Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt.[1] It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels.
Elektra Records
February 6, 1950
- Jac Holzman
- Paul Rickolt
- 300 Elektra Entertainment
- (United States)
- Elektra France (France)
- Warner Music Group
- (International)
- Rhino Entertainment Company
- (Re-issues)
Various
United States
History[edit]
1950–1971: Founding and early history[edit]
Elektra was formed in 1950, as the Elektra-Stratford Record Corporation, with a singles label called Stratford Records,[2] by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt in Holzman's St. John's College dorm room.[3] Each invested $300. The usual spelling of the Greek mythological Pleiad Electra[4] was changed. Holzman famously explained, "I gave her the 'K' that I lacked". He found the 'C' in the original name "too soft", but liked the "solid bite" of the letter 'K', citing its use in the Kodak name.[4][5]
The first Elektra LP, New Songs (EKLP 1 released March 1951), was a collection of Lieder and similar art songs, which sold few copies. During the 1950s and early 1960s, the label concentrated on folk music recordings, releasing a number of best-selling albums by Theodore Bikel, Ed McCurdy, Oscar Brand, and Judy Collins, and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton.[6] Holzman also recorded Josh White, who was without a record deal as a result of McCarthyite blacklisting.
