Valiant Records

2025-05-14T17:21:01Z

2600:1004:B330:C87F:C0F8:A72E:5A3F:80E8: /* Valiant Records artists */Corrected misspelling

{{Short description|US record label}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox record label 
| name = Valiant Records
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| founded = 1960
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| country = [[United States]]
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'''Valiant Records''' was an independent record label distributed in the 1960s by [[Warner Bros. Records]] (and briefly by [[Four Star Television]]). The label was sold to Warner Bros. in [[1967 in music|1967]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSgEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22valiant+records%22&pg=PA3 |title = Billboard|date = 1967-04-22}}</ref>

==History==

Valiant Records was formed in [[1960 in music|1960]] in [[California]], by singer−songwriter [[Barry De Vorzon]] and manager Billy Sherman.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rhino.com/article/stay-tuned-by-stan-cornyn-the-association-1-best-dressed |title = Stay Tuned By Stan Cornyn: The Association – #1 Best-Dressed {{!}} Rhino}}</ref>

Valiant charted with its first release, "[[Angel on My Shoulder (Shelby Flint song)|Angel On My Shoulder]]" recorded by [[Shelby Flint]]. De Vorzon's own group, [[Barry and the Tamerlanes]], hit in 1963 with "I Wonder What She's Doin' Tonight." Flint scored again in 1966 with a soft vocal version of "[[Cast Your Fate To The Wind]]."

In 1966 De Vorzon rescued folk-rockers [[The Association]] from their obscurity at [[Jubilee Records]]. They debuted on Valiant (which had just ended a brief distribution stint with Four Star Television, the distributor of such shows as ''[[Burke's Law (1963 TV series)|Burke's Law]]'' and ''[[Honey West (TV series)|Honey West]]'') with a non-charting version of "One Too Many Mornings." The next single records—"[[Along Comes Mary]]," "[[Cherish (The Association song)|Cherish]]," "Pandora's Golden Heebie Jeebies," and "No Fair At All"—helped establish The Association as one of the premier [[Sunshine Pop]] groups of the 1960s.

==Demise==
In [[1967 in music|1967]], after a little over 110 singles and 11 albums (seven under Warner Bros. and four under Four Star/independent distribution), the Valiant Records label itself ceased to exist and was folded into Warner Bros. Records. Its output remains desirable to collectors, with the early years featuring a string of obscure but worthwhile white pop titles, and the later years an intriguing mix of slick Southern California psych and pop.

==Label variations==

===Singles===
*1960–1966 (Warner Bros. distribution) – Purple labels with silver print
*1966 (Four Star Television distribution) – Red label with black shield logo and "A SUBSIDIARY OF FOUR STAR TELEVISION" at the bottom perimeter of the label in either small or large letters
*1966–1967 (Independent distribution) – Same as above but with either the Four Star byline covered by a black bar or removed altogether

===Albums===
*1960–1966 (Warner Bros. distribution) – Purple or red labels with silver print
*1966 (Four Star distribution – VLM 5001/VLS 25001 only) – Red label with black shield and white knight head logos and "A SUBSIDIARY OF FOUR STAR TELEVISION" in small letters at the bottom perimeter of the label
*1966–1967 (Independent distribution) – Same as above but with either the Four Star byline covered by a black bar or removed altogether

===Numbering series ===
On a collectors note, Valiant singles sported three separate numbering series. The very first Valiant release bore the catalog number 45-111.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.45cat.com/record/nc936113us |title = 45cat - Shelby Flint - Angel On My Shoulder / Somebody - Valiant - USA - 45-111}}</ref> But that record, "Angel On My Shoulder" by Shelby Flint became too big a hit for the new label to handle so Warner Bros. Records picked it up with a new catalog number, 6001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.45cat.com/record/6001us |title = 45cat - Shelby Flint - Angel On My Shoulder / Somebody - Valiant - USA - 6001}}</ref> For Warner distributed singles, the 6000 series (6001–6062) ran from 1960 to 1966, followed by the 700 series (700-739 under Four Star Television, 740-762 as an independent label) from 1966–1967. Some numbers from 6002 to 6013 were shared with Montclare Records, a very short-lived Warner subsidiary, as well as several one-shot labels such as Elloma and Burbank. The first five numbers of the Four Star series (701-705) were reissues of the most popular singles of the 6000 series. Six catalog numbers from the second series were unused: 706, 707, 708, 710, 722, and 746.

Albums were also given different numbering sets. The seven albums distributed by Warner Bros. were numbered from W/WS 401–407, the four albums under Four Star/independent were issued VLM 5001–5004 for mono, VLS 25001–25004 for stereo. Warner Bros. reissued the Four Star/independent albums using numbers W (mono)/WS (stereo) 1701–1704 in alignment with the original issues.

==Valiant Records artists==
*[[The Association]]
*[[The Addrisi Brothers]]
*[[Barry & the Tamerlanes]]
*[[Perry Botkin, Jr.]]
*[[Charles Boyer]]
*[[J.J. Cale]]
*[[The Cascades (band)|The Cascades]]
*[[The Collectors (Canadian band)|The Collectors]]
*[[Danny Whitten|Danny & The Memories]]
*[[Shelby Flint]]
*[[The Sandpipers|The Grads]]
*Art Guy
*[[The Hollyhill Singers]]
*[[Dean Jones (actor)|Dean Jones]]
*The Lost Ones
*[[Denny Provisor]] (''Dennis Provisor of [[The Grass Roots]]'')
*[[The Silvertones]]
*Singers, Inc.
*[[Cory Wells & The Enemys]]

==Unrelated labels also called Valiant==
In 1960,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.45cat.com/label/valiant-new-orleans |title = Valiant [New Orleans] Label Discography - USA - 45cat}}</ref> record label owner Joe Banashak started a New Orleans–based Valiant label, but threats of a lawsuit by Warner Bros. prompted Banashak to rename the label [[Instant Records]] in 1961.

Valiant Records was also the name of an unrelated label headquartered variously in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and Bronx, New York, that re-released some albums originally issued on the [[Somerset Records]] label, largely for inexpensive supermarket and variety store distribution.<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/label/Valiant%20%282%29 Discogs]</ref><ref>[http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/distributed/valiant.html Valiant Album Discography (Warner)]</ref><ref>[http://www.bsnpubs.com/miller/valiant.html Valiant Album Discography (Somerset)]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==See also==
* [[List of record labels]]
* {{C|Record labels based in California}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American independent record labels]]
[[Category:Folk record labels]]
[[Category:Rock record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels based in California]]
[[Category:Defunct record labels of the United States]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1960]]
[[Category:Record labels disestablished in 1967]]
[[Category:1960 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1967 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:Warner Records]]

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Valiant Records