Oh Boy Records - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Oh Boy Records is an independent American 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 in 1984 by singer John Prine

John Prine

John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...

, his manager Al Bunetta and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

, Slick Ballinger, Shawn Camp, Dan Reeder and Todd Snider

Todd Snider

Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter with a musical style that combines Americana, alt-country, and folk.-Biography:...

, along with a dozen reissues of classic country music artists. Oh Boy Records also manages two subsidiary labels, Steve Goodman

Steve Goodman

Steve Goodman was an American folk music singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. The writer of "City of New Orleans", made popular by Arlo Guthrie, Goodman won two Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...

's Red Pajamas Records

Red Pajamas Records

Red Pajamas Records is an independent American record label. It was founded in 1982 by Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman with help from his manager Al Bunetta. Between 1983 and his death in 1984, Goodman released two albums on Red Pajamas: Artistic Hair and Affordable Art...

and speciality label Blue Plate Music. Oh Boy is based in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

History

Al Bunetta was a talent manager with Paul Anka

Paul Anka

Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...

's management company CMA

International Creative Management

International Creative Management is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London. ICM is a full-service agency representing creative and technical talent in the fields of motion pictures, television, fiction and nonfiction publishing, music, live performance,...

, working with artists like Bette Midler

Bette Midler

Bette Midler is an American singer, actress, and comedian, also known by her informal stage name, The Divine Miss M. She became famous as a cabaret and concert headliner, and went on to star in successful and acclaimed films such as The Rose, Ruthless People, Beaches, and For The Boys...

, Al Green

Al Green

Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...

and The Manhattan Transfer

The Manhattan Transfer

The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both...

. When Anka signed John Prine and Steve Goodman to management contracts in 1971, Bunetta became the manager for both of them. In 1980, Prine finished his recording contract with Asylum

Asylum Records

Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...

and moved to Nashville. Rather than sign with another major label, he decided to start one of his own, and was joined by Bunetta and associate Dan Einstein. The new Oh Boy label's first release was a red vinyl Christmas single with Prine singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on the A-side and "Silver Bells" on the B-side. The first full-length release was Prine's Aimless Love in 1984. Around 1989, Sony

Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

offered to buy Oh Boy Records, but Prine decided to keep the label independent and turned down the offer.

Recent projects

In 2000, the label began reissuing a series of classic country music artists titled Oh Boy Classics Presents... These are remastered versions of the original recordings. The first three artists in this series were Roger Miller

Roger Miller

Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...

, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

and Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...

. In 2007 Oh Boy released Standard Songs for Average People, an album of classic country duets by Prine and bluegrass

Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

singer Mac Wiseman

Mac Wiseman

Malcolm B. Wiseman , better known as Mac Wiseman, is an American bluegrass singer, nicknamed The Voice with a Heart. The bearded singer is one of the cult figures of bluegrass....

. 2010 saw the release of a new Prine live album, In Person & On Stage, followed by Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows, a tribute album of Prine songs performed by artists like Sara Watkins

Sara Watkins

Sara Ullrika Watkins is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of the progressive bluegrass group Nickel Creek, which consisted of herself, her elder brother Sean, and mandolinist Chris Thile. As a band, they are notable for three wide-released albums:...

and Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...

.
Both of the 2010 releases debuted at #1 on the Billboard Folk Album charts

Billboard charts

The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...

