Dark Horse Records
Encyclopedia
Dark Horse Records is a record label
Record label
In 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 by George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

 in 1974.

History

Harrison had recorded for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...

 under a contract which expired in 1976. All his subsequent recordings were released through Dark Horse Records, starting with Thirty Three & 1/3
Thirty Three & 1/3
Thirty Three & 1/3 is an album by George Harrison released in 1976. As his first release on his Dark Horse Records label, Thirty Three & 1/3 was beset with misfortune during its production, yet Harrison still managed to deliver one of his most celebrated albums.-Background:After satisfying his EMI...

in 1976 and ending with Live in Japan in 1992. After the latter, it went into hiatus for 10 years.

Dark Horse briefly revived with the posthumous release of Brainwashed
Brainwashed (album)
Brainwashed is the final studio album by George Harrison, released in 2002, almost a year after his death at age 58. As a posthumous release, Brainwashed garnered much attention upon its unveiling.-History:...

in 2002. Harrison's Dark Horse back catalogue was remastered and reissued in a box-set during 2004. After those releases, Dark Horse was folded into Parlophone in 2004.

Artists

Though Dark Horse ultimately focused solely on Harrison's releases, the label also released albums by the following artists between 1974 and 1976:
  • George Harrison
    George Harrison
    George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

  • Ravi Shankar
  • Jim Keltner's
    Jim Keltner
    James Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...

     band Attitudes
    Attitudes (band)
    Attitudes was a pop/rock quartet from Los Angeles made up of producer/composer/arranger David Foster on keyboards, guitarist Danny Kortchmar , bassist Paul Stallworth, and noted session drummer Jim Keltner...

  • Splinter, a South Shields
    South Shields
    South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...

     duo
  • The R&B vocalists
    Rhythm and blues
    Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

     the Stairsteps
  • The R&B vocalist
    Rhythm and blues
    Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

     Keni Burke
    Keni Burke
    Kenneth M. Burke , better known as Keni Burke, is an American R&B, soul, funk, and jazz singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who began his career as a member of the 1970s soul outfit, the Five Stairsteps.-Five Stairsteps:As a member of the Five Stairsteps, Burke wrote the...

     a member of the Stairsteps
  • Ex-Joe Cocker
    Joe Cocker
    John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

     and Wings
    Wings (band)
    Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

     guitarist Henry McCullough
    Henry McCullough
    Henry McCullough Henry McCullough Henry McCullough (born Henry Campbell Liken McCullough, 21 July 1943, Portstewart, Northern Ireland is an Irish guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who has played guitar in such bands as Sweeney's Men, Spooky Tooth, Paul McCartney & Wings, and The Grease Band. He...

  • Jiva, a California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

     band

Logo

The inspiration for the Dark Horse logo came from a label on a tin box Harrison saw on one of his many trips to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

The logo features the seven-headed horse Uchchaisravas, a common figure in Indian art and mythology. Harrison was arguably a dark horse
Dark horse
Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.-Origin:The term began as horse racing parlance...

 in seeking a solo career after having been overshadowed among The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 by Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

 and McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, despite his creating several of the band's more popular later songs (such as "Here Comes the Sun
Here Comes the Sun
"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by George Harrison from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road. It is regarded as one of the most popular Beatles songs. The song was written while Harrison was away from all of these troubles...

" and "Something
Something
"Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...

"), and being the first ex-Beatle with a number-one ranked solo album and single (All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass is a triple album by George Harrison, recorded and released in 1970. The original vinyl release featured two LPs of rock songs as well as Apple Jam, a third LP of informal jams...

and "My Sweet Lord
My Sweet Lord
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass. The song was written in praise of the Hindu god Krishna...

" in 1970).

External links

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