Fantasy Records
| Fantasy Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Concord Records (since 2004) |
| Active years | since 1949 |
| founder | Max Weiss, Sol Weiss |
| Seat | San Francisco |
| Website | http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Fantasy/ |
| Label code | LC 00720 |
| Sub-label |
Galaxy Records Riverside Milestone Prestige Records Debut Records Original Jazz Classics Stax Contemporary Records Pablo Specialty Records Kicking Mule Takoma |
| Genre (s) | Jazz , rock |
Fantasy Records was an American record label founded in 1949 by Max and Sol Weiss in San Francisco , California . Galaxy Records was added as a sub-label in 1951 .
In the beginning mainly jazz records were released, among others by Dave Brubeck , Gerry Mulligan , Chet Baker and Cal Tjader . But also the folk singer Odetta , the beat poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti , Allen Ginsberg and the comedian Lenny Bruce .
In 1967 Saul Zaentz , who had been with Fantasy in sales since 1955, took over the company from the founders with the help of a number of investors. A little later he signed Creedence Clearwater Revival , which with their immense success helped the label to grow considerably.
The money was used in the 1970s by then President Ralph Kaffel to take over respected jazz labels. In 1972 Fantasy bought the rights to the recordings and brand names of the two Orrin Keepnews labels Riverside and Milestone . Keepnews himself became Head of Artists and Repertoire in the 1970s . It was also Prestige Records and Debut Records taken. Important jazz musicians such as Bill Evans , Miles Davis , Thelonious Monk , John Coltrane and the Modern Jazz Quartet were thus in the catalog. In the 1980s these were re-released in the Original Jazz Classics sub-label . In 1980 all Miles Davis Prestige recordings were even released in one box.
In 1977 the soul label Stax was taken over (including Isaac Hayes ), in 1984 the jazz label Contemporary Records from Los Angeles (including West Coast musicians such as Shelly Manne , Art Pepper ) and in 1987 the Pablo label from Norman Granz (including Ella Fitzgerald , Sarah Vaughan , Oscar Peterson , Count Basie ) from Los Angeles. Expansion continued in the 1990s. In 1991 Fantasy took over the Los Angeles- based Specialty Records label founded in 1946 (including Little Richard , Sam Cooke ) and in 1995 two roots music labels - Kicking Mule by ED Denson and by guitarist Stefan Grossman and Takoma by guitarist John Fahey (founded in 1959).
In 2004 Fantasy was sold to a consortium led by Norman Lear and went on to Concord Records .
literature
- Frank W. Hoffmann, Howard Ferstler: Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. Volume 1, CRC Press, 2005, ISBN 0-415-93835-X , page 388
Web links
- The story of the fantasy label on jazzecho.de