Discography

Year	Artist	Title	Number	Comments
1981	John Prine John Prine John Prine is an American country/folk singer-songwriter. He has been active as a recording artist and live performer since the early 1970s.-Biography:...	Red Vinyl Christmas 45	OBR-001	"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"/"Silver Bells"
1984	John Prine	Aimless Love Aimless Love Aimless Love is the eighth album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1984. It is his first release on his independent record label, Oh Boy Records...	OBR-002
1986	John Prine	German Afternoons German Afternoons German Afternoons is the ninth album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1986. It features the progressive bluegrass band, New Grass Revival.-Reception:...	OBR-003
1987	John Prine	Green Vinyl 45	OBR-004	"Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian"/"Kokomo"
1988	John Prine	John Prine Live John Prine Live John Prine Live is a live album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1988. It was originally released as a double-LP.-Reception:...	OBR-005
1989	John Prine	Bruised Orange Bruised Orange Bruised Orange is the fifth album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1978.-Reception:Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album "Despite some brilliant songs, Prine's followup albums to his stunning debut were uneven until this.....	OBR-006	Originally released in 1978 as Asylum 139
1990?	John Prine	Pink Cadillac Pink Cadillac (album) Pink Cadillac is the sixth album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1979. It was produced by Knox Phillips and Jerry Phillips; they are the sons of Sam Phillips, who produced two of the album's tracks ....	OBR-007	Originally released in 1979 as Asylum 222
1990?	John Prine	Storm Windows Storm Windows Storm Windows is the seventh album by American folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1980. It was his last release on a major label — he would next join Al Bunetta and Dan Einstein to form Oh Boy Records on which all his subsequent recordings were released.-Reception:Writing for...	OBR-008	Originally released in 1980 as Asylum 286
1991	John Prine	The Missing Years	OBR-009
1993	John Prine	A John Prine Christmas A John Prine Christmas A John Prine Christmas is a Christmas album by American folk singer John Prine, released in 1994."If You Were the Woman and I Was the Man" is a duet with Margo Timmins, lead singer of the Cowboy Junkies.-Reception:...	OBR-011
	The Bis-Quits	The Bis-Quits	OBR-012
	John Prine	Great Days: The John Prine Anthology	OBR-ANT	Originally released as Rhino R2 71400
1995	John Prine	Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings is an album by American folk singer John Prine, released in 1995.-Reception:Writing for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlman wrote of the album "Fans of the early Prine may find that sound over-produced, but the songs never get lost, and with Prine's typically humorous,...	OBR-013
1995	Heather Eatman	Mascara Falls	OBR-014
1997	John Prine	Live on Tour	OBR-015
	RB Morris	Take That Ride	OBR-016
	Donnie Fritts	Everybody's Got a Song	OBR-017
1998	Various Artists	Lucky 13	OBR-018
1999	John Prine	In Spite of Ourselves In Spite of Ourselves In Spite of Ourselves is an album of duets between John Prine and various well-known female folk and alt-country vocalists, released in 1999.The album was Prine’s first release since successfully battling throat cancer...	OBR-019
2000	Todd Snider Todd Snider Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter with a musical style that combines Americana, alt-country, and folk.-Biography:...	Happy To Be Here	OBR-020
	John Prine	Souvenirs Souvenirs (John Prine album) Souvenirs is an album by John Prine released in 2000. Originally intended for German-only release, the album consists of new performances of some of Prine's most popular early songs.-Reception:...	OBR-021	Number may be OBR-010, sources disagree
	Roger Miller Roger Miller Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...	Oh Boy Records Classics Presents Roger Miller	OBR-400
	Willie Nelson Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...	Oh Boy Records Classics Presents Willie Nelson	OBR-401
	Merle Haggard Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Merle Haggard	OBR-402
2001	Joe Tex Joe Tex Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Joe Tex	OBR-403
	Conway Twitty Conway Twitty Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Conway Twitty	OBR-404
	Bill Anderson	Oh Boy Classics Presents Bill Anderson	OBR-405
	The Kendalls The Kendalls The Kendalls was an American country music duo, consisting of Royce Kendall and his daughter Jeannie Kendall . Between the 1960s and 1990s, they released sixteen albums on various labels, including five on Mercury Records...	Oh Boy Classics Presents The Kendalls	OBR-406
	Merle Haggard	Oh Boy Classics Presents Merle Haggard...Again	OBR-407
	John Prine	Sessions at West 54th Sessions at West 54th Sessions at West 54th was an American television program that featured music performances, and was in some ways a pop music variation on the theme set by the long-lived Austin City Limits, though the featured musicians represented a number of musical genres. It was called Sessions at West 54th...	OBR-500DVD	DVD
