Mercury Records
Parent company	Universal Music Group
Founded	1945
Founder	Irving Green Berle Adams Arthur Talmadge
Distributing label	Mercury Records (In the UK, although the Living Presence series was issued on CD on the Mercury label) The Island Def Jam Music Group (current US distribution)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	UK, US
Official website	Official website of Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label currently headquartered in the UK, and is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the US, its name and logo were only used on its back catalogue, country releases, and re-issues, until recently. Image File history File links Mercuryrecords. ... Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. ... For other record labels with the Island name, see Island Records (disambiguation) The Island Def Jam Music Group is a record label group formed in 1999, when Universal Music Group merged together its two companies, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings, to create a super label. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American...

History

Mercury Records was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams and Arthur Talmadge. They were a major force in jazz and blues, classical music, rock and roll, and country music recordings. Early in the labels history, Mercury opened two pressing plants, one in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. With the use of automatic presses and providing 24-hour turnaround, they went into direct competition with major recording labels such as Columbia, Decca, and RCA Victor. Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Irving Green (1916-2006) was an American record industry executive, and co-founder of Mercury Records. ... Berle Adams (birth name: Beryl Adasky) was a music industry executive, best known as second in command at MCA. He was born to Russian immigrant parents on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, on June 11, 1917. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Blues music redirects here. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... country music, see Country music (disambiguation) Country music, the first half of Billboards country and western music category, is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City 234. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... It has been suggested that Decca Music Group be merged into this article or section. ... Sony BMG Music Entertainment is the result of a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and BMG Entertainment (part of Bertelsmann AG) completed in August 2004. ...

By hiring two promoters, Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard, they penetrated the pop market with names such as Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane and Patti Page. Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio (March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007), was one of the most successful American singers of the twentieth century. ... Vic Damone (born June 12, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York) is an ItalianAmerican singer. ... Tony Fontane (1925-1974) was a popular recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s who, following a near-fatal car accident in 1957, gave up his popular career to pursue one as a gospel singer. ... Patti Page (born Clara Ann Fowler on November 8, 1927 in Claremore, Oklahoma) is one of the best-known female singers in traditional pop music. ...

In 1947 Jack Rael, a musician and publicist/manager, persuaded Mercury to let Patti Page (whom he managed) record a song that had been planned to be done by Vic Damone, "Confess." The budget was too small for them to hire a second singer to provide the "answer" parts to Page, so at Rael's suggestion she did both voices. This became the first documented example of "overdubbing," and Patti Page became one of the artists best known for the use of this technique. // August 7 - Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania. ...

Mercury Record sleeve artwork, c.1950

The company released an enormous number of recordings under the Mercury label as well as its subsidiaries (Blue Rock Records, Cumberland Records, EmArcy Records, Fontana Records, Limelight Records, Philips Records, Smash Records and Wing Records). In addition, they leased and purchased material by independent labels and redistributed them. Artwork from Mercury Records 78 sleeve, c. ... Artwork from Mercury Records 78 sleeve, c. ... Blue Rock Records is a a subsidiary of Mercury Records. ... Cumberland Records is a a subsidiary of Mercury Records. ... EmArcy Records is a jazz record label, formed in 1954 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records. ... Fontana Records was a record label active in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1960s, as a subsiduary of the Dutch Phillips company. ... Limelight Records is a a subsidiary of Mercury Records. ... Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. ... 1980s Smash Records logo Smash Records is an American record label. ... Wing Records was a subsidiary of Mercury Records that enjoyed its greatest success during the 50s. ...

Under their own label, Mercury released a variety of recording styles from classical music to psychedelic rock. However, its subsidiaries focused on their own specialized categories of music.

Mercury's jazz division had two distinct and important fathers. John Hammond brought his expertise and connections when Mercury bought Keystone Records in the late 1940s. And Mercury was the issuing company and distributor for Norman Granz's pre-Norgran/Verve recordings. Although both Hammond and Granz had departed Mercury by the mid-50's, they established the company in the jazz world. Mercury, under its Emarcy label, released LPs by many important post-swing and bebop artists including Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Clark Terry, Dinah Washington, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Ernestine Anderson, Sarah Vaughn, Maynard Ferguson, Jimmy Cleveland, Herb Geller and others. By the early 1960s, Mercury was releasing jazz under the flagship label and was an early leader in the new stereo sound releases. Highlights of the early and mid-60's included albums by Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich, Cannonball Adderley, Charles (then called Charlie) Mingus, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Max Roach and others.

In the early 1950s, Norman Granz started his own record company, Norgran, which later became Verve. In an ironic twist, both Mercury and Verve are now owned by Universal Music Group and Mercury's jazz library falls under the Verve division. Since the early 1990s, Verve has reissued many Mercury jazz titles on CD, often taking care to use original master tapes and including session material not included on the original LPs. In addition, Mosaic Records in Stamford CT has issued several box sets spotlighting the Mercury and Verve recordings of various artists including Max Roach, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie and Buddy Rich.

