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44-485: On February 14, 2023, the group, still led by Steve Katz and Roy Blumenfeld, released a new collection of tunes, called "Evolution". In 1964, Elektra Records produced a compilation album of various artists entitled, The Blues Project , which featured several white musicians from the Greenwich Village area who played acoustic blues music in the style of black musicians. One of the featured artists on

88-479: A Blues Project album for contractual reasons. In 1969, they released a self-titled LP ( Sea Train ), but faced a major change in membership a few months later. The group's second self-titled album was released in late 1970 under the single-word name Seatrain . By then, Blumenfeld, Gregory, and Kretmar had been replaced by drummer Larry Atamanuik, keyboardist Lloyd Baskin, and Earth Opera guitarist and former Blue Grass Boy Peter Rowan . The album's "13 Questions"

132-609: A Rolling Stone ," to provide piano and organ. Kooper, who had worked with Blumenfeld and Kulberg during sessions for his contribution to the What's Shakin' compilation, was invited to join the group. When Columbia declined to sign the band, Wilson, who by late 1965 had moved to MGM Records , signed the Blues Project to MGM's Verve/Folkways subsidiary. The band began recording their first album live at Greenwich Village 's Cafe Au Go Go in late November 1965. Entitled Live at

176-625: A few months later. Three more albums, 1970's Seatrain , 1971's The Marblehead Messenger (on Capitol) and 1973's Watch (on Warner Bros.) followed. In the period between 2001 and 2007, Roy Blumenfeld drummed in the Barry Melton Band (Melton of Country Joe and the Fish fame). Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment ) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group , founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in

220-580: A producer for Columbia Records, recorded with guitarist Mike Bloomfield , Stephen Stills and Harvey Brooks for the album entitled Super Session , before doing several solo albums including one with Shuggie Otis. Katz, on the other hand, remained with the band into the 1970s. The Blues Project, with a modified line-up, reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums: 1971's Lazarus , 1972's Blues Project , and 1973's The Original Blues Project Reunion In Central Park (which featured Kooper but not Flanders). These albums did little to excite

264-498: A section of the California Labor Code , that allows employees to be released from a personal services contract after seven years. By this time, Metallica had been with the label for more than a decade and had racked up sales over 40 million records, but they were still operating under the terms of their original 1984 contract, which provided a relatively low 14% royalty rate. The group also claimed that they were taking

308-508: Is credited as bringing in seminal new wave band The Cars , setting Elektra, again, on another artist direction. Although the label was technically listed as "Elektra/Asylum Records" on the label credits, as the years went on, the label began to unofficially call itself Elektra Records again (with Asylum operating as a subsidiary label). In 1982, Elektra launched a jazz subsidiary called Elektra/Musician . The following year, Bob Krasnow became president and CEO of Elektra; under his leadership,

352-507: The Greek mythological Pleiad Electra was changed. Holzman famously explained, "I gave her the 'K' that I lacked". He found the 'C' in the original name "too soft", but liked the "solid bite" of the letter 'K', citing its use in the Kodak name. The first Elektra LP, New Songs (EKLP 1 released March 1951), was a collection of Lieder and similar art songs, which sold few copies. During

396-569: The Warner-Elektra-Atlantic umbrella. Holzman remained in charge of Elektra until 1972, when it merged with Asylum Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records; Asylum's founder, David Geffen , headed the newly combined label. Holzman, in the meantime, was appointed senior vice president and chief technologist for Warner — ushering the company into home video and the first interactive cable system. Holzman also went on to acquire Discovery Records . In 1975, Geffen stepped down when he

440-435: The 1950s and early 1960s, the label concentrated on folk music recordings, releasing a number of best-selling albums by Theodore Bikel , Ed McCurdy , Oscar Brand , and Judy Collins , and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton . Holzman also recorded Josh White , who was without a record deal as a result of McCarthyite blacklisting . In 1964, Elektra launched Nonesuch Records . This classical budget label

484-485: The 1990s drew to a close, Elektra began to see a slump in revenue, while noticeably underperforming on the charts. It also developed a bit of a sullen reputation in the industry for not properly promoting many of its releases, thus earning the nickname "Neglektra" from several signed artists, such as Marvelous 3 , Jason Falkner , and Greg Dulli , and was easily lagging behind its sister labels Warner Bros. Records and Atlantic Records. In February 2004, Warner Music Group

