Kaffel in Los Angeles in 1963. Vault is known for contributing to the popularity of

surf rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

by releasing ''

Surfbeat ''Surfbeat'' was the first album recorded by the Los Angeles-based surf rock group The Challengers. They recorded the album in a 3½ hour session at the end of 1962. The album was released in early 1963 and became a huge hit, helping to prope ...

'', the debut album of the Challengers.

ATCO Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

distributed the label's recordings until 1965, when the task was taken over by

Autumn Records Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco–based pop record label. Among the notable acts on its roster was The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, " Laugh, Laugh" and " Just a Little". Also on the Autumn Records rost ...

, an independent label in San Francisco. After Autumn folded in 1966, Vault was given the catalogue. As surf rock lost popularity, Vault reissued some of its more obscure releases and signed

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

musicians. By 1969, Vault had released two nationally charting singles, and Lewerke sold the company to National Tape Distributors of Milwaukee. In 1971, he repurchased the master tapes and reissued material on JAS Records. Along with Ralph Kaffel and Jack Lewerke,

Cliff Goldsmith Cliff Goldsmith was an American composer and music producer who had success in the late 1950s and 1960s. Background Cliff Goldsmith was born on 10 May 1925 in Watts and went to school there, graduating from USC. He saw active service during WWII. H ...

was also a principal in the record company.

History

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 ...

recorded their composition " Call Me" which was written by Joe and

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

of the group. It was produced by

and released on Vault V-920. The song was performed on '' Hollywood a Go Go'' on 26 June 1965. It was reported by ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' in the magazine's 10 December 1966 issue that

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 ...

' president Larry Uttal had sealed a worldwide distribution deal with Vault for the label's recordings to be released Taurus & Elkay labels with Bell as the distributor. Ralph Kaffel, Jack Lewerke and Cliff Goldsmith were pictured with Uttal in the article. Vault was also reportedly going full-scale into the recording business. A first release for the company scheduled for 1 January. R&B artist,

Theola Kilgore Theola Kilgore (December 6, 1925 – May 15, 2005) was an American soul and gospel singer. Biography Kilgore was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was brought up in Oakland, California. She began singing in church. Her first recording, on whic ...

was the artist for that release. Chuck Bridges and the L.A. Happening released their album on Vault SLP-132 which had a four-star rating in the 29 November 1969 issue of ''Billboard''. They also released their single "Keep Your Faith Baby" bw "Bad Sam" on Vault V-958 which according to ''Billboard'', was a record Vault was jumping into the soul picture with. In 1969, Vault was sold to National Tape Distributors.''Billboard'', June 12, 1971
Page 8 General News, Executive Turntable
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Jazz releases

Vault's jazz catalogue included albums by

Hampton Hawes Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Early life Hampton Hawes was born on No ...

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Nagasaki", "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "South ...

, and

Larry Bunker Lawrence Benjamin Bunker (November 4, 1928 – March 8, 2005) was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. A member of the Bill Evans Trio in the mid-1960s, he also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra. ...

with

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz Vibraphone, vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused ...

References

External links

* Discogs
Vault
* BSNPubs

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1963 Pop record labels Rock record labels Rhythm and blues record labels

History

Jazz releases

Further reading

References

External links