| Mercury Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Irving Green Berle Adams Arthur Talmadge |
| Distributing label | Mercury Records (In the UK, although the Living Presence series was issued on CD on the Mercury label) The Island Def Jam Music Group (current US distribution) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | UK, US |
| Official website | Official website of Mercury Records UK Official website of Mercury Records US |
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Music Group in the US, and are both subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For other record labels with the Island name see Island Records (disambiguation The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music For other record labels with the Island name see Island Records (disambiguation Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. In the US, its name and logo is also used for country releases issued by Universal Music Group Nashville. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group 's Country music subsidiary
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History
Mercury Records was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Irving Green ( February 6, 1916 – July 1, 2006) was an American record industry executive and co-founder and president of Mercury Records Berle Adams (birth name Beryl Adasky was a music industry executive best known as second in command at MCA. They were a major force in jazz and blues, classical music, rock and roll, and country music recordings. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. Early in the labels history, Mercury opened two pressing plants, one in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. With the use of automatic presses and providing 24-hour turnaround, they went into direct competition with major recording labels such as Columbia, Decca, and RCA Victor. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment.
By hiring two promoters, Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard, they penetrated the pop market with names such as Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane and Patti Page. Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio ( Chicago, March 30, 1913 – San Diego, February 6, 2007) Vic Damone (born June 12, 1928) is an Italian American Singer. Tony Fontane (1925–1974 was a popular recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s who following a near-fatal car accident in 1957 gave up his popular career to pursue one as Clara Ann Fowler (born November 8, 1927) known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer one of the best-known female artists
In 1947 Jack Rael, a musician and publicist/manager, persuaded Mercury to let Patti Page (whom he managed) record a song that had been planned to be done by Vic Damone, "Confess. Events August 7 - Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania " The budget was too small for them to hire a second singer to provide the "answer" parts to Page, so at Rael's suggestion she did both voices. This became the first documented example of "overdubbing," and Patti Page became one of the artists best known for the use of this technique.
The company released an enormous number of recordings under the Mercury label as well as its subsidiaries (Blue Rock Records, Cumberland Records, EmArcy Records, Fontana Records, Limelight Records, Philips Records, Smash Records and Wing Records). Blue Rock Records is a subsidiary of Mercury Records.and like their parent they were based in Chicago Cumberland Records is a subsidiary of Mercury Records. See also List of record labels EmArcy Records is a Jazz record label founded in 1954 by Mercury Records and is today a European jazz label owned by Universal Music Group. Fontana Records is a Record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Limelight Records is a subsidiary of Mercury Records. A sub-label started by Quincy Jones, featured Art Blakey, Les McCann, Dizzy Gillespie Philips Records is a Record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. Smash Records is an American Record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton Wing Records was a Record label Subsidiary of Mercury Records that enjoyed its greatest success during the 50s In addition, they leased and purchased material by independent labels and redistributed them.
Under their own label, Mercury released a variety of recording styles from classical music to psychedelic rock. However, its subsidiaries focused on their own specialized categories of music.
Mercury's jazz division had two distinct and important fathers. John Hammond brought his expertise and connections when Mercury bought Keynote Records in the late 1940s. And Mercury was the issuing company and distributor for Norman Granz's pre-Norgran/Verve recordings. Although both Hammond and Granz had departed Mercury by the mid-50's, they established the company in the jazz world. Mercury, under its Emarcy label, released LPs by many important post-swing and bebop artists including Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Clark Terry, Dinah Washington, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Ernestine Anderson, Sarah Vaughn, Maynard Ferguson, Jimmy Cleveland, Herb Geller and others. By the early 1960s, Mercury was releasing jazz under the flagship label and was an early leader in the new stereo sound releases. Highlights of the early and mid-60's included albums by Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich, Cannonball Adderley, Charles (then called Charlie) Mingus, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Max Roach and others.
In the early 1950s, Norman Granz started his own record company, Norgran, which later became Verve. In an ironic twist, both Mercury and Verve are now owned by Universal Music Group and Mercury's jazz library falls under the Verve division. Since the early 1990s, Verve has reissued many Mercury jazz titles on CD, often taking care to use original master tapes and including session material not included on the original LPs. In addition, Mosaic Records in Stamford CT has issued several box sets spotlighting the Mercury and Verve recordings of various artists including Max Roach, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie and Buddy Rich.
'Mercury Living Presence' series
In 1951, under the direction of recording engineer C. Robert Fine and recording director David Hall, Mercury Records initiated a recording technique using a single microphone. David Hall (born 16 December 1916 in New Rochelle New York) is a sound archivist and writer The first record in this new Mercury Olympian Series was "Pictures at an Exhibition" performed by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony. Pictures at an Exhibition (Картинки с выставки &ndash Воспоминание о Викторе Гартмане Kartinki s vystavki &ndash Vospominaniye WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Rafael Jeroným Kubelík ( June 29 1914 &ndash The Chicago Symphony Orchestra ( CSO) is an American orchestra based in Chicago Illinois. The group that became the most famous using this technique was the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, which, under the leadership of conductor Antal Dorati, made a long series of classical albums that were very highly regarded - including the first-ever complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets. The Minnesota Orchestra is an American Orchestra based in Minneapolis Minnesota. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Antal Doráti KBE ( April 9, 1906 &ndash The NY Times music critic described the Mercury sound as "being in the living presence of the orchestra" and Mercury began releasing their classical releases under the 'Living Presence' series' name, which was produced by Mercury vice president Wilma Cozart, who later married Bob Fine. Cozart took over recording director duties in 1953 and also produced the CD reissues of much of the Mercury Living Presence catalog in the 1990s. By the late 50's, the Mercury Living Presence crew included session musical supervisors Harold Lawrence and Clair van Ausdall and associate engineer Robert Eberenz. When Cozart retired in 1964, Lawrence took over the Mercury classical division and continued producing Mercury Living Presence records into 1967.
