Tetragrammaton Records

Tetragrammaton Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by music industry executives Roy Silver, Bruce Post Campbell, Marvin Deane, and comedian Bill Cosby. Silver, at the time, was also Cosby's manager. The term "Tetragrammaton" refers to the unspeakable Hebrew name of God.[1] The label's most successful act was the rock band Deep Purple.

History

Tetragrammaton was also responsible for releasing the controversial 1968 Apple Records album, Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins in the United States. This avant-garde album was recorded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and featured nude photos of the pair on the front and back cover. Tetragrammaton stepped in as distributor after Capitol Records, the usual US distributor for Apple and the Beatles, refused the album, citing a possible negative response from retailers.

The Lennon/Ono album was also declared to be pornography by some authorities. Tetragrammaton fell into financial difficulties, which may have been related to the distribution of this album. Approximately 30,000 copies of the record were seized by police at a warehouse in New Jersey. The records were held as evidence in a court case, which made it impossible for the label to sell them at the time.

Bill Cosby's 1969 stand-up comedy album, 8:15 12:15, was also released by the label, as were two albums by comedian Murray Roman, You Can't Beat People Up & Have Them Say I Love You and A Blind Man's Movie.

A number of the label's projects were left unissued. Among these were a second album by singer songwriter Elyse Weinberg, and an album by Memphis musician Captain Milk (real name, Edwin Hubbard) who described himself as a "flute picker". Tetragrammaton did however release a single of the Lennon/McCartney song Hey Jude from the Captain Milk recording sessions. An English rock band named Bodast also recorded an unreleased album for Tetragrammaton in 1968. The group featured guitarist Steve Howe, later a member of Yes. The Bodast recordings were first released in 1981 by Cherry Red Records.

Despite having several popular artists on its roster, Tetragrammaton ceased trading after declaring bankruptcy in 1970. In 1972, Deep Purple's new label, Warner Bros. Records (also Cosby's former label), reissued various tracks from the group's first three Tetragrammaton albums on one compilation album entitled Purple Passages. In Canada, some of Tetragrammaton's releases were manufactured and distributed by the Canadian division of Polydor Records, which also issued several Canada-only Deep Purple compilations after Tetragrammaton's demise.

Tetragrammaton's co-founder, Marvin Deane, died of heart failure on August 16, 2010, in Los Angeles, California.[1]

Discography

  • T-101  You Can't Beat People Up and Have Them Say I Love You  Murray Roman [1968]
  • T-102  Shades of Deep Purple  Deep Purple [7/68]
  • T-103  The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side  Biff Rose [1968]
  • T-104  Ivory  Ivory [1968]
  • T-105  Let Me Show You the Way  Bobby Paris [1968]
  • T-106  Together Again for the First Time  Carol Burnett & Martha Raye [1968]
  • T-107  The Book of Taliesyn  Deep Purple [11/68]
  • T-110  Both Sides Now  Johnstons [1968]
  • T-111  Relight My Fire  Rhetta Hughes [1969]
  • T-112  Sweet Thursday  Sweet Thursday [1969]
  • T-113  Tom Ghent  Tom Ghent [1969]
  • T-114  Summerhill  Summerhill [1968]
  • T-116  Children of Light  Biff Rose [1969]
  • T-117  Elyse  Elyse Weinberg [6/1/69]
  • T-118  Departure  Pat Boone [1969]
  • T-119  Deep Purple  Deep Purple [6/69]
  • T-120  Blind Man's Movie  Murray Roman [1969]
  • T-123  The Mother of Us All  Steve Baron Quartet [1969]
  • T-124  Hello Love [aka Gene and Francesca]  Gene & Francesca [1969]
  • T-125  Joshua Fox  Joshua Fox [1969]
  • T-12?  Greasepaint Smile  Elyse Weinberg [unissued]
  • T-131  Concerto for Group and Orchestra  Deep Purple [1969]
  • T-5000  The Girl on a Motorcycle (Soundtrack)  Douglas Gamley & British Lion Orchestra [1969]
  • Apple/Tetragrammaton T-5001  Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins  John Lennon & Yoko Ono [01/1969]
  • T-5002  Quatrain  Quatrain [1969]
  • T-5003  Mark Slade's New Hat  Mark Slade [1968]
  • T-5006  Che! (soundtrack)  Lalo Schifrin [1969]
  • T-5007  The Chairman (Soundtrack)  Jerry Goldsmith [1969]
  • TD-5100  8:15 12:15  Bill Cosby [1969]
  • TD-5101  Once Upon a Time  Kingston Trio [1969]
  • TDL 5200  The Great White Hope (Original Cast)  Charles Gross & Cast [1969]

See also

  • List of record labels

References

  1. Thedeadrockstarsclub.com - accessed August 2010
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