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528-668: The Cafe Au Go Go , the album was finished with another week of recordings in January 1966. By that time, Flanders had left the band and, as a result, he appeared on only a few of the songs on this album. Live at the Cafe Au Go Go was a moderate success, and the band toured the U.S. to promote it. Returning to New York, the band recorded their second album Projections in the fall of 1966, with MGM releasing it in November. Projections contained an eclectic set of songs that ran

572-688: The Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band (with Mike Bloomfield ), the Los Angeles bands Love and The Doors , and the Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5 . Included in Elektra's Los Angeles-based signings were Tim Buckley and Bread . In 1968, the label also signed pioneering rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack to a three-album deal. Also in 1967, Elektra launched its Nonesuch Explorer Series, one of

616-527: The Year". Nadel was officially named president of the label in 2017. In October 2017, Elektra Records partnered with MSG Networks for "Friday Night Knicks". Announced on June 18, 2018, Warner Music Group relaunched Elektra Music Group on October 1, as a stand-alone, staffed music company with the labels Black Cement, Elektra, Fueled by Ramen (FBR), Low Country Sound , and Roadrunner Records . A handful of major artists transferred from Atlantic. This returned

660-469: The action because Robert Morgado had refused to honor a new deal they had worked out with Bob Krasnow shortly before he quit the label. Elektra responded by countersuing the group, but in December, New York magazine reported rumors that then Warner Music US chairman Doug Morris had offered the group a lucrative new deal in exchange for dropping the suit, which was reported to be even more generous than

704-698: The album was a young guitarist named Danny Kalb , who was paid $ 75 for his two songs. Not long after the album's release, however, Kalb gave up his acoustic guitar for an electric one. The Beatles ' arrival in the United States earlier in the year muted the folk and acoustic blues movement that had swept the US in the early 1960s. Kalb formed the Danny Kalb Quartet in early 1965, with rhythm guitarist Artie Traum , Andy Kulberg on bass and drummer Roy Blumenfeld. When Traum went to Europe during

748-469: The band Seatrain with Jim Roberts, ex-Mystery Trend guitarist John Gregory, former Jim Kweskin Jug Band violinist/fiddler Richard Greene, and saxophonist Don Kretmar. Seatrain recorded their first album, Planned Obsolescence , in 1968, but had to release it as a Blues Project album for contractual reasons. In 1969, they released a self-titled A&M LP ( Sea Train ), but faced a major change in membership

792-561: The band in the spring of 1967, and the band completed a third album, Live At Town Hall without him. Despite the name, only one song was recorded live at Town Hall in New York; the other songs were live recordings from other venues, or studio outtakes with overdubbed applause to feign a live sound. One song in the latter category, Kooper's "No Time Like the Right Time," was the band's only charting single. The Blues Project's last hurrah

836-488: The collective reputation of the group. Unhappy with major structural changes enacted by then Warner Music Group chairman Robert Morgado, Bob Krasnow abruptly resigned in July 1994, and others soon followed; the highly respected Warner Bros CEO Mo Ostin decided not to renew his contract and left in December 1994, and Ostin's friend and protégé Lenny Waronker left early the next year. Krasnow was replaced by Sylvia Rhone , who at

880-427: The creation of 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), a new umbrella group created from the merger of Elektra Music Group and 300 Entertainment . The umbrella group means that Fueled by Ramen, Low Country Sound and Roadrunner have been placed into a singular unit with 300 Entertainment's labels. Despite this merger, WMG maintained that 300 and Elektra will keep their separate identities. Seatrain (band) Seatrain

924-536: The development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group . After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group

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968-479: The earlier Krasnow deal. In January, the group and Elektra jointly announced that they had settled the suit, and although a nondisclosure agreement kept the terms secret, media sources claimed, "a significant increase in royalty payments to the band as well as a renegotiation of the group's recording contract were key factors in Metallica and Elektra coming to terms." Despite having a large stable of noted acts, as

1012-552: The first collections of what is now referred to as world music . Excerpts from several Nonesuch Explorer recordings were later included on the two Voyager Golden Discs , which were sent into deep space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes. Elektra, along with its Nonesuch Records subsidiary, was acquired by Kinney National Services in 1970, which changed its name to Warner Communications in 1972. Soon afterwards, Kinney consolidated their label holdings under

