Atlantic Records history

Atlantic's first recordings were issued in late January 1948 and included "That Old Black Magic" by Tiny Grimes and "The Spider" by Joe Morris.

Their first records, jazz sides by Tiny Grimes and Errol Garner, came out in 1948.

In 1948 Abramson and Ertegun on the recommendation of Willis Conover went to the Crystal Caverns Club in D.C. where they heard a twenty year old Ruth Brown sing.

She was injured in a car accident en route to New York City, but Atlantic supported her for nine months and then signed her. "So Long", her first record for the label, was recorded with Eddie Condon's band on May 25, 1949.

Atlantic's fortunes rose rapidly: 187 songs were recorded in 1949, more than three times the amount from the previous two years, and received overtures for a manufacturing and distribution deal with Columbia, which would pay Atlantic a 3% royalty on every copy sold.

In early 1949, a New Orleans distributor phoned Ertegun to obtain Stick McGhee's "Drinking Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee", which was unavailable due to the closing of McGhee's previous label.

2. In 1953, after learning that singer Clyde McPhatter had been fired from Billy Ward and His Dominoes and was forming The Drifters, Ertegun signed the group.

In 1953 (according to Billboard) Atlantic was the first label to issue commercial LPs recorded in the experimental stereo system called binaural recording.

In July 1954, Wexler and Ertegun wrote a prescient article for Cash Box devoted to what they called "cat music"; the same month, Atlantic had its first major "crossover" hit on the Billboard pop chart when the "Sh-Boom" by The Chords reached No.

In 1954 Atlantic was besieged with covers and that summer seven songs including "Sh-Boom", "Honey Love" and "Such A Night" by the Drifters were covered by 18 different artists.

Beginning in 1954, Atlantic created or acquired several subsidiary labels, the first being Cat Records.

Leiber and Stoller's Spark Records and it's catalog was acquired later in 1955.

1). Atlantic missed an important signing in 1955 when Sun owner Sam Phillips sold Elvis Presley's recording contract in a bidding war between labels.

A subsidiary label, Atco, was established in 1955 to keep Abramson involved.

In 1956 two members of The Robins, Carl Gardner and Bobby Nunn, formed The Coasters who finally provided Atlantic with the crossover success it had been striving for.

Contracted in 1956, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller brought with them their own hit making apparatus.

In 1956, Ahmet's brother Nesuhi joined the company to explore the relatively new LP market, as well as continuing the company's commitment to jazz.

By 1956 the 45 had surpassed the 78 in sales for singles.

In 1956 he started the '8000' popular series (selling for $3.98) for the label's few R&B albums, reserving the 1200 series for jazz.

By 1958 Atlantic was America's second-largest independent jazz label.

In 1959 on the recommendation of Lester Sill, Phil Spector moved to work with Leiber and Stoller.

1 in the UK and became a multi-million seller. "Mack the Knife" (1959) went to No.

In 1960, Atlantic began a relationship with Memphis's Stax/Volt Records.

King’s first solo single, “Spanish Harlem” (co-written by Leiber and Spector and produced by Leiber and Stoller), became a Top 10 pop hit in early 1961.

In 1961, he left the label, returned to Los Angeles, and founded Philles Records with Lester Sill.

In late 1961 singer Solomon Burke arrived at Jerry Wexler's office unannounced.

In 1962 folk music was booming and the label came very close to signing Peter, Paul & Mary; although Wexler and Ertegun pursued them vigorously the deal fell through at the last minute and they later discovered music publisher Artie Mogull had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Warner Bros.

Although Leiber and Stoller wrote many popular songs for Atlantic, their relationship with the label was deteriorating in 1962.

The ramifications of the split continued after Leiber and Stoller left Atlantic: after a period with United Artists Records (where they scored a number of hits), in 1963 they set up Red Bird Records with George Goldner.

The Drifters’ last hit, “Under The Boardwalk” (1964), was produced by Bert Berns and orchestrated by British arranger-producer-composer Mike Leander.

In 1964 they approached Jerry Wexler and proposed a merger with Atlantic.

Aretha Franklin signed with Atlantic in 1966 after her contract with Columbia expired.

In 1966 Atlantic signed a licensing deal with Polydor which included the band Cream, whose debut album was released by Atco in 1966.

In 1967, Atlantic Records became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by bands such as Led Zeppelin and Yes.

In 1967 the group traveled to Atlantic's studio in New York City to record Disraeli Gears with Tom Dowd; it became a Top 5 LP in both the US and the UK, with the single "Sunshine of Your Love" reaching No.

The trio's unique vocal chemistry was instantly apparent, so when Nash quit the Hollies in August 1968 and relocated to Los Angeles, the three immediately formed a trio, Crosby, Stills & Nash.

In 1968 the label issued History of Rhythm and Blues, Volume 4 in stereo.

Records and Reprise Records, and management did not interfere with the music division, since the ailing movie division was losing money, while the Warner recording division was booming – by mid-1968 Warner's recording and publishing interests were generating 74% of the group's total profits.

During 1968 Atlantic established a new subsidiary label, Cotillion Records.

In 1968 Peter Grant flew to New York with tapes of the debut album by British rock band Led Zeppelin.

In 1969, Warner Brothers-Seven Arts was sold to the Kinney National Company and in the early 70s was renamed Warner Communications.

Two female artists were personally signed by Wexler, with album releases in 1969, Dusty Springfield (Dusty in Memphis) and Lotti Golden (Motor-Cycle), although Golden also had a close working relationship with Ertegun, who was instrumental in her signing with the label.

Cotillion also released the triple-albums soundtrack of the Woodstock festival film in 1970.

From 1970 it also distributed Embryo Records, founded by jazz flautist Herbie Mann after his earlier Atlantic contract had expired.

By contrast, Wexler was disenchanted by Atlantic's move into rock; he left in 1975.