Peacock Records was a
record label started in
1949 by
Don D.
Robey in Houston, Texas
."
Hound Dog" by
Big Mama Thornton was a bit hit
for Peacock in 1953.
[83010] Other significant rhythm & blues artists
on Peacock were
Marie Adams,
James Booker,
Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown,
Little
Richard,
Memphis Slim, and former
gospel singer
Jackie Verdell. The
label also dabbled with jazz, releasing albums by vocalist
Betty Carter and saxophonist
Sonny Criss. In 1952, Robey gained control of
the
Duke Records label of Memphis, TN.
Duke/Peacock Records was formed.
For a period of time in the early 1960's Peacock released gospel
music only, issuing singles and albums by some of America's most
famous gospel artists, including The
Dixie Hummingbirds, The
Mighty Clouds Of Joy, The
Five Blind Boys Of
Mississippi,
Reverend Cleophus Robinson, The
Sensational Nightingales,
The Gospelaires of Dayton, Ohio,
The
Pilgrim Jubilee Singers,
The Loving
Sisters, and many others.
At the end of 1963 the label launched the gospel subsidiary label
Song Bird Records which featured
Inez Andrews and others. In the later
1960's Peacock again began to issue secular soul singles by artists
such as Jackie Verdell, the Inspirations, Little Frankie Lee, Al
TNT Bragg and Bud Harper. This later Peacock label featured a
bright multi-colored peacock tail on an otherwise blue label
background, and it is these later records which are often sought by
Northern soul collectors.
The Duke/Peacock family of labels (which also included Back Beat
and Sure Shot) was sold to
ABC
Dunhill Records of Los Angeles on 23 May
1973, with label founder
Don Robey staying with ABC as a consultant until
his death in
1975. The label name was
changed to ABC/Peacock in
1974.
After ABC was sold to
MCA Records in
1979, MCA briefly operated an
MCA/Songbird label with new signings including
Little
Anthony (of
Little Anthony & The
Imperials) and
Dan Peek (formerly of
the group
America), the previous
rosters of both ABC-Peacock and ABC-Songbird having been dropped
(MCA later reissued several Peacock and Song Bird albums at budget
price). MCA briefly revived the Peacock name for a series of CD
reissues ("Peacock Gospel Classics") in the late 1990s. Along with
the MCA back catalog, the Peacock and Song Bird masters are now
controlled by the
Geffen Records unit
of
Universal Music
Group.
References
Gart, Galen, and Ames, Roy C., with Funk, Ray; Bowman, Rob; Booth,
David (1990).
Duke/Peacock Records: An Illustrated History with
Discography. Big Nickel Publications, Milford, New Hampshire.
ISBN 0-936433-12-4.
Hayes, Cedric J., and Laughton, Robert (1992).
Gospel Records
1943 – 1969, A Black Music Discography (Volumes One and Two).
Record Information Services, London, England. ISBN 0 907872 28 X
(Volume One), ISBN 0 907872 29 8 (Volume Two).
Whitburn, Joel (2000).
Joel Whitburn Presents Top R & B
Singles 1942 – 1999. Record Research, Menomonee Falls,
Wisconsin. ISBN 0-89820-136-5.
External links
See also
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