Cartwheel Records

Did You Know?

• The label started in Gainesville, Georgia before moving its music division to Nashville.
• Artists with existing contracts at the time of the ABC, Dunhill purchase included Pam Gilbert, Glen Canyon, Duane Lee, and Harold Lee.

Staff

Cartwheel Records was run by Ron Chancey, an A&R man who had previously worked with Buck Owens’ publishing company. He met Dale Morris by accident on 16th Avenue, and Morris mentioned he had an artist named Billy Crash Craddock. Chancey brought Morris on as vice president of sales and record promotion. Chancey handled production, while Morris focused on promoting and selling the records. Before joining Cartwheel, Morris had worked as a sales rep for the company that made Goodie headache powders. Morris later left the label to manage Craddock and went on to manage Alabama, helping make them a top country group. He now manages Kenny Chesney alongside Clint Hime. The national promotion manager was Juan Contreras, who Chancey and Morris met at Kaintuck Territory, where he worked as a stuntman and gunfighter under the name Johnny Thunderhorse for park owner Walter Sill. Contreras learned promotion by promoting the theme park and worked with Bob Ferguson on a benefit for the United South and Eastern Tribes. Ferguson was an RCA staff producer who had worked with Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner. After ABC, Dunhill bought Cartwheel in November 1972, Don Gant, an Acuff-Rose executive, took over the Nashville office. Following his time at Cartwheel, Contreras became an assistant to Monument Records president Fred Foster, helping artists like Kris Kristofferson, Larry Gatlin, and Billy Swan.