Mercury Records
Mercury Records, founded 1945: jazz artists and albums on the label.
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan (as Mercury Tokyo in the latter country), it is distributed by EMI Records.
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Artists on Mercury Records
Quincy Jones
1933–2024 · American record producer and composer (1933–2024)
Miriam Makeba
1932–2008 · South African singer and civil rights activist (1932–2008)
Herbie Hancock
b. 1940 · American jazz pianist and composer (born 1940)
Josephine Baker
1906–1975 · American-born French dancer, singer and actress (1906–1975)
Charlie Parker
1920–1955 · American jazz saxophonist (1920–1955)
Oscar Peterson
1925–2007 · Canadian jazz pianist (1925–2007)
Count Basie
1904–1984 · American jazz musician and composer (1904–1984)
Serge Gainsbourg
1928–1991 · French singer, songwriter, composer, writer, actor and…
Michel Legrand
1932–2019 · French film score composer (1932–2019)
Fats Domino
1928–2017 · American pianist and singer (1928-2017)
Caetano Veloso
b. 1942 · Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and…
Sarah Vaughan
1924–1990 · American jazz and classical singer (1924–1990)
Charles Mingus
1922–1979 · American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader…
Hugh Masekela
1939–2018 · South African jazz trumpeter
Jamiroquai
1992– · British acid jazz band
Dinah Washington
1924–1963 · American singer (1924-1963)
Johnny Mathis
b. 1935 · American singer
Erroll Garner
1921–1977 · American jazz pianist and composer (1921–1977)
Frankie Laine
1913–2007 · American pop singer, songwriter, and actor (1913–2007)
Sacha Distel
1933–2004 · French musician (1933–2004)
Barney Kessel
1923–2004 · American jazz guitarist (1923–2004)
Bebo Valdés
1918–2013 · Cuban musician (1918–2013)
Ivan Lins
b. 1945 · Brazilian musician
Louis Jordan
1908–1975 · American jazz, blues and rhythm and blues musician…
Neil Peart
1952–2020 · Canadian-American drummer and lyricist (1952–2020)
Chuck Mangione
1940–2025 · American jazz musician (1940–2025)
Vic Damone
1928–2018 · American singer and actor (1928–2018)
Billy Eckstine
1914–1993 · American musician (1914–1993)
Shirley Horn
1934–2005 · American singer (1934–2005)
Helen Merrill
b. 1930 · American recording artist; jazz vocalist (born 1930)
Ernestine Anderson
1928–2016 · American jazz and blues singer (1928–2016)
The Nice
1967– · English progressive rock band
Esther Phillips
1935–1984 · American singer (1935–1984)
Laura Fygi
b. 1955 · Dutch jazz singer
Machito
1912–1984 · American-Cuban Latin jazz musician (1912-1984)
The Gap Band
1967– · American R&B and funk band
Bobby Hebb
1938–2010 · American singer-songwriter (1938-2010)
The Crew-Cuts
1952– · Canadian pop band
Gene Harris
1933–2000 · American pianist (1933–2000)
Pete Rugolo
1915–2011 · American jazz composer, arranger, and record producer…
Kenny Rankin
1940–2009 · American singer-songwriter (1940-2009)
Muggsy Spanier
1901–1967 · American musician (1901-1967)
Buddy Johnson
1915–1977 · American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader…
Jimmy McPartland
1907–1991 · American cornetist (1907–1991)
Joe Newman
1922–1992 · American musician (1922–1992)
Frank D'Rone
1932–2013 · American jazz singer and guitarist
Bill Harris
1916–1973 · American jazz trombonist (1916–1973)
Kitty White
1923–2009 · American jazz singer
Mario Bauzá Cárdenas
1911–1993 · Cuban-American musician, composer, and founder of…
Shikao Suga
b. 1966 · Japanese singer-songwriter
Gus Bivona
1915–1996 · American musician (1915–1996)
Label profile
Multinational record label initially founded in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., in 1945.
Also appears as "Mercury Records" or "Mercury Record."
Label Code: LC 0268 / LC 00268
Parent companies:
Mercury Record Corporation (1945 to 1960s)
A product of Mercury Record Productions, Inc. (circa 1969)
Phonogram, Inc. (circa 1973)
A Polygram company (circa 1974)
PolyGram Records, Inc. (circa 1981)
A Universal Music Company (circa 1999)
Republic Records (2022)
Republic Corps (2024)
The 7-digit numerical catalogue numbers were introduced in April 1970. Any item with such a catalogue number is after that date.
For a list of albums/singles by catalogue number, see the given jazzdisco link below.
For all unofficial/bootleg releases purporting to be on this label, please use Mercury (2).
History
Mercury is one of the oldest labels of the Universal Music Group. It was launched in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams, Ray Greenberg, and Art Talmadge of the Mercury Record Corporation of Chicago, Illinois.
In late 1955, Mercury began experimenting with three omnidirectional microphones to make stereo recordings on three-track tape. And in June/July 1958, Mercury released their first stereo disks.
In
Profile from Discogs (CC0)