Peacock Records
| Peacock Records | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the label |
|
| Parent company |
Duke-Peacock (1952–1973) ABC-Dunhill (1973–1975) |
| Active years | 1949-1975 |
| founder | Don Robey |
| Seat | Houston , Texas |
| Genre (s) | Blues , jazz , rhythm and blues , gospel |
Peacock Records was an American independent record label that released between 1949 and 1975 in the genres of blues , rhythm and blues and gospel . In 1952 it merged with Duke Records , in 1973 it was sold to ABC-Dunhill . With the death of the label founder Don Robey , the releases on Peacock were discontinued in 1975.
history
In 1949, the African-American nightclub owner Don Robey founded the music label and named it after his "Bronze Peacock Dinner Club" in Houston , Texas. Robey had been looking for promising talent as a music manager since 1947 and found his first client in Clarence Gatemouth Brown . He was soon able to publish other artists, Memphis Slim , Marie Adams , Floyd Dixon and Jimmy McCracklin , who became stars of rhythm and blues.
The greatest success came in 1953 with Big Mama Thornton , which brought Hound Dog to number 1 on the R&B charts. In 1953 and 1954 there were two recording sessions with the young Little Richard and his band The Tempo Toppers , which produced material for four singles. Otherwise Peacock wasn't interested in rock 'n' roll.
Peacock also had a large gospel section. The Dixie Hummingbirds , the Sensational Nightingales, and the Mighty Clouds of Joy were the most prominent gospel groups under Robey's management. The gospel albums remained the longest-running issue series on Peacock, outliving all other genres on Peacock and its related labels.
In 1952, Peacock entered into a partnership with Duke Records, founded shortly before by David J. Mattis and Bill Fitzgerald . 1953 Robey took control of both labels, merged them to Duke-Peacock and managed them from his club ever since. Irving Marcus and Dave Clark were responsible for sales and promotion , while the producers were Johnny Otis , Bill Harvey , Joe Scott and Robey himself. In addition, Johnny Board and JW Alexander were employed as arrangers.
On May 23, 1973 Robey sold his labels to ABC-Dunhill , but stayed with ABC as a consultant until his death two years later and took care of the recycling of the Peacock catalog.
Artist
The following artists released on Peacock Records:
Issue series
Singles
The Peacock Singles are numbered, starting with the number 1500 in 1950, with rhythm and blues being the first to be released. In 1952 a gospel series started from number 1700. Thus, when the first series reached number 1699 at the beginning of the 1960s, the gospel block was inevitably skipped and a new R&B series started with Peacock 1900, which continued until Peacock 1968 in 1969 has been. When the first gospel series in 1963 came up with the 1900 R&B series in terms of numbering, a second gospel series with Peacock 3000 was started:
- Peacock 1500 to 1699: mainly rhythm and blues (1950–1960)
- Peacock 1700 to 1899: Gospel (1952–1963)
- Peacock 1900 to 1968: Rhythm and Blues (1960–1969)
- Peacock 3000 to 3180: Gospel (1963-1970)
Albums
- PLP-90 to PLP-91: Progressive Jazz Series (1958–1959)
- PLP-100 to PLP-199: Gospel series (1959–1974)
- PLP-59200 to PLP-59237: Gospel series with a new ABC Peacock logo (1974–1975)
- PLP-2000 and GLS-1974: Compilations (1974)
Web links
- David Edwards and Mike Callahan about Don Robey's record labels on BothSidesNow
- 45 Peacock Records discography