Asylum Records is an American
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
founded in 1971 by
David GeffenDavid Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
, and partner
Elliot RobertsElliot Roberts is an American music manager, record executive, and philanthropist, best known for helping start the careers of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell....
, who had previously worked as agents at the
William Morris AgencyWME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for
Jackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, the label signed
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
,
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
,
Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
for two albums. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the
Warner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
) in 1972, and merged with
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
to become Elektra/Asylum Records.
After various incarnations, today it is geared primarily towards
hip-hopHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, along with
rockRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
and Alternative Metal. It is owned by
Warner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
, and is currently distributed through
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
.
Formation
Asylum was founded in 1971 by
David GeffenDavid Geffen is an American record executive, film producer, theatrical producer and philanthropist. Geffen is noted for creating Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, and DGC Records in 1990...
, and partner
Elliot RobertsElliot Roberts is an American music manager, record executive, and philanthropist, best known for helping start the careers of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell....
, who had previously worked as agents at the
William Morris AgencyWME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...
, and operated a
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
/
rockRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
label. They founded their own management company, and when Geffen was unable to get a recording contract for
Jackson BrowneJackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, one of his clients at the time, Geffen and Roberts founded Asylum specifically to sign Browne. Asylum's early releases were distributed by
Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. The same year, Asylum signed
John David SoutherJohn David Souther is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He has written and co-written numerous hits songs recorded by artists such as Linda Ronstadt and Glenn Frey of the Eagles.-Singing career:...
,
Judee SillJudee Sill was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, she released two albums, then worked briefly as a cartoonist before dying of drug abuse in 1979.Her eponymous debut album was released in late 1971 and was followed around eighteen months...
,
Linda RonstadtLinda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
,
Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and
Glenn FreyGlenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...
(whom Geffen encouraged to form the Eagles, with
Don HenleyDonald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
,
Bernie LeadonBernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...
, and
Randy MeisnerRandy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...
.) In 1972, then folk-based singer/songwriter
Tom WaitsThomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
signed with the label, releasing his debut,
Closing TimeClosing Time may refer to:*Closing time, the time when a business establishment ceases operations for the day. In the case of a bar, this is called "last call" . Also called "bar time" when referring to the closing time of a bar or pub...
, in 1973. His fifth and final album for the label,
Heartattack and VineHeartattack and Vine was Tom Waits' last album on the Asylum label, released in September 1980.Bruce Springsteen covered "Jersey Girl" as part of his live shows throughout the 1980s."On the Nickel" was recorded for the Ralph Waite film of the same name....
, was released in 1980. The biggest coup for Asylum was signing
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, who had been with
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
since the early 1960s but who, after a falling-out with the company, was shopping around for a new label. Dylan recorded two albums,
Planet WavesPlanet Waves is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 14th studio album, released by Asylum Records in January 1974....
and the live
Before the FloodSide threeSide four-Personnel:* Bob Dylan – vocal, guitars, harmonica, piano* Robbie Robertson – electric guitar, backing vocal* Richard Manuel – vocal, piano, electric piano, organ, drums* Garth Hudson – Lowrey organ, clavinet, piano, synthesizer, saxophone...
, for Asylum before returning to Columbia. Columbia reissued Dylan's two Asylum albums in 1981.
Merger with Elektra Records
Asylum was taken over by Warner Communications (now
Time WarnerTime Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
, who later spun off its music holdings as
Warner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
) in 1972, and merged with
Elektra RecordsElektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
to become Elektra/Asylum Records. David Geffen and Elliot Roberts each received $2 million in cash and $5 million in Warner Communications stock, thereby becoming two of the company's largest shareholders. Geffen served as president and chairman of Elektra/Asylum Records until 1975, when he crossed over to film and was named vice-chairman of Warner Brothers Pictures.
One of Asylum's most prominent signings after Geffen's departure was
Warren ZevonWarren William Zevon was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for including his sometimes sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.Zevon's work has often been praised by well-known...
, who released a series of successful and critically acclaimed LPs for the label; his self-titled 1976 label debut has been called the best California rock album of the decade.
By the early 1980s, though technically still billed as "Elektra/Asylum Records" or "Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records," Elektra and Asylum began to split off—with the former becoming more dominant and the latter acting as more of an extension. By the middle of the decade, the company was unofficially calling itself Elektra Records, and in 1989 it was renamed Elektra Entertainment. Asylum, meanwhile, broke off into a subsidiary label and subsequently became less active in its own right.
Country format
Asylum was reformatted into a country music label, still operated by Elektra, in 1992. Under the new format, Asylum scored successful recordings by such acts as
Brother PhelpsBrother Phelps was an American country music duo formed by brothers Ricky Lee and Doug Phelps . Prior to the duo's formation in 1992, both brothers were members of The Kentucky Headhunters, a country rock band. In 1993, Brother Phelps charted with its debut single "Let Go", which reached a peak of...
