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Jac Holzman and Elektra Records
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Subject: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jul 07 - 05:19 PM I keep discovering record albums from the 1960s that I'd like ot have, and most of them seem to come from Elektra Records, which is now part of the Warner Records Group. Warner and Warner label Rhino have reissued some of the Elektra recordings, and some have come out on the Collectors' Choice label. I came across an fascinating Website named http://www.recordcollectorsguild.org, and it has a great section on Elektra Records. Here's an excerpt:
Over the years, this boutique label set the standard for breaking new ground in the worldwide music scene. Elektra was one of the primary forces in folk music in the 1960s, virtually inventing the artist-driven environment that fueled the Southern California rock boom a decade later. Elektra was also one of the first Warner Music Group labels to "go global" with such border-crossing successes as Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. Elektra's impressive legacy also includes renowned artists such as The Doors, Linda Ronstadt, and Jackson Browne. This discography (click) seems to be very comprehensive. I wonder if it's missing anything. This page from the discography really made me drool, but there are many other Elektra recordings I'd like to have. I wonder how many will be made available in the future. I'd like to see all of them, but the one I'd like most of all to see on CD is the one by my hero Sandy Paton. I wonder if there's any chance.... Can anybody give us information about Jac Holzman and Elektra? How'd they come to be associated with Warner? What's the prospect for more reissues? -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Joe Offer Date: 13 Jul 07 - 05:23 PM I'm going to copy-paste the U.S. Mono Album Discography from recordcollectorsguild.com so you can get an idea what was on the label. I'de be surprised if ten percent of this has been reissued.
10-inch:
Label Type L2: white/print, "script" Σlektra tilted : print = red, green, blue or brown; deep groove label
12-inch: EKL = mono EKS = stereo
Label Type L3: white/print, "atom" design : print = red, green, blue or brown, with a central horizontal line in the print color; deep groove label.
Label Type L5: gray, with guitar player logo in red circle and yellow radiating lines; 1960 copyright date in rimprint
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: PoppaGator Date: 13 Jul 07 - 06:04 PM There was a time when the release of ANYTHING on the Elektra label was something I would be interested in hearing, if not buying. The label made the move from strictly-folk to folk-rock at the same time that I did, coincidentally or not. If I'm not mistaken, Elektra's first "electric" act was the great Paul Butterfield Blues Band. I didn't know that Jac Holtzman ~ as well as Glenn Yarbrough!~ came out of St. John's College in Annapolis. That's a unique and very interesting school, where everyone takes the same "Great Books"-based interdisciplinary course of study. No one "majors" in any specialty; every graduate has the same general-liberal-arts-and-sciences education. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Don Firth Date: 13 Jul 07 - 06:08 PM Fascinating book! Follow the Music, by Jac Holtzman and Gavin Daws. Highly recommended. Great anecdotes, lotsa pictures, and an extensive discography. Don Firth |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: johnross Date: 13 Jul 07 - 09:26 PM Seconding Don's recommendtion of Follow the Music . Regarding the St. John's College connection, I can offer a couple of stories: Until very recently, the only copy of the first Elektra release I had ever seen was in the St. John's College record library. It's an extremely rare LP. It was gone the last time I looked for it at St. John's -- I suspect they sold it with the rest of their LPs for fifty cents. After about 40 years of searching, I finally found a copy of the record this year in a catalog at a bargain price. When it arrived, it turned out that it had been Cynthia Gooding's copy. Bob Sacks, the St. John's classmate who first introduced Holzman to folk music later taught at St. John's. When I was a student there, he was my Sophomore mathematics tutor. This was the height of the Folk Scare, but we had no idea that Mr. Sacks had that connection. When St. John's built their second campus in Santa Fe, Jac donated the money for the music and art building, and also gave the college his papers from the early days of Elektra. I once discovered a program from a Carniege Hall Hootenanny with a page introducing Phil Ochs as a promising young singer-songwriter. There was a handwritten note across the page that says,"Paul: Sign him to an exclusive contract. --j" This was sitting on an open shelf in the library!. I showed it to the music librarian, who was visibly shocked to discover that they had such a thing and locked it away in the rare books room. The Record Collectors Guild squib is wrong about Joni Mitchell -- her first LP was on Reprise, not Elektra. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Charley Noble Date: 13 Jul 07 - 10:15 PM Fascinating. Never really thought about who was behind this "folk" label. Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie) Date: 14 Jul 07 - 07:15 PM EKLP 2 was Elektra's first folksong album, and it was my first album. We were neighbors in Greenwich Village, Jac having his tiny storefront office just round the corner from us (George and I lived in one of the two thirdfloor apartments at 88 7th Ave. South, with the roof just above as our "patio." An older friend of ours, Ed Canby, had introduced us, and Jac really loved the old Appalachian ballads from my family. He recorded most of the songs in Ed's little third-floor apartment (so full of books and record albums that the floor would sway when one walked across it, and the landlord made him move out soon after we did our recordings, for fear the floor would fall in)! George and I left for England in the fall of 1952, on my Fulbright year. Subject: To trace the sources of Ritchie Family songs." Jac sent the first album to us just before Christmas- what an exciting gift! Jac and Paul lived in our apartment while we were away. Through us, Jac met Frank Warner, Cynthia Gooding, and others of our friends, and recorded them. George did the Elektra logo that was used for many years, and the photographs for most of the early recordings. Those were the days, my friend! JR |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: GUEST,Pat Gillespie Date: 03 Oct 07 - 12:37 AM Joe Offer wrote: This discography (click) seems to be very comprehensive. I wonder if it's missing anything. This is Andy Finney's compilation, a "completer" version of the discography he compiled for Jac's Follow The Music, but still incomplete by the publishing deadline. About the only Elektra issues not included are the singles, and the shortlived Checkmate classical series. I am the one mostly responsible for most of the discographical content on the Record Collectors Guild wiki which was copied+pasted above. I haven't finished it yet (obviously), and the editorial content could stand some revision. As with Andy Finney's discography, the listings are based on the records themselves as much as possible. AFAIK the Sandy Paton LP has not been reissued on CD, though if Collector's Choice perceives a market (as it has with a couple of the Cynthia Gooding albums) no doubt it will some day. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Apr 10 - 03:37 AM Today I found the Sandy Paton LP was available on Spotify and as an MP3 download at http://amazonUK.mudcat.org - and I suppose it's available at other UK MP3 outlets - but it's not available in the US. I checked a few other Elektra artists from the list above, and I found that much of their work was available on Spotify - but not in the US. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: GUEST,999 Date: 09 Apr 10 - 09:30 AM Jac started out with $50 and a tape recorder. He went on to create one of the more respected labels in music. He was also a very nice guy. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Lonesome EJ Date: 09 Apr 10 - 10:17 AM Joe, several years back Jac made some comments on one of the Mudcat threads, and I wish I could remember what the name of the thread was. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: open mike Date: 09 Apr 10 - 12:35 PM I, too, would recommend this book. it has a disc in it with lots of songs. Some of the Elektra (and maybe chrysalis?) recordings were done at Paxton Lodge, just up the canyon from me. (Jackson Brown, et al) |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Apr 10 - 02:47 PM That was an Andy Griffith Show thread he posted to, Ernie. Wish he would have posted more than just the two times. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: GUEST,open mike Date: 09 Apr 10 - 04:35 PM wikimapia.org/10636363/Paxton-Lodge-late-60-s-music-commune might have some info about the history of Jackson Browne and others who recorded there... |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: GUEST,robert Date: 25 Jul 10 - 05:15 PM I havea promotional copy of Casey Anderson / Goin Places ekl-192 |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: open mike Date: 25 Jul 10 - 10:39 PM more about Jac Holzman here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jac_Holzman an interview here: http://www.cinetropic.com/janeloisemorris/interview/holzman/index.html npr radio story here: (Terry Gross interview on Fresh Air) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6353305 |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Rain Dog Date: 08 Oct 10 - 01:17 PM Had a quick search but could not find a mention of this programme It is a repeat of a documentary series that was originally broadcast in 2008 as 6 30 minutes shows. It is being repeated as 3 60 minute shows The first one is available on the BBC iplayer for a further 4 days Jac Holzman's Elektra Story Paul Gambaccini presents a three-part series charting the history of Elektra Records, 60 years after it was founded by Jac Holzman (10 October 1950). Primarily a New York folk label, with influential singers Judy Collins, Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton, the company explored new avenues from the mid-60s when Jac signed West Coast artists Love, Tim Buckley and the Doors. Further chart success came from the development of artists such as Bread, Carly Simon and Harry Chapin. The series features interviews with Jac Holzman and many of his artists: Theodore Bikel, Oscar Brand, Judy Collins, Ray Manzarek and John Densmore (The Doors), David Gates (Bread), Tom Paxton, Joshua Rifkin, Jean Ritchie, Tom