1056-401: The gamut from blues , R&B , jazz , psychedelia , and folk-rock . The centerpieces of the album were an 11-and-a-half minute version of Muddy Waters ' blues standard "Two Trains Running" featuring Kalb on vocals and lead guitar, and Kooper's instrumental "Flute Thing" featuring Kulberg on flute. Soon after Projections was completed, however, the band began to fall apart. Kooper left

1100-697: The group to the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic triad that had for decades marked the original company organization. Staff from Elektra, FBR, and Roadrunner labels, plus some from Atlantic, staffed the new standalone group with co-presidents Mike Easterlin and Gregg Nadel coming from Fueled by Ramen and Roadrunner Records and Elektra, respectively, where they served as label presidents. Elektra co-presidents answered, though, to Atlantic Records Group Chairman and CEO Craig Kallman and Chairwoman and COO Julie Greenwald. On October 3, 2018, Elektra revealed its entire leadership team. The label group's first release

1144-495: The label in 2015. In September 2015, Castelaz stepped down from his role at Elektra, leaving Nadel to run the label. In 2016, Elektra's releases included A/B , the debut album by Icelandic rock band Kaleo , which included the number-one Alternative hit " Way Down We Go ", Fitz and the Tantrums ' self-titled third album and the critically acclaimed Southern Family , which garnered a 2016 CMA Nomination for "Musical Event of

1188-738: The label reached its commercial peak throughout the rest of the 1980s and early to mid-1990s. In 1989, the label officially changed its name to Elektra Entertainment. During the Bob Krasnow era, the label became home to a wide range of artists, such as Metallica , Yngwie Malmsteen , Faster Pussycat , Mötley Crüe , Phish , Tracy Chapman , 10,000 Maniacs , They Might Be Giants , The Cure , The Sugarcubes , Stereolab , Luna , The Call , X , The Afghan Whigs , Anita Baker , Linda Ronstadt , Natalie Cole , Brand Nubian , KMD , Pete Rock & CL Smooth , and Ween . The label's A&R department included former music journalist Terry Tolkin , who

1232-402: The new company was called Atlantic Records Group , with Elektra breaking off into a subsidiary that became dormant until the label was revived in 2009 (though longtime time Elektra artists such as Tracy Chapman , Björk , and Yolanda Adams continued to have releases on the label, while newer signees such as Jason Mraz and Jet were transferred to Atlantic). Atlantic Records Group announced

1276-545: The public and since then, the group's activity has been confined to a few sporadic reunion concerts , such as when the Blues Project played a fundraising concert at Valley Stream Central High School in New York, promoted by Bruce Blakeman with the proceeds going to the Youth Council and the US Olympic Committee. In 1969, flutist/bassist Andy Kulberg and drummer Roy Blumenfeld of Blues Project formed

1320-466: The revival of Elektra Records as an independent entity within Warner Music on June 1, 2009. The revived label is headed up by two new co-Presidents: Mike Caren , Exec. VP of A&R for Atlantic Records, and John Janick , founder and President of prominent indie label Fueled by Ramen . The revived label uses a modified version of the circa -1970s Elektra logo. The first release of the new label

1364-514: The summer, guitarist Steve Katz (like Kalb, a former pupil of guitarist Dave Van Ronk ) joined as first a temporary replacement and then a permanent member. Later in 1965, the group added singer Tommy Flanders and changed its name to The Blues Project, as an allusion to Kalb's first foray on record. Late in the year, the band auditioned for Columbia Records . During the session for the auditions, producer Tom Wilson hired session musician Al Kooper , who had worked with him on Bob Dylan 's " Like

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1408-632: The time was a senior vice president at Atlantic Records , and also the CEO of Atlantic's EastWest Records America imprint. Upon Rhone's arrival at Elektra, the label took over the operations of EastWest, as well as Sire Records (which had previously operated through its sister label Warner Bros. Records ) and was renamed Elektra Entertainment Group. In September 1994, another damaging controversy erupted when heavy metal band Metallica filed suit against Elektra to terminate their contract and gain ownership of their master recordings. The group based its claim on

1452-401: Was Trench by Twenty One Pilots on October 5, 2018, on Fueled by Ramen label. Despite that, Atlantic Records is still mentioned in liner notes of the album. In 2019, the label had huge success again with Tones and I 's hit single " Dance Monkey ". In December 2019, Elektra became the distributor for DTA Records , set up by Travis Barker . On June 22, 2022, Warner Music Group announced

