Herald Records

{{short description|American record label}} '''Herald Records''' was an American record label of the 1950s and 1960s.

Herald was founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1952 by Fred Mendelsohn. He teamed up with Al Silver and Silver's brother-in-law, who continued Herald Records after Mendelsohn left. The company signed Lightnin' Hopkins in 1954, and The Mellowkings in 1957.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Timothy J.|last2=Ensminger|first2=David|title=Mojo Hand: The Life and Music of Lightnin' Hopkins|date=2013|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=9780292745155|pages=69–70|language=en}}</ref> Its biggest hit was "Stay" by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs in 1960.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Broven|first1=John|title=Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers|url=https://archive.org/details/recordmakersbrea0000brov|url-access=registration|date=2009|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=9780252032905|page=[https://archive.org/details/recordmakersbrea0000brov/page/373 373]|language=en}}</ref>

Herald, its sister label Ember Records and Silver's Angel Publishing business faced large tax bills in the early 1960s. Silver opted to liquidate and pay creditors who had helped him build the business, rather than seek protection through bankruptcy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Arena |first=Neil |title=Tonite, Tonite - the story of the original Mello-Kings |publisher=Arena & Stephens |year=2022 |isbn=9781739083199 |location=London |pages=206 |language=English}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/herald/herald.html Herald and Ember Records] * [https://archive.org/details/georgeblood?and%5B%5D=publisher:herald Herald Records] on the Internet Archive's [http://great78.archive.org/ Great 78 Project]

Category:Defunct record labels of the United States Category:American companies established in 1952 Category:Record labels established in 1952 Category:Companies with year of disestablishment missing