Coral Records

Coral Records
Parent companyDecca Records
Founded1949 (1949)
GenrePop, rock, jazz
Country of originU.S.
LocationNew York City

Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released music by Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer.[1]

Coral issued jazz and swing music in the 1940s, but after Bob Thiele became head of the label in 1954, he produced pop and rock musicians such as Buddy Holly, Jackie Wilson, Lawrence Welk, and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. He also produced hit songs by his wife, Teresa Brewer.[2]

Coral stopped issuing new material in 1971.[3] In 1973, MCA amalgamated Decca, Kapp Records, and Uni Records under the single MCA Records banner, and Coral was repositioned as a mid-line and budget album reissue label in the U.S. and internationally.[4] That version of Coral (MCA Coral) lasted into the 1980s. Some product from MCA's former Vocalion Records budget label was manufactured with MCA Coral labels that bore Vocalion catalog numbers and was shipped in sleeves still bearing the Vocalion trademark, presumably to cut costs.

45 rpm Coral.
  1. ^ Gillett, Charlie (1996). The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll (2nd ed.). New York, N.Y.: Da Capo Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-306-80683-4.
  2. ^ Watrous, Peter (1 February 1996). "Bob Thiele, 73, Record Producer for Jazz Legends". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. ^ Edwards, David; Callahan, Mike; Eyries, Patrice; Watts, Randy; Tim Neely, Tim (27 April 2014). "Coral Album Discography". bsnpubs.com. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ^ Hall, Claude (10 February 1973). "MCA Drops Vocalion, Decca, Kapp and Uni". Billboard.