,
Thrasher ShiverThrasher Shiver was an American country music duo composed of Neil Thrasher and Kelly Shiver, both of whom sang lead vocals and played acoustic guitar. In late 1996, the duo released a self-titled album for Asylum Records, and charted two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...
,
Emmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
, Kevin Sharp,
Bryan WhiteBryan White is an American country music artist. Signed to Asylum Records in 1994 at age 20, White released his self-titled debut album that year. Both it and its follow-up, 1996's Between Now and Forever, were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and 1997's The...
, and
Lila McCannLila Elaine McCann is an American country music singer who made her debut at age sixteen with the single "Down Came a Blackbird." Reaching a peak of #28 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, the song was the first release from her 1997 album Lila, which became the highest-selling...
. They also produced many critically acclaimed albums by artists such as
Mandy BarnettAmanda Carol "Mandy" Barnett is a country music singer and stage actress. In her musical career, she has released three albums and charted three singles on the Billboard country charts. Her highest-charting country single is "Now That's All Right With Me", which reached #43 in 1996...
,
Guy ClarkGuy Clark is an American Texas Country artist. In his career, he has released more than twenty albums, primarily on major labels. He has also written singles for other artists, including Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner and Rodney Crowell....
,
The Cox FamilyThe Cox Family is an American Bluegrass family group from Cotton Valley in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States.-Members:*Evelyn Cox - guitar, vocals*Lynn Cox - - bass, vocals...
,
Bob WoodruffBob Woodruff is an American country music singer and songwriter. Initially, he was a member of a country rock band called The Fields before beginning a career as a solo artist...
, J.D. Myers and Jamie Hartford. By the end of the decade, however, mismanagement and a lack of promotion money led to the dissolution of the Asylum country label.
In 2003,
Mike CurbMichael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
, head of
Curb RecordsCurb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...
, revived the Nashville division of Asylum, forming a new label known as Asylum-Curb.
LeAnn RimesLeAnn Rimes is an American country/pop singer. She is known for her rich vocals and her rise to fame as an eight-year-old champion on the original Ed McMahon version of Star Search, followed by the release of the Patsy Cline-intended single "Blue" when Rimes was only age 13, resulting in her...
,
Clay WalkerErnest Clayton "Clay" Walker Jr. is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single "What's It to You," which reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, as did its follow-up, 1994's "Live Until I Die." Both singles were included on...
,
Lee BriceLee Brice is an American country music artist. Signed to Curb Records' Asylum-Curb division since 2007, Brice has released four singles to country radio, all four of which have charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. The fourth of these, "Love Like Crazy," holds the record for the...
,
Rio GrandRio Grand is an American Texas Country group. Tommy Rennick , Danny Rivera , and Fred Stallcup . All three members are natives of the state of Texas. In addition, Tommy Rennick was previously a member of 37 South and the Allison Paige band...
,
Hank Williams, Jr.Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
and Wynonna are among the artists on the Asylum-Curb division.
Relaunch
After being dormant for several years, Asylum Records was revived as an urban music-based label in 2004, with some of its releases distributed in conjunction with
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
and others through
Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. In 2006, WMG shifted Asylum to operate under their newly created
Independent Label GroupIndependent Label Group is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. The company was formed in 2006 as an umbrella for various Warner auxiliary labels including East West Records, Rykodisc and Cordless Recordings. Outside of the U.S., the label is distributed by WEA International...
, which also comprises
Cordless RecordingsCordless Recordings is a netlabel owned by Warner Music Group. The label was founded in 2005 by Jac Holzman, who also founded Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records.-Affiliation with Rykodisc - Present:...
and
East West RecordsEast West Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under WMG's Independent Label Group.-History:...
. In December 2006, Asylum Records announced the signing of Atlanta, Georgia-based
metalHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band
SevendustSevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...
, the first non-hip-hop artist to be signed to the newly reconfigured label. In March 2009, Asylum president and CEO Todd Moscowitz was promoted to Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. Records. Subsequently, Asylum was detached from the Independent Label Group and now operates under Warner Bros. Cee Lo Green was signed to the label as well as
New BoyzNew Boyz is an American hip hop/rap group and a former jerkin crew duo made up of rappers Earl "Ben J" Benjamin and Dominic "Legacy" Thomas from Hesperia, California. They debuted in summer 2009 with their viral hit, "You're a Jerk", taken from their debut studio album Skinny Jeanz and a Mic,...
.
See also
- List of Asylum Records artists
- List of record labels