Mercury Records
Chicago, 1945. The year Mercury Records opened its doors, the music industry was dominated by giants like RCA Victor and Capitol Records. These major labels relied heavily on radio airplay to promote their artists. Irving Green, a co-founder of Mercury, saw a different path. He chose jukeboxes as his primary marketing tool. By placing records in jukeboxes across the country, Mercury could reach listeners directly without paying for expensive radio slots. This strategy lowered costs significantly. It allowed a new label to compete with established players. Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard were hired as promoters to help penetrate the pop market. They brought names like Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane, and Patti Page into the spotlight. In 1946, the company took a bizarre step to boost visibility. They hired Eddie Gaedel, an American with dwarfism who had played in a Major League Baseball game. Gaedel portrayed the "Mercury Man" wearing a winged hat similar to the label's logo. Some early recordings even featured a caricature of him as their emblem. Two pressing plants were built, one in Chicago and another in St. Louis, Missouri. This infrastructure supported rapid production and distribution.
From 1947 to 1952, John Hammond served as vice-president of Mercury Records. Under the EmArcy label, the company released LPs by many post-swing and bebop artists. Names like Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Kenny Drew, Dinah Washington, Nat Adderley, Cannonball Adderley, Ernestine Anderson, Sarah Vaughan, Maynard Ferguson, Walter Benton, and Herb Geller appeared on these records. The late 1950s saw releases from legends such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, and Buddy Rich. During the 1960s, albums came out featuring Gene Ammons, Quincy Jones, Paul Bley, and Jimmy Smith. The label also handled jazz recordings for artists like Max Roach and Cannonball Adderley throughout this decade. These efforts established Mercury as a significant force in jazz history. The roster included swing and bebop legends who defined an era of American music. Their contributions spanned from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Each artist brought a unique sound that enriched the label's catalog. The diversity of talent helped Mercury stand out in a crowded market.
In 1951, recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine and recording director David Hall initiated a new technique using a single microphone to record symphony orchestras. From 1951 to 1956, David Hall recorded Mercury's Living Presence Series LPs. Bob Fine had used a single microphone for small-ensemble classical recordings produced by John Hammond and later Mitch Miller. The first record in this new series was Pictures at an Exhibition performed by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony. The group that became best known using this technique was the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Antal Doráti. They made a series of classical albums that were well reviewed and sold briskly. These included the first-ever complete recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Doráti's 1954 one-microphone monaural recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture included dramatic overdub recordings of artillery and bells from the Yale University Carillon. A stereo release in 1960 featured new recordings of cannon shots and bells from the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon at Riverside Church in Chicago. Howard Taubman, a New York Times music critic, described the sound as being "in the living presence of the orchestra." Wilma Cozart, who later married Bob Fine, took over recording director duties in 1953. She produced CD reissues of more than half of the Mercury Living Presence catalog in the 1990s.
In July 1967, Mercury Records became the first U.S. record label to release cassette music tapes called Musicassettes. In 1969, the company changed its corporate name to Mercury Record Productions Inc. Philips bought control of the parent company, which became North American Philips Corp. (NAPC). That same year, Philips and Siemens reorganized their joint-ventured operations into PolyGram. PolyGram bought Mercury from NAPC in 1972. The corporate name shifted to Phonogram Inc. to match a related UK company. From late 1974 to early 1983, the label design featured a painting of three famous Chicago buildings: Marina City, John Hancock Center, and One IBM Plaza. In 1980, Phonogram moved its headquarters from Chicago to New York City. In 1981, Mercury consolidated under PolyGram Records, Inc. Later, PolyGram was bought by Seagram in late 1998. This acquisition absorbed the company into Universal Music Group. Under this reorganization, Mercury Records was closed and folded into The Island Def Jam Music Group. Its pop roster went to Island Records while hip-hop acts found a home at Def Jam Recordings. Some R&B acts moved to Def Soul Records. The label was relaunched in 2007 as an imprint under The Island Def Jam Music Group with David Massey as President and CEO. It remained active until being defunct in 2015. On the 11th of April 2022, Republic Records announced they had acquired Mercury Records again.
Mercury Records expanded internationally with distinct strategies for each region. In the United Kingdom, Oriole Records served as the exclusive licensee from 1950 until 1955. Releases by artists like Frankie Laine appeared on the Oriole imprint before moving to Pye and then EMI. By 1964, distribution shifted to Philips. In March 2013, the UK roster moved to Virgin EMI after restructuring. Jason Iley became managing director in 2005, bringing Paul Adam as senior A&R director. U2 joined Mercury Records in October 2006 reportedly to rejoin Iley. In Australia, the label launched in 1955 as a full-service local operation. Keith Potger was the first known Australian artist in 1968. Successful acts included INXS, Kamahl, Bullamakanka, Darren Hayes, Carl Riseley, The Preatures, Tiddas, Dragon, Teen Queens, Melissa Tkautz, and Karise Eden. The label went into hibernation in 1999 but returned between 2007 and 2013. In France, Mercury operates under the Mercury Music Group division of Universal Music Group. They released albums by Johnny Hallyday, Georges Brassens, and Edit Piaf. Japan saw the label launch in 1952 by Taihei Onkyo. It changed names several times including Nippon Mercury and Nippon Phonogram before becoming Kitty MME in 2000. In 2022, it revitalized as Mercury Tokyo with K-pop group Monsta X as its first signing. Other groups like Drippin, Golden Child, Loona, and STAYC joined the roster.
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Common questions
When did Mercury Records open its doors in Chicago?
Mercury Records opened its doors in Chicago in 1945. The company began operations that year to compete with major labels like RCA Victor and Capitol Records.
Who were the co-founders of Mercury Records and what was their marketing strategy?
Irving Green served as a co-founder of Mercury Records and chose jukeboxes as his primary marketing tool. This strategy allowed the label to reach listeners directly without paying for expensive radio slots.
What recording technique did C. Robert Fine and David Hall initiate at Mercury Records in 1951?
C. Robert (Bob) Fine and David Hall initiated a new technique using a single microphone to record symphony orchestras starting in 1951. This method created the famous Mercury Living Presence Series LPs from 1951 to 1956.
When did Mercury Records become the first U.S. label to release cassette music tapes called Musicassettes?
Mercury Records became the first U.S. record label to release cassette music tapes called Musicassettes in July 1967. The company changed its corporate name to Mercury Record Productions Inc. later that same year.
Which artists appeared on Mercury Records releases during the jazz era from 1947 to 1960s?
Artists like Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, and Quincy Jones appeared on Mercury Records releases from 1947 through the 1960s. These musicians defined an era of American music under labels such as EmArcy.