Song Bird Records

{{About|the American label|the Dutch label|SongBird}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}

{{More footnotes|date=December 2018}}

{{Infobox record label

| name = Song Bird Records

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| parent = Duke/Peacock Records (1963-1973)
ABC Records (1973-1979)

| founded = {{Start date|1963}}

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| defunct = {{End date|1979}}

| status = Defunct

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| genre = Gospel music

| country = United States

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}}

Song Bird Records (also known as SongBird Records) was started at the end of 1963 as a gospel music subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Duke/Peacock Records.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} Significant artists on Song Bird included the powerful contralto Inez Andrews formerly of The Caravans, The Gospelettes with Liz Dargan formerly of The Andrewettes, mixed-vocal group The Kansas City Melodyaires later known as Mildred Clark & The Melodyaires, The Dallas Academy Youth Choir, The Jackson Southernaires along with their younger siblings The Williams Brothers, Reverend Oris Mays, and the Christian Harmonizers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/abc/songbird.html|title = SongBird Album Discography|website=Bsnpubs.com}}

Song Bird also featured the one-off album, It's Gospel Time, by The Sons of The Birds, being the sons of the famous Peacock group, The Dixie Hummingbirds. Andrews scored a small hit on the rhythm and blues singles charts in April 1973 with the title track of her album, Lord Don’t Move The Mountain. That same year, the Duke/Peacock family of labels ‒ which also included Back Beat and Sure Shot ‒ was sold to Los Angeles, California-based label, ABC Records, with ABC label founder, Don Robey, staying with ABC as a consultant until his death in 1975.{{Cite web|url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ebd01|title = TSHA | Duke-Peacock Records|website=Tshaonline.org}} In 1974, Song Bird's label name was changed to ABC/Songbird.

After ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979, MCA briefly operated an MCA/Songbird label with new signings including Little Anthony of Little Anthony & The Imperials and Dan Peek formerly of the group, America, the previous rosters of both ABC/Peacock and ABC/Songbird having been dropped. MCA would later reissue several Peacock and Song Bird/Songbird albums. Along with the MCA back catalog, the Peacock and Song Bird masters are now controlled by the Geffen Records unit of Universal Music Group.

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

=General references=

  • {{Cite book| publisher = Big Nickel Publications| isbn = 978-0-936433-12-7| last1 = Gart| first1 = Galen| last2 = Ames| first2 = Roy C| title = Duke/Peacock Records: an illustrated history with discography| location = Milford, New Hampshire| date = 1990}}
  • {{Cite book| publisher = Record Information Services| last1 = Hayes| first1 = Cedric J| last2 = Laughton| first2 = Robert| title = Gospel records, 1943-1969: a Black music discography| location = London| date = 1992}} {{ISBN|0-907872-28-X}} (Volume One), {{ISBN|0-907872-29-8}} (Volume Two).
  • {{Cite book| publisher = Record Research Inc.| isbn = 978-0-89820-136-9| last1 = Whitburn| first1 = Joel| title = Joel Whitburn presents top R & B singles, 1942-1999| location = Menomonee Falls, Wis.| date = 2000| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnpres00whit}}