Song Bird Records

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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]} 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.^[1]

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.^[2] 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.