'Mercury Living Presence' series

In 1951, under the direction of recording engineer C. Robert Fine and recording director David Hall, Mercury Records initiated a recording technique using a single microphone. The first record in this new Mercury Olympian Series was "Pictures at an Exhibition" performed by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony. The group that became the most famous using this technique was the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, which, under the leadership of conductor Antal Dorati, made a long series of classical albums that were very highly regarded - including the first-ever complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets. The NY Times music critic described the Mercury sound as "being in the living presence of the orchestra" and Mercury began releasing their classical releases under the 'Living Presence' series' name, which was produced by Mercury vice president Wilma Cozart, who later married Bob Fine. Cozart took over recording director duties in 1953 and also produced the CD reissues of much of the Mercury Living Presence catalog in the 1990s. By the late 50's, the Mercury Living Presence crew included session musical supervisors Harold Lawrence and Clair van Ausdall and associate engineer Robert Eberenz. When Cozart retired in 1964, Lawrence took over the Mercury classical division and continued producing Mercury Living Presence records into 1967. David Hall (born 16 December 1916) is a sound archivist and writer. ... Mussorgsky in 1874 This article refers to the original suite by Modest Mussorgsky. ... Rafael Jeroným Kubelík (Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today Czech Republic, June 29, 1914 – August 11, 1996 in Kastanienbaum, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland) was a Czech conductor and composer. ... The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, based in Chicago, Illinois, is one of the major orchestras in the United States. ... The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra. ... Antal Dor ti (April 9, 1906 - November 13, 1988) was a conductor and composer. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893 (N.S.); April 25, 1840 – October... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

In 1955, Mercury began using 3 omni-directional microphones to make stereo recordings on 3-track tape. The technique was an expansion on the mono process—center was still paramount. Once the center, single microphone was set, the sides were set to provide the depth and width heard in the stereo recordings. The center mike still fed the mono LP releases, which accompanied stereo LPs into the 1960s. In 1961, Mercury enhanced the three-microphone stereo technique by using 35mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater thickness and width of 35mm magnetic film prevented tape layer print-through and pre-echo and gained in addition extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were mastered directly from the 3-track tapes or films, with a 3-2 mix occurring in the mastering room. The same technique -- and restored vintage equipment of the same type -- was used during the CD reissues. Specifically, 3-track tapes were recorded on Ampex 300-3 1/2" machines at 15 IPS. 35mm magnetic films were made on 3-track Westrex film recorders. The 3-2 mixdown was done on a modified Westrex mixer. For the original LPs, the mixer directly fed the custom cutting chain. At Fine Recording in NY, the Westrex cutter head on a Scully lathe was fed by modified McIntosh 200W tube amplifiers with very little feedback in the system. Older mono records were made with a Miller cutter head. For the CD reissues, the output of the Westrex mixer directly fed a DCS analog-to-digital converter and the CDs were mastered on Sony 1630 tapes. No digital enhancement or noise reduction was used. Print-through (sometimes referred to as bleed-through) is a generally undesirable effect that arises in the use of magnetic tape for storing analogue information, in particular music. ...

Later history

In 1961 the Dutch company Philips Records, having lost its distribution deal with Columbia Records outside North America, signed an exchange agreement with Mercury, and Philips subsequently bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels to expand its US base. In 1962 Philips merged its record operations with Deutsche Grammophon to become PolyGram in 1972. Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Logo Deutsche Grammophon is a German record label. ... PolyGram was the name from 1972 of the major label recording company started by Philips as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. ...

Under PolyGram, Mercury absorbed Casablanca Records (also home to the 20th Century Records back catalogue), home of heavy metalers KISS and disco stars Donna Summer and Village People, in 1982 and primarily became a rock/pop label with KISS, Scorpions, Rush, Kurtis Blow, Tears for Fears, Bon Jovi, Hanson and Def Leppard. This article is about Casablanca, the record label. ... 20th Century Records was (not surprisingly) a subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. ... Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, on December 31, 1948) is a legendary American singer, songwriter, and artist, best known for a string of dance hits in the 1970s that earned her the title Queen of Disco and as one of the few disco-based artists to have longevity on... Village People were a disco band of the late 1970s. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. ... For other bands named The Scorpions or other meanings of scorpion, see scorpion. ... Rush is a Canadian rock band comprising bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. ... Curtis Kurtis Blow Walker, (born on August 9, 1959, in Harlem, New York) is one of the pioneer rappers in the recording industry, and hip hops first mainstream star. ... Tears for Fears are a popular English pop band formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith, which emerged after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate. ... Bon Jovi is a hard rock band originating from Sayreville, New Jersey. ... Hanson may refer to: Hanson (band), American pop band Hanson plc, British international building materials company Hanson Records, former recording label Hanson Baronets, either of two baronetcies in the United Kingdom Hanson Bay, in the Chatham Islands Hanson Brothers, ice hockey playing siblings from the 1977 movie Slap Shot The... Def Leppard are an English hard rock band from Sheffield who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. ...

In late 1998, PolyGram was bought by Seagrams, which then absorbed the company into its Universal Music Group. Under the reorganization, Mercury Records was folded into the newly formed Island Def Jam Music Group. Mercury's pop roster was predominantly taken over by Island Records, while its urban found a new home at Def Jam Records. Mercury's former country unit became Mercury Nashville Records and is still active as an imprint of Universal Music Group Nashville. Mercury also continues to operate as a fully functional label in the UK. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... The Seagram Company Ltd. ... Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. ... The Island Def Jam Music Group is a record label formed in 1999, when Universal Music Group merged its two daughters, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings to form a super label. ... Island Records is a record label that was founded by British record producers in Jamaica. ... Def Jam Records is an American based hip-hop record label that operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group, which is owned by Universal Music Group. ... Mercury Nashville Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. ... Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Groups country music holdings. ...

Most recently Mercury Records has been relaunched as a label under Island Def Jam Music Group, appointing record executive David Massey, as the President and CEO of the new venture.[1] The Island Def Jam Music Group is a record label formed in 1999, when Universal Music Group merged its two daughters, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings to form a super label. ... David Massey is a British-born, American record executive and former artist manager. ...

See also

• Mercury Records artists
• List of record labels
• Chicago Record Labels

Acts that do, or have, recorded for Mercury Records. ... This is a list of record labels. ... General information Basic general information about the labels Category: ...

External links

• Revived Mercury Records (U.S.) official site
• Mercury Nashville official site
• A site devoted to the history of Mercury Records
• Wilma Cozart Fine and 50 Years Living Presence