ABC Records
ABC Records, founded 1955: jazz artists and albums on the label.
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels before ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979. ABC produced music in a variety of genres: pop, rock, jazz, country, rhythm and blues, soundtrack, gospel, and polka. In addition to producing records, ABC licensed masters from independent record producers, and purchased regionally released records for national distribution. The label was initially called Am-Par Records (1955), but quickly changed to ABC-Paramount Records (1955–1966), and then renamed ABC Records in 1966.
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Artists on ABC Records
Louis Armstrong
1901–1971 · American jazz musician, trumpeter and singer (1901–1971)
Quincy Jones
1933–2024 · American record producer and composer (1933–2024)
Ray Charles
1930–2004 · American singer, pianist and songwriter (1930–2004)
John Coltrane
1926–1967 · American jazz saxophonist (1926–1967)
Fats Domino
1928–2017 · American pianist and singer (1928-2017)
Ornette Coleman
1930–2015 · American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and…
Toots Thielemans
1922–2016 · Belgian jazz musician (1922–2016)
Chaka Khan
b. 1953 · American singer (born 1953)
Art Blakey
1919–1990 · American jazz drummer and bandleader (1919–1990)
Steely Dan
1972– · American musical group
Cab Calloway
1907–1994 · American jazz singer (1907–1994)
The Pointer Sisters
1969– · American family R&B vocal group
Frankie Laine
1913–2007 · American pop singer, songwriter, and actor (1913–2007)
Blood, Sweat & Tears
1967– · American rock music band
Betty Carter
1929–1998 · American jazz singer, recording artist, songwriter…
Steve Lawrence
1935–2024 · American singer and actor (1935–2024)
Donald Fagen
b. 1948 · American recording artist, musician (born 1948)
Walter Becker
1950–2017 · American musician, songwriter, and record producer…
Cándido Camero
1921–2020 · Cuban percussionist (1921-2020)
Mike Ratledge
1943–2025 · British musician
Tony Mottola
1918–2004 · American guitarist (1918-2004)
Don Costa
1925–1983 · American recording artist, conductor, record producer…
Mel Brown
1939–2009 · American jazz guitarist (1939–2009)
Kenyon Hopkins
1912–1983 · American composer who composed many film scores in a jazz…
Label profile
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In 1955, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theaters, Inc. formed a subsidiary company called which began to release pop, jazz, rhythm and blues, children's and spoken word records under the label name ABC-Paramount. The corporate name of Am-Par Record Corporation was changed to ABC-Paramount Records, Inc. in 1962.
ABC-Paramount became one of the major players in the North American music industry in the 1950s and 1960s, signing many early rock & roll artists including Paul Anka, Lloyd Price and the Poni-Tails; it also launched and would acquire many labels including Impulse!, Apt Records, Bluesway, Audition, Command, Grand Award, Dunhill, 20th Century Fox Records, Duke, Peacock Records, and Back Beat (2) among others.
In July 1965, the label began to move away from the "ABC-Paramount" branding by adopting the logo of parent company American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. In 1966, Paramount was formally dropped from the label's name and it was officially renamed to ABC Records with the corporate name changing in 1967 again into ABC Records, Inc..
The Seventies saw ABC having success with
Profile from Discogs (CC0)