Straight Records was a
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,...
formed in
1969-Events:Perhaps the two most famous musical events of 1969 were concerts. At a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, California, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had been hired to provide security for the event. In retrospect, some commentators have concluded that the...
to distribute productions and discoveries of
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album...
and his business partner/manager
Herb CohenHerb Cohen is a record company executive and businessman, best known as the manager of Frank Zappa and many other Los Angeles-based musicians in the 1960s and 1970s....
. Straight was formed at the same time as a companion label,
Bizarre RecordsBizarre Records was a record label formed for artists discovered by Frank Zappa and his business partner/manager Herb Cohen.Bizarre was originally formed as a production company. Zappa's label, Verve Records, had missed the deadline to renew their option on Zappa's recording contract after his...
. Straight and Bizarre were manufactured and distributed in the U.S. by
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. It is also affectionately known as Warners or the Bunny, based on the Bugs Bunny cartoons released by Warner Bros. Pictures.-History:...
. Straight Records recordings were distributed in the U.K. by CBS Records.
Frank Zappa himself chose most of the artists for the Straight label. His original intention was to release albums by avant-garde artists on Bizarre, and recordings by more mainstream artists on Straight. However the original concept failed to work out as expected due to issues with record distribution and artist management.
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, electronic, orchestral, and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album...
,
The Mothers of InventionThe Mothers of Invention was an American band active from 1964 to 1975. They mainly performed works by and were the original recording group of composer and guitarist Frank Zappa, although other members have an occasional writing credit.- History :...
,
Wild Man FischerLarry "Wild Man" Fischer is a prolific songwriter in the outsider genre. He is notable for being responsible for Rhino Records' first release, Go To Rhino Records ....
, and
Lenny BruceLenny Bruce , born Leonard Alfred Schneider, was an American stand-up comedian, writer, social critic and satirist of the 1950s and 1960s. His 1964 conviction in an obscenity trial led to the first posthumous pardon in New York history.-Early life:Bruce was born in Mineola, New York, grew up in...
certainly fit in at Bizarre, but all others ended up on Straight. This led to some very unusual albums on the Straight label especially those by
Captain BeefheartDon Van Vliet is an American musician and painter, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called The Magic Band, which was active between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s...
,
Alice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
and
The GTOsThe GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
.
Zappa was also responsible for
The PersuasionsThe Persuasions are an a cappella group which began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the early 1960s. Jerry Lawson, their lead singer, arranger and producer of all 22 albums covered a wide range of musical genres...
first LP
Acappella. He heard a record of The Persuasions singing over the phone from a New Jersey record shop. Due to his passion for
doo-wopDoo-wop is a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music, which developed in African-American communities in the 1940s and which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. An African-American vocal style known as doo-wop emerged from the streets of northeastern and industrial midwest...
Zappa immediately flew the vocal group to Los Angeles to record the album.
Other notable Straight artists included
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
, and the duo of
Judy HenskeJudy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
&
Jerry YesterJerry Yester is an American folk rock musician, record producer, arranger.Growing up in Burbank, California, Yester formed a duo with brother Jim, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing folk clubs in Los Angeles in 1960. While Jim was in the army, Jerry joined first the New Christy Minstrels,...
. These musicians came to the label through an association with manager Herb Cohen.
Starting in 1972 some Straight recordings were re-issued by
Reprise RecordsReprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra, which is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...
or
Warner Bros. RecordsWarner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. It is also affectionately known as Warners or the Bunny, based on the Bugs Bunny cartoons released by Warner Bros. Pictures.-History:...
. By 1973 Straight and Bizarre were discontinued. The first issue of
Love It to DeathLove It to Death is a 1971 album by Alice Cooper. Hits include "Ballad of Dwight Fry", "Is It My Body", and one of Cooper's trademark songs, "I'm Eighteen". This was the album that brought the Alice Cooper band into the mainstream...
by
Alice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
was on Straight, though by the time it became a massive hit the album had already been re-issued on Warner Bros. In place of their previous labels Zappa and Cohen created a new label,
DiscReet RecordsDiscReet Records was a company founded by Frank Zappa and his then business partner/manager Herb Cohen. It was created in 1973 when their previous companies Bizarre Records and Straight Records were discontinued...
, also distributed by Warner Bros. The Zappa/Cohen business partnership ended acrimoniously in 1976. At that time Zappa retained ownership of his work and Herb Cohen assumed ownership of most of the non-Zappa material from Bizarre and Straight.
In 1988 and 1989 Straight recordings by
Captain BeefheartDon Van Vliet is an American musician and painter, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called The Magic Band, which was active between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s...
,
Alice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
,
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
,
The GTOsThe GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
,
The PersuasionsThe Persuasions are an a cappella group which began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the early 1960s. Jerry Lawson, their lead singer, arranger and producer of all 22 albums covered a wide range of musical genres...
, and
Lord BuckleyH.R.H. Richard Lord Buckley was an American recording artist, a monologist, and Hip poet.-Life:Recording artist H.R.H...
were briefly re-issued on CD and cassette by the
Enigma RetroEnigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, from which it split off in 1985 to become its own company....
label. Since the early 1990's the ownership of some Straight Records recordings has become unclear. This has apparently prevented further re-issues of some of this material.
List of Straight Records artists
- Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet is an American musician and painter, best known by the pseudonym Captain Beefheart. His musical work was mainly conducted with a rotating assembly of musicians called The Magic Band, which was active between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s...
- Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
- Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
- Jeff Simmons
Jeff Simmons, born June 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels in mid 1971...
- Junier Mintz
- Lord Buckley
H.R.H. Richard Lord Buckley was an American recording artist, a monologist, and Hip poet.-Life:Recording artist H.R.H...
- Judy Henske
Judy Henske is an American singer and songwriter, once known as "the Queen of the Beatniks".-Life and recording career:...
& Jerry YesterJerry Yester is an American folk rock musician, record producer, arranger.Growing up in Burbank, California, Yester formed a duo with brother Jim, the Yester Brothers, and starting playing folk clubs in Los Angeles in 1960. While Jim was in the army, Jerry joined first the New Christy Minstrels,...
- The GTOs
The GTOs were a "groupie group" that consisted of Miss Pamela , Miss Sparky , Miss Lucy , Miss Christine , Miss Sandra , Miss Mercy and Miss Cynderella...
(Girls Together Outrageously)
- Tim Dawe
- Mayf Nutter
- The Persuasions
The Persuasions are an a cappella group which began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the early 1960s. Jerry Lawson, their lead singer, arranger and producer of all 22 albums covered a wide range of musical genres...
- Rosebud
Rosebud was the name of an American popular music group which released a single, eponymous album in 1971.Its members were Judy Henske, Jerry Yester, Craig Doerge, John Seiter, and David Vaught. The album was a follow-up to the Henske-Yester collaboration, Farewell Aldebaran...
External links