Elektra Records: A Deep Dive
Relevant information I can find about Elektra Records - founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt, is a prominent American record label owned by Warner Music Group.
Elektra Records
1950–1971: Founding and early history
Elektra was formed in 1950, as the Elektra-Stratford Record Corporation, with a singles label called Stratford Records, by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt in Holzman’s St. John’s College dorm room. Each invested $300. The name was inspired by Greek mythological Pleiad Electra.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, Elektra released a number of best-selling albums by Theodore Bikel, Ed McCurdy, Oscar Brand, and Judy Collins, and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton. Holzman also recorded Josh White, who was without a record deal as a result of McCarthyite blacklisting.
The label’s most important signings were the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band (with Mike Bloomfield), the Los Angeles bands Love and The Doors, and the Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5. Included in Elektra’s Los Angeles-based signings were Tim Buckley and Bread.
In 1967, Elektra launched its Nonesuch Explorer Series, one of the first collections of what is now referred to as world music. Excerpts from several Nonesuch Explorer recordings were later included on the two Voyager Golden Discs, which were sent into deep space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes.
In 1968, the label also signed pioneering rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack to a three-album deal.
Elektra, along with its Nonesuch Records subsidiary, was acquired by Kinney National Services in 1970, which changed its name to Warner Communications (now Warner Music Group) in 1972. Soon afterwards, Kinney consolidated their label holdings under the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic umbrella. Holzman remained in charge of Elektra until 1972, when it merged with Asylum Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records; Asylum’s founder, David Geffen, headed the newly combined label.
Joe Smith, whose leadership resulted in the biggest market share and gross revenues Elektra Asylum was to have, inherited the A&R services of Chuck Plotkin, famed later for producing many of Bruce Springsteen's greatest records, followed up by George Daly, who is credited as bringing in seminal new wave band The Cars, setting Elektra, again, on another artist direction.
1982, Elektra launched a jazz subsidiary called Elektra/Musician. The following year, Bob Krasnow became president and CEO of Elektra; under his leadership, the label reached its commercial peak throughout the rest of the 1980s and early to mid-1990s.
In 1989, the label officially changed its name to Elektra Entertainment. During the Bob Krasnow era, the label became home to a wide range of artists, such as Metallica, Yngwie Malmsteen, Faster Pussycat, Mötley Crüe, Phish, Tracy Chapman, 10,000 Maniacs, They Might Be Giants, The Cure, The Sugarcubes, Stereolab, Luna, The Call, X, The Afghan Whigs, Anita Baker, Linda Ronstadt, Natalie Cole, Brand Nubian, KMD, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and Ween.
The label’s A&R department included former music journalist Terry Tolkin, who was credited with coining the term “alternative music” in the late 1970s. Also during this time, Elektra developed a relationship with the UK label 4AD. Elektra became the label for 4AD acts such as the Pixies, the Breeders, Frank Black, and The Amps in the United States.