Besides the recordings with the Chicago and Minneapolis orchestras, Mercury also recorded Howard Hanson and the Eastman Rochester Orchestra, Frederick Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Howard Harold Hanson ( October 28, 1896 &ndash February 26, 1981) was an American Composer, conductor, educator Frederick Fennell ( July 2, 1914 in Cleveland Ohio – December 7, 2004 in Siesta Key Florida) was an internationally The Eastman Wind Ensemble is a famous American Concert band founded by Frederick Fennell at the Eastman School of Music in 1952 Paul Paray (born Le Tréport, May 24, 1886 - died Monte Carlo, October 10, 1979) was a French conductor The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO was founded in 1914 It performed the world's first radio broadcast of a symphonic concert on February 10, 1922 with pianist Dorati made some recordings in the United Kingdom with the London Symphony Orchestra for Mercury during the 1960s. The London Symphony Orchestra ( LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom.
In 1955, Mercury began using 3 omni-directional microphones to make stereo recordings on 3-track tape. The technique was an expansion on the mono process—center was still paramount. Once the center, single microphone was set, the sides were set to provide the depth and width heard in the stereo recordings. The center mike still fed the mono LP releases, which accompanied stereo LPs into the 1960s. In 1961, Mercury enhanced the three-microphone stereo technique by using 35mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater thickness and width of 35mm magnetic film prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained in addition extended frequency range and transient response. Print-through (sometimes referred to as bleed-through) is a generally undesirable effect that arises in the use of Magnetic tape for storing analogue information The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were mastered directly from the 3-track tapes or films, with a 3-2 mix occurring in the mastering room. The same technique -- and restored vintage equipment of the same type -- was used during the CD reissues. Specifically, 3-track tapes were recorded on Ampex 300-3 1/2" machines at 15 IPS. 35mm magnetic films were made on 3-track Westrex film recorders. The 3-2 mixdown was done on a modified Westrex mixer. For the original LPs, the mixer directly fed the custom cutting chain. At Fine Recording in NY, the Westrex cutter head on a Scully lathe was fed by modified McIntosh 200W tube amplifiers with very little feedback in the system. Older mono records were made with a Miller cutter head. For the CD reissues, the output of the Westrex mixer directly fed a DCS analog-to-digital converter and the CDs were mastered on Sony 1630 tapes. No digital enhancement or noise reduction was used.
The Mercury classical music catalogue is currently managed by Decca Music Group through Philips Records. Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Philips Records is a Record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips.
In 2003 Speakers Corner Records began issuing 180 gram audiophile quality LP reissues, sourced from the original analog masters, of Mercury Living Presence recordings.
Later history
In 1961 the Dutch company Philips Records, having lost its distribution deal with Columbia Records outside North America, signed an exchange agreement with Mercury, and Philips subsequently bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels to expand its US base. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company In 1962 Philips merged its record operations with Deutsche Grammophon to become PolyGram in 1972. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical Record label. The company has long been known for its high standards of audio fidelity. PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the Major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945
Under PolyGram, Mercury absorbed Casablanca Records (also home to the 20th Century Records back catalogue), home of heavy metalers KISS and disco stars Donna Summer and Village People, in 1982 and primarily became a rock/pop label with KISS, Scorpions, Rush, Kurtis Blow, Tears for Fears, Bon Jovi, Hanson, Cinderella, Treat and Def Leppard. This article is about Casablanca the record label For other uses please see Casablanca (disambiguation. 20th Century Records, also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century-Fox Records, began in 1958 was a subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. Kiss (also typeset as KISS) is an American rock band formed in New York City in December 1972 Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained Village People are a concept Disco group formed in the late 1970s Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Kiss (also typeset as KISS) is an American rock band formed in New York City in December 1972 Scorpions are a heavy metal / Hard rock band from Hanover, Germany, probably best known for their 1980s rock anthem " Rock You Like a Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968 in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, currently comprised of Curtis Walker (born 9 August 1959) better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is one of the first commercially successful rappers and Tears for Fears (sometimes informally abbreviated to TFF are Bon Jovi is an American Hard rock band from Sayreville New Jersey. Cinderella is an American rock band from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Treat is a melodic-rock band from Stockholm, Sweden In the second half of the 1980s they had national as well as international successes with songs like "Too
In late 1998, PolyGram was bought by Seagrams, which then absorbed the company into its Universal Music Group. Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) For the rapper Seagram, see Seagram Miller The Seagram Company Ltd Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. Under the reorganization, Mercury Records was folded into the newly formed Island Def Jam Music Group. For other record labels with the Island name see Island Records (disambiguation Mercury's pop roster was predominantly taken over by Island Records, while its urban found a new home at Def Jam Records. Island Records is a Record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. Def Jam Recordings is a United States based hip-hop Record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Mercury's former country unit became Mercury Nashville Records and is still active as an imprint of Universal Music Group Nashville. Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group 's Country music subsidiary Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group 's Country music subsidiary Mercury also continues to operate as a fully functional label in the UK.
Most recently Mercury Records has been relaunched as a label under Island Def Jam Music Group, appointing record executive David Massey, as the President and CEO of the new venture. For other record labels with the Island name see Island Records (disambiguation David Massey is a British-born American record executive and former artist manager [1]
Mercury Records Australia was launched in 2007 by Universal Music Australia. Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry.
See also
- Mercury Records Australia
- Universal Music Group Nashville
- Mercury Records artists
- List of record labels
- Chicago Record Labels
External links
- Mercury Nashville official site
- A site devoted to the history of Mercury Records
- Wilma Cozart Fine and 50 Years Living Presence
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