- Specialty Records
Specialty Records was an American
record label based in Los Angeles. It was originally launched asJuke Box Records in 1946, but later renamed by its ownerArt Rupe when he parted company with a couple of his original partners. Specialty is noted for therhythm and blues ,blues , gospel and early rock & roll music recorded by the label.The major producers for the label were Rupe,Robert "Bumps" Blackwell ,Johnny Vincent andJ. W. Alexander .cite book
first=Charlie
last=Gillett
year= 1996
title= The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll
edition= (2nd Ed.)
publisher= Da Capo Press
location=New York, N.Y.
pages= p. 86
id= ISBN 0-306-80683-5]Art Rupe was known for being one of the most honest owners of a independent R&B record company in the 1950s. He was known for paying his artists, recording them well, and allowed some of the wildest R&B to be issued on any label of the day. He was also known for hating the payola environment at the time and never paid it, which probably hindered some potential sales.
Specialty also had two music publishing companies, Venice Music for BMI licensed songs and Greenwich Music for
ASCAP licensed songs. [cite web
url=http://www.history-of-rock.com/specialty.htm
title=Art Rupee's Specialty Records
publisher=
accessdate=2006-11-26 ]The record label was sold to
Fantasy Records in 1991 and is now part of theConcord Music Group . The music publishing unit was sold toSony/ATV Music Publishing .Highlights
*
Wynona Carr
*Sam Cooke (with The Soul Stirrers and a couple of pop singles before his major stardom
*John Lee Hooker
*Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
*Guitar Slim -The Things That I Used to Do
*Roddy Jackson (one of the few white rock and rollers Specialty signed)
*Jimmy Liggins
*Joe Liggins
*Roy Milton
*Percy Mayfield
*Lloyd Price -Lawdy Miss Clawdy
*Soul Stirrers
*Larry Williams See also
*
List of record labels Notes
External links
* [http://concordmusicgroup.com/labels/?label=specialty Official website from Concord Music Group]
* [http://www.history-of-rock.com/specialty.htm Specialty Records history]
* [http://www.bsnpubs.com/la2/specialty.html Specialty Album Discography]
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