Liberty Records

History

Liberty's early releases concentrated on film and orchestral music. Its first single was Lionel Newman's 'The Girl Upstairs'. The label's first major success came in 1955 with Julie London's version of 'Cry Me a River', which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped sell her debut album, Julie Is Her Name. In 1956, Henry Mancini signed with Liberty, releasing two singles and several albums before departing for RCA Victor in 1958, where his sales increased.

Patience and Prudence, teen sisters, took 'Tonight You Belong to Me' to No. 4 in the US and No. 28 in the UK, selling over a million copies. Margie Rayburn also scored a Top 10 hit with 'I'm Available' and recorded two dozen singles for the label. Eddie Cochran, Liberty's biggest rock singer, appeared in his second film, Untamed Youth, and had hits including 'Sittin' in the Balcony', 'Summertime Blues', and 'C'mon Everybody'. The R&B act Billy Ward and His Dominoes, after Jackie Wilson left, featured ex-Lark Eugene Mumford; their version of 'Stardust' reached No. 13 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart in October 1957, becoming the group's only million seller.

By 1958, Liberty neared bankruptcy, but Ross Bagdasarian, performing as David Seville, had a number one hit with 'Witch Doctor'. Later that year, he used multi-track recording and altered speed to introduce the Chipmunks—Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, named after Liberty executives Bennett, Waronker, and Keep—in 'The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)'. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the months leading to Christmas 1958, the first Christmas record to top that chart, selling 4.5 million copies.

Also in 1958, Liberty formed a sublabel called Freedom, which lasted through 1959, when Liberty moved to 6920 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.