AFO Records

{{Short description|American record label}}

{{Infobox record label

| name = AFO Records

| image =

| image_size =

| parent =

| founded = {{start date|1961}}

| founder = Harold Battiste

| fate =

| defunct =

| status = Defunct

| distributor = Sue Records

| genre =

| country = U.S.

| location = New Orleans, Louisiana

}}

All for One Records, better known as AFO, was an African American musician-owned record label.{{cite web|title=Battiste, Harold R. Jr. (1931-)|url=http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=185|publisher=Amistad Research Center|access-date=11 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090926/http://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/archon/?p=creators%2Fcreator&id=185|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} AFO was founded in New Orleans in 1961 by Harold Battiste, who was an established composer, arranger, and performer. AFO was established as a musicians' collective.{{cite web|last1=Reid|first1=Molly|title=Tribute scheduled for Harold Battiste Jr.|url=http://blog.nola.com/mollyreid/2008/06/a_living_legend.html|website=NOLA.com|access-date=11 August 2015|date=June 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619203837/http://blog.nola.com/mollyreid/2008/06/a_living_legend.html|archive-date=19 June 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|last=Guralnick|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Guralnick|title=Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|year=2005|page=[https://archive.org/details/dreamboogietrium00gura/page/420 420]|isbn=0-316-37794-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dreamboogietrium00gura}} According to AFO alumnus Wallace Johnson, Battiste "said it was time for New Orleans musicians that make the music to make the money – not out-of-town companies that came here to record."{{cite web|last1=Hannusch|first1=Jeff|title=AFO alumnus Wallace Johnson returns to New Orleans to thrill the Ponderosa Stomp|url=http://blog.ponderosastomp.com/tag/afo-records/|website=Ponderosa Stomp|access-date=11 August 2015}} House musicians for AFO included Harold Battiste, Red Tyler, Roy Montrell, Peter Badie, John Boudreaux and Melvin Lastie.{{Cite book|last=Rebennack|first=Mac|title=Under A Hoodoo Moon - The Life of The Night Tripper|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|year=1994|isbn=978-0-312-13197-5|location=United States|pages=84}} AFO was distributed by Sue Records.{{Cite magazine|date=December 18, 1961|title=Artist Biographies: Barbara George|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/60s/1961/Billboard%201961-12-18.pdf|magazine=Billboard|pages=21}}

In 1961, AFO released Barbara George's song "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)", which reached the top of the R&B chart and #3 on the Hot 100 chart.{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|p=420}}

In 1963, Battiste and other members of the collective moved to Los Angeles, in hopes of greater success.{{cite web|last1=Kunian|first1=David|title=AFO Records: All For Fifty|url=http://www.offbeat.com/articles/afo-records-all-for-fifty/|website=Offbeat|access-date=11 August 2015|ref=kunian|date=June 1, 2011}} Battiste's band, the AFO Executives, became a backup band for Sam Cooke and other SAR Records artists until Cooke's death in 1964.{{sfn|Guralnick|2005|pp=541-543, 546-549, 566, 619}} The collective soon diffused, and AFO went on "extended hiatus".

In 1991, Battiste, who had returned to New Orleans, restarted the project and leased much of the AFO catalog to Ace Records, who used them to produce a series of compilations beginning with Gumbo Stew.

By 2007, Battiste created the AFO Foundation to protect and nurture the resources of AFO Records and Battiste's music publishing company, At Last Publishing.{{cite web|last1=Battiste |first1=Harold |title=AFO Foundation: History |url=http://www.afofoundation.org/afo |website=AFO Foundation |access-date=11 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218231837/http://www.afofoundation.org/afo |archive-date=February 18, 2007 }}