Charly Records
British record label
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Charly Records is a British record label that specialises in reissued material.[1]
Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, Fania, Treasure Isle, Beverley's, Soul City and Giorgio Gomelsky Productions and distributing albums from artists such as Small Faces, Funkadelic, The Yardbirds, Bob Marley & The Wailers, and 13th Floor Elevators.[2]
History
Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young,[3] who had been a promoter of teen concerts but moved to the UK in 1975.[1] In 1977 Charly started a jazz subsidiary, Affinity Records.[4]
Charly Records began as the UK reissue label for Chess in the mid-1970s. Charly was originally known mainly for American-originated jazz and other modern oddities, such as the Bollock Brothers, but it is now mainly an album-oriented "retro" label. The Charly R&B imprint became another important sub-label, focusing on vintage blues and soul releases and themed compilations.[5] Its most obvious rivals are Rhino and See for Miles (a label that Charly distributed in the 1980s).
When the label began issuing CDs in the mid-1980s, they were typically of poor-to-fair quality with a lot of surface noise.[6]
In Europe, Charly is distributed by Snapper Records, while licensing is through LicenseMusic.com. Charly is one of several labels currently controlled by Snapper Music.[7]
The label produces Americana, blues, funk, gospel, jazz, Latin, popular, rap, reggae, r&b, rock, rockabilly, soul, and ska.[3]
Roster
- Johnny Cash
- Sammy Davis Jr.
- Funkadelic
- Mickey Gilley
- Rosco Gordon
- Charlie Gracie
- Carol Grimes
- Hardrock Gunter
- Gong
- Bill Haley & His Comets
- Ronnie Hawkins
- John Lee Hooker
- Ice-T
- Elmore James
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Billy Lee Riley
- Curtis Mayfield
- Thelonious Monk
- Moon Mullican
- Johnny Pacheco
- Soft Heap
- Small Faces
- Alvin "Shine" Robinson
- Warren Smith
- The Staple Singers
- Gene Summers
- Sylvia Striplin
- Showaddywaddy
- Toots & the Maytals
- Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds
- 13th Floor Elevators
- The Red Crayola
- Bob Marley & The Wailers
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Carl Perkins