Rush and Carly Simon; plus Elektra executives Danny Fields and Clive Selwood, engineer/producer Bruce Botnick and sessionman at the time John Sebastian. In part one, Jac Holzman and Elektra artists recall the early years of his label. Canadian Oscar Brand remembers his boisterous albums of songs associated with the armed services; Kentucky singer Jean Ritchie recalls her earliest recordings released by the label; and Theodore Bikel talks about his many Elektra concept albums devoted to songs from a variety of different countries and cultures. Carly Simon remembers Theo's albums with affection and sings snippets from his multi-lingual repertoire. After ten years of modest success, in the first half of the 60s Elektra found itself well-placed in New York's Greenwich Village to record singers emerging in a period of unprecedented enthusiasm for folk music. Jac discovered his first star of the decade when he signed Judy Collins in 1962. Judy was joined on Elektra by many of the new generation of young folk singers - the prolific writer Tom Paxton, protest singer Phil Ochs and, from the Cambridge scene, Tom Rush. Hanging out in Greenwich Village and playing mouth organ on many Elektra record sessions was future Lovin' Spoonful member John Sebastian. And Jac Holzman found an ally in his quest for quality artists when he employed Paul Rothchild as talent scout and record producer. This series first broadcast in six parts, back in 2008. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Joe Offer Date: 23 Nov 11 - 05:28 PM I'm wondering which of the Elektra folk records have been reissued. Anybody want to research that? Deckman told me today about an Alan Arkin solo album on Elektra called Folksongs - Once Over Lightly, and I started to drool. The list of Elektra folk albums is tantalizing. -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: GUEST,999 Date: 23 Nov 11 - 06:34 PM Jac started out with $50 and a tape recorder. He built one of the best labels ever with the studio help of Paul. They were both incredible people and pros at what they did. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Dec 11 - 12:14 AM All roads lead to Mudcat. This evening I pulled my Dad's cassette tape copy of an album Bad Men, Heroes and Pirate Songs ELK-129 and started trying to track down an original recording. This one has pops and crackles. I got to Joe's thread about Elektra and was able to connect the dots for this album. And I ordered the book Don recommends (it is frighteningly easy to order through Bookfinder.com, especially if you've used the Google checkout and it kept your credit card info. Click and it's yours!) I think he recorded borrowed albums from people he knew or that he got through the library where he was a reference librarian. This was in the interest of learning the songs and having access to different versions. (Seattle's Susy McAleer died last month - she and Dad - John Dwyer (1921-1997) - were partners in crime when it came to learning various versions of songs, of trying to find the earliest versions they could.) I have (apparently) many cassette copies of Elektra albums that Dad couldn't buy, and I'd like to track some of them down, to have the actual albums instead of copies. I'll start checking the various online sites. I know how to find used books - and it seems to me that some of them have used LPs also. Where do some of you start your search to find really old albums like this? SRS |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Deckman Date: 16 Dec 11 - 06:03 AM Maggie ... I just gave my record collection to the U.W. media services library. But first I made some copies of the "special ones" for myself. I also gave a few treasures away to some collectors that I know will value them. bob(deckman)nelson |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Stilly River Sage Date: 16 Dec 11 - 11:13 AM Bob, I have a lot of tapes here that Dad made of Elektra albums, but as for his 10" LPs, there are more Folkway than anything else. I haven't compared the 12" ones yet. You may recall that I had trouble keeping all of those together - the last box contained those I thought I could most easily replace. Congratulations on all of your good hard work. I'm only getting started on this. Finally . . . Maggie |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: pdq Date: 16 Dec 11 - 11:52 AM I understand that Jac Holtzman decided to start a record company to give his college buddy Glenn Yarbrough a chance to be heard by the rest of the world. Even though a few 78s were issued at the very beginning of Elektra, the first LP by Glenn Yarbrough was not done until 1957. A second LP with Marilyn Child and Yarbrough followed in 1958 and the first Limeliters record in 1959. The 1957 solo LP is called "Here We Go Baby", the title song was a minor AM hit. That record was recently issued on CD and shows Yarbrough as a "real pro" even then. The CD fidelity is a bit dodgy, in my opinion, but the set shows his traditional folk roots pretty well. |
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Subject: RE: Jac Holzman and Elektra Records From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Dec 11 - 09:21 AM That was quick! The book arrived yesterday; a bit injured (top of the spine bruised), but the dust jacket is now sheathed in mylar and this is with the rest of the music resources. SRS |
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