2002	Riders in the Sky	A Pair of Kings A Pair of Kings A Pair of Kings is a studio recording released by the Western band Riders in the Sky on February 19, 2043. It is available as a single CD....	OBR-022
	Todd Snider	New Connection	OBR-023
	Don Gibson Don Gibson Donald Eugene "Don" Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson penned such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the early 1970s.-Biography:Don Gibson was...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Don Gibson	OBR-408
	Roy Acuff Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the King of Country Music, Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown" format to the star singer-based format that helped make it internationally successful.Acuff...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Roy Acuff	OBR-409
	Rusty & Doug Kershaw Doug Kershaw Doug Kershaw, born January 24, 1936, is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1949, Kershaw has recorded fifteen albums and charted on the Hot Country Songs charts.- Early life :...	Oh Boy Classics Presents Rusty & Doug Kershaw	OBR-410
	Lorrie Morgan Lorrie Morgan In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....	Oh Boy Classics Presents Lorrie Morgan	OBR-411
	Don Everly	Oh Boy Classics Presents Don Everly	OBR-412
2003	Todd Snider	Near Truths and Hotel Rooms	OBR-024
	Kris Kristofferson Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...	Broken Freedom Song: Live from San Francisco Broken Freedom Song: Live from San Francisco Broken Freedom Song: Live from San Francisco is a live album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 2003 on the Oh Boy record label. Recorded in San Francisco on July 19, 2002, the album features few of Kristofferson's most well-known songs, one of the sole exceptions being the title track...	OBR-025
	Janis Ian Janis Ian Janis Ian is an American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author. Ian first entered the folk music scene while still a teenager in the mid-sixties; most active musically in that decade and the 1970s, she has continued recording into the 21st century...	Live: Working Without a Net	OBR-026	Double CD
2004	Dan Reeder	Dan Reeder	OBR-027
	Kris Kristofferson	Repossessed Repossessed (album) Repossessed is an album by Kris Kristofferson, release on Mercury Records in 1986 . It was Kristofferson's first full-length solo album since 1981's To the Bone, although the singer did collaborate with other artists in the meantime, most notably on Highwayman with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and... /Third World Warrior Third World Warrior Third World Warrior is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Mercury Records in 1990 . It is a concept album composed of topical songs on politics, primarily expressing left-wing support...	OBR-028	Double reissue of 1986/1990 Mercury albums
	Janis Ian	Billie's Bones	OBR-029	Also released as Rude Girl Records RGR0019
	Slick Ballinger	Mississippi Soul	OBR-030	EP
	Todd Snider	East Nashville Skyline	OBR-031
	Shawn Camp	Live at the Station Inn	OBR-032
	Kris Kristofferson	Breakthrough	OBR-501	DVD
2005	John Prine	Fair & Square Fair & Square Fair & Square is an album by American folk singer-songwriter John Prine, released on Oh Boy Records in 2005. Three versions were released: a standard CD, an Extended Play CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks....	OBR-034
	John Prine	Fair & Square Fair & Square Fair & Square is an album by American folk singer-songwriter John Prine, released on Oh Boy Records in 2005. Three versions were released: a standard CD, an Extended Play CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks....	OBR-034-1	Vinyl with 4 Bonus Tracks
	John Prine	Fair & Square Fair & Square Fair & Square is an album by American folk singer-songwriter John Prine, released on Oh Boy Records in 2005. Three versions were released: a standard CD, an Extended Play CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks....	OBR-034-EP	EP on CD with 4 Bonus Tracks
2006	Slick Ballinger	Mississippi Soul	OBR-035	Full Length
2006	Dan Reeder	Sweetheart	OBR-036
2007	Todd Snider	Peace, Love and Anarchy	OBR-037	Rarities, B-Sides and Demos, Vol.1
2007	John Prine with Mac Wiseman Mac Wiseman Malcolm B. Wiseman , better known as Mac Wiseman, is an American bluegrass singer, nicknamed The Voice with a Heart. The bearded singer is one of the cult figures of bluegrass....	Standard Songs for Average People Standard Songs for Average People Standard Songs for Average People is an album by John Prine and Mac Wiseman, released in 2007 . Wiseman was 82 years old at the time of the recording and Prine was 60.-Reception:...	OBR-038
2010	John Prine	In Person & On Stage	OBR-039	Live. Includes duets with Iris DeMent, Sara Watkins, Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Kane Welch Kaplin
2010	Various Artists	Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine	OBR-042	Tribute CD. Also vinyl as OBR-042-1

History

Recent projects

Discography

See also