Specialty Records

{{short description|US record label; imprint of Specialty Records Inc.}} {{Infobox record label  | name = Specialty Records | image = SpecialtyRecord.jpg | image_size = 200px | parent = Concord Music Group | founded = {{start date and age|1945}} | founder = Art Rupe | fate =  | defunct =  | status =  | distributor =  | genre = Rock, rhythm and blues, gospel | country = U.S. | location = Los Angeles, California | url = {{URL|www.concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Specialty}} }}

'''Specialty Records''' was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Price.<ref name="Indies">{{cite web|last1=Morris|first1=Chris|title=Indies Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gsEAAAAMBAJ&q=specialty+records+label&pg=PA112|website=Google Books/Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|access-date=4 July 2016|language=en|date=25 February 1995}}</ref> Rupe established the company under the name Juke Box Records but changed it to Specialty in 1946 when he parted company with a couple of his original partners.<ref name="Larkin50">{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-732-0|page=302}}</ref> Rupe acquired Fidelity, a gospel record label, in 1951 and it became a subsidiary label of Specialty.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Staff |title=Fidelity gospel discography (1951) |url=https://bless-this-soul.com/fidelity |website=Bless This Soul |access-date=May 10, 2026 |date=June 11, 2016}}</ref> Rupe's daughter, Beverly,<ref name="Larkin50"/> restarted the label in the 1980s.<ref name="Indies" />

The major producers for the label were Rupe, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Johnny Vincent and J. W. Alexander.<ref name="Gillett">{{cite book|last1=Gillett|first1=Charlie|title=The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll|date=1996|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=New York|isbn=0-306-80683-5|page=86|edition=Second}}</ref> Rupe was known for hating the practice of payola,<ref name="Broven">{{cite book|last1=Broven|first1=John|title=Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers|date=2010|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana, IL|isbn=978-0-252-07727-2|pages=305–308|edition=1st Illinois pbk.}}</ref> but by 1953, "the only way for Specialty to remain competitive was to pay like everybody else."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Guralnick|first1=Peter|title=Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke|date=2005|publisher=Back Bay Books|location=New York|page=98}}</ref>

Specialty owned music publishing companies: Venice Music for BMI-licensed songs, and Greenwich Music for ASCAP-licensed songs.<ref name="Goldberg">{{cite web|last1=Goldberg|first1=D.K.|title=Art Rupe's Specialty Records|url=http://www.history-of-rock.com/specialty.htm|website=www.history-of-rock.com|access-date=26 November 2006}}</ref>

The record label was sold to Fantasy Records in 1991 and is now part of the Concord Music Group. The music publishing unit was sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

== Roster == * The Blind Boys of Alabama * Alex Bradford * Wynona Carr * Clifton Chenier * Eugene Church * Dorothy Love Coates * Sam Cooke * John Lee Hooker * Camille Howard * Little Richard * Guitar Slim * Roddy Jackson * Jimmy Liggins * Joe Liggins * Roy Milton * Percy Mayfield * Lloyd Price * Frankie Lee Sims * Soul Stirrers * Larry Williams * Lester Williams<ref name="Ankeny">{{cite web|last1=Ankeny|first1=Jason|title=Lester Williams Biography & History|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lester-williams-mn0000256563/biography|website=AllMusic|access-date=17 November 2011}}</ref>

==See also== * List of record labels

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Specialty/ Official website] * [http://www.history-of-rock.com/specialty.htm Specialty Records history] * [http://www.bsnpubs.com/specialty/specialty2100.html Discography] * [https://archive.org/details/georgeblood?and%5B%5D=publisher:specialty Specialty Records] on the Internet Archive's [http://great78.archive.org/ Great 78 Project]

Specialty Records artists with Wikipedia pages Category:Record labels established in 1946 Category:Record labels disestablished in 1991 Category:Rhythm and blues record labels Category:Blues record labels Category:Rock and roll record labels Category:Defunct record labels of the United States Category:Concord Music Group Category:1946 establishments in California Category:1991 disestablishments in California