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Elektra Records

American label that shaped folk and rock music.

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Warner Music Group currently owns Elektra Records, an American label that Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt started in 1950.[1] Between the 1950s and 1970s, Elektra Records was instrumental in shaping contemporary folk and rock music.[1]

Key facts and history

Elektra was formed as the Elektra-Stratford Record Corporation in Holzman's St. John's College dorm room, with each founder investing $300.[2] Elektra was acquired by Kinney National Services in 1970, which later became Warner Communications.[1] Holzman chose the 'K' spelling for Elektra because he thought the letter 'C' was "too soft" and preferred the "solid bite" of the 'K', citing Kodak as an example.[3] The debut Elektra LP, titled New Songs (catalog number EKLP 1), came out in March 1951 and featured art songs and Lieder, but it had very low sales.[4]

Elektra's first pop venture was Bounty Records, a short-lived joint effort with Survey Music launched in 1965; the Paul Butterfield Band, its most notable signing, was later transferred to Elektra after Bounty ended.[5] By signing leading American psychedelic rock acts from 1966–1967, such as Love and The Doors, Elektra gained considerable prestige in the music scene.[4] In 1972, Elektra merged with Asylum Records, and David Geffen, who had founded Asylum, became the head of the combined label.[6]

What the cited sources add

A CNN article notes that Elektra's first chart single came from the band Love, with an oddball cover of "My Little Red Book."[7] The same source states that Holzman sold Elektra to Warner Communications in 1970 and left the label in 1973.[7] An A.V. Club article reports that CEO Mo Ostin appointed Bob Krasnow as head of Elektra in 1983, who built an eclectic roster including Metallica and The Cure.[8] The A.V. Club article also notes that Krasnow moved Elektra from Los Angeles to New York City.[8]

A Huffington Post article describes that artist Jason Falkner signed with Elektra in 1996 and was dropped in 2001 after five years of frustration.[9] Richie Unterberger's liner notes explain that Elektra originally had a singles label called Stratford Records at the very beginning.[10] The same notes state that the Byrds' debut single was issued on Elektra under the name the Beefeaters.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leopold, "Confessions of a record label owner", CNN, 20 April 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Unterberger, "Liner Notes for 'Elektra Non-LP Rarities'", Richie Unterberger; "Warner Music Struggles to Restore Its Luster", NPR.org, October 11, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Follow the Music, p. 6; Ηλέκτρα in the original Greek. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music", Guinness Publishing, 1993, p. 121 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Billboard", Nielsen Business Media Inc, September 25, 1965, p. 30; "Billboard", Nielsen Business Media Inc, June 26, 1965, p. 16 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Elektra Records" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music", Guinness Publishing, 1993, p. 121; Leopold, "Confessions of a record label owner", CNN, 20 April 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Leopold, "Confessions of a record label owner", CNN, 20 April 2007. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
  8. Keil, "How Elektra Records ushered in the alternative music revolution", The A.V. Club, November 18, 2020. facts only, no text reused. avclub.com
  9. Sachs, "Author (Still) Unknown: The Brilliant Music and Star-Crossed Career of Jason Falkner", Huffington Post, 8 June 2010. facts only, no text reused. huffingtonpost.com
  10. Unterberger, "Liner Notes for 'Elektra Non-LP Rarities'", Richie Unterberger. facts only, no text reused. richieunterberger.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Elektra Records (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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