# Specialty Records > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Specialty_Records > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Specialty_Records.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_Records > Source revision: 1353445773 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/Concord_Music_Group) | founded = {{start date and age|1945}} | founder = [Art Rupe](/source/Art_Rupe) | fate = | defunct = | status = | distributor = | genre = [Rock](/source/rock_and_roll), [rhythm and blues](/source/rhythm_and_blues), [gospel](/source/Gospel_music) | country = U.S. | location = [Los Angeles, California](/source/Los_Angeles%2C_California) | url = {{URL|www.concordmusicgroup.com/labels/Specialty}} }} '''Specialty Records''' was an American [record label](/source/record_label) founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by [Art Rupe](/source/Art_Rupe). It was known for [rhythm and blues](/source/rhythm_and_blues), [gospel](/source/Gospel_music), and early [rock and roll](/source/rock_and_roll), and recorded artists such as [Little Richard](/source/Little_Richard), [Guitar Slim](/source/Guitar_Slim), [Percy Mayfield](/source/Percy_Mayfield), and [Lloyd Price](/source/Lloyd_Price).{{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}} 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.{{cite book|title=[The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music)|editor=[Colin Larkin](/source/Colin_Larkin_(writer))|publisher=[Guinness Publishing](/source/Guinness_Publishing)|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-732-0|page=302}} Rupe acquired Fidelity, a gospel record label, in 1951 and it became a subsidiary label of Specialty.{{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}} Rupe's daughter, Beverly, restarted the label in the 1980s. The major producers for the label were Rupe, [Robert "Bumps" Blackwell](/source/Robert_Blackwell), [Johnny Vincent](/source/Johnny_Vincent) and [J. W. Alexander](/source/J._W._Alexander_(musician)).{{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}} Rupe was known for hating the practice of [payola](/source/payola),{{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.}} but by 1953, "the only way for Specialty to remain competitive was to pay like everybody else."{{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}} Specialty owned music publishing companies: Venice Music for [BMI](/source/Broadcast_Music%2C_Inc.)-licensed songs, and Greenwich Music for [ASCAP](/source/American_Society_of_Composers%2C_Authors_and_Publishers)-licensed songs.{{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}} The record label was sold to [Fantasy Records](/source/Fantasy_Records) in 1991 and is now part of the [Concord Music Group](/source/Concord_Bicycle_Music). The music publishing unit was sold to [Sony/ATV Music Publishing](/source/Sony%2FATV_Music_Publishing). == Roster == * [The Blind Boys of Alabama](/source/The_Blind_Boys_of_Alabama) * [Alex Bradford](/source/Alex_Bradford) * [Wynona Carr](/source/Wynona_Carr) * [Clifton Chenier](/source/Clifton_Chenier) * [Eugene Church](/source/Eugene_Church) * [Dorothy Love Coates](/source/Dorothy_Love_Coates) * [Sam Cooke](/source/Sam_Cooke) * [John Lee Hooker](/source/John_Lee_Hooker) * [Camille Howard](/source/Camille_Howard) * [Little Richard](/source/Little_Richard) * [Guitar Slim](/source/Guitar_Slim) * [Roddy Jackson](/source/Roddy_Jackson) * [Jimmy Liggins](/source/Jimmy_Liggins) * [Joe Liggins](/source/Joe_Liggins) * [Roy Milton](/source/Roy_Milton) * [Percy Mayfield](/source/Percy_Mayfield) * [Lloyd Price](/source/Lloyd_Price) * [Frankie Lee Sims](/source/Frankie_Lee_Sims) * [Soul Stirrers](/source/Soul_Stirrers) * [Larry Williams](/source/Larry_Williams) * [Lester Williams](/source/Lester_Williams_(musician)){{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}} ==See also== * [List of record labels](/source/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] {{Concord}} {{Authority control}} 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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Specialty Records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_Records) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialty_Records?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.