1496-486: Was Elektra's first foray into pop music. The most notable signing for Bounty was the Paul Butterfield Band who was moved over to Elektra when Bounty folded. Elektra's entrance into pop gained the label considerable prestige within the music scene by being one of the first labels to sign up leading acts from the new wave of American psychedelic rock of 1966–1967. The label's most important signings were

1540-851: Was an American jazz rock / roots rock band based initially in Marin County , California , and later in Marblehead , Massachusetts . Seatrain was formed in 1969, subsequently drawing some members from the Blues Project when it broke up. Seatrain recorded four albums and disbanded in 1973. Flutist / bassist Andy Kulberg and drummer Roy Blumenfeld of Blues Project formed the band with Jim Roberts, ex-Mystery Trend guitarist John Gregory, former Blue Grass Boy and Jim Kweskin Jug Band violinist/fiddler Richard Greene , and saxophonist Don Kretmar. Seatrain recorded their first album, Planned Obsolescence , in 1968, but had to release it as

1584-608: Was at the Monterey International Pop Festival held in Monterey, California , in June 1967. By this time, however, half of the band's original line-up was gone. Katz left soon thereafter, followed by Kalb. Kooper was at the festival in the capacity of "assistant stage manager" to "Chip" Monck. A fourth album, 1968's Planned Obsolescence , featured only Blumenfeld and Kulberg from the original lineup, but

1628-703: Was credited with coining the term " alternative music " in the late 1970s. Also during this time, Elektra developed a relationship with the UK label 4AD . Elektra became the label for 4AD acts such as the Pixies , the Breeders , Frank Black , and The Amps in the United States. Like its sister labels, Elektra's fortunes began to wane in the mid-1990s, in part because of a series of bitter corporate battles between senior Warner label executives, which seriously damaged

1672-578: Was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels. Elektra was formed in 1950, as the Elektra-Stratford Record Corporation , with a singles label called Stratford Records, by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt in Holzman's St. John's College dorm room. Each invested $ 300. The usual spelling of

1716-531: Was released as a single and became a minor hit in the US, reaching #49 on Billboard ' s national chart in 1971, and #25 in Canada . George Martin produced the album, marking the first time he had acted in that capacity with a rock act since his work with the Beatles. He also produced Seatrain's much-anticipated 1971 follow-up album, The Marblehead Messenger . In September Seatrain toured Great Britain for

1760-504: Was released under the Blues Project name at Verve's insistence. Future recordings by this lineup were released under a new band name, Seatrain . In 1968, Kooper and Katz joined forces to fulfill a desire of Kooper's to form a rock band with a horn section. The result was Blood, Sweat & Tears . While Kooper led the band on its first album, Child Is Father to the Man , he did not take part in any subsequent releases. Soon after, Kooper, then

1804-411: Was sold by Time Warner to a group of private investors made up of Thomas Lee Partners , Bain & Company , and Edgar Bronfman Jr. (who assumed CEO duties). The new owners of WMG decided to merge Elektra and Atlantic Records. Because it was the lesser performing label of the two, 40% of Elektra's operations were put into the new venture, while a commanding 60% of Atlantic's went in. Subsequently,

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1848-423: Was the best-selling budget classical label of the era. Other labels followed suit by starting their own budget series, but Nonesuch remained the most popular and Jac Holzman states in his book that profits from the budget classical label made it possible for Elektra to experiment with their pop releases by the mid-1960s. In 1965, Elektra began a short-lived joint venture with Survey Music called Bounty Records, which

1892-546: Was the original soundtrack of the HBO show True Blood , and the first album released was Charlotte Gainsbourg 's IRM . The label is now home to artists such as Uffie , Little Boots , Justice , Bruno Mars , and CeeLo Green . On October 4, 2012, Warner Music announced that Jeff Castelaz , the co-founder of Los Angeles -based independent label Dangerbird Records , had been named president of Elektra Records. Gregg Nadel from Atlantic Records A&R became General Manager of

1936-502: Was told that he had a terminal illness; He later was revealed to have been falsely diagnosed. He was replaced by Joe Smith, who later went on to become CEO of Capitol Records . Joe Smith, whose leadership resulted in the biggest market share and gross revenues Elektra Asylum was to have, inherited the A&;R services of Chuck Plotkin , famed later for producing many of Bruce Springsteen's greatest records, followed up by George Daly , who

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