60 Years of Elektra Records

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of Elektra Records and to commemorate the anniversary Elektra founder Jac Holzman has been working with a team to launch Elektra60, an innovative and interactive digital experience that tells the stories of the legendary artists, music and culture that defined the label over the past six decades.

Elektra was formed in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickholt, who each invested $300. The usual spelling of the Greek mythological heroine Electra was changed, with Holzman famously explaining, “I gave her the ‘K’ that I lacked.”

During the Fifties and early Sixties the label concentrated on folk music recordings, releasing a number of best-selling albums by Judy Collins and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton.

In 1964, Elektra launched Nonesuch Records. This classical budget label 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 profits from the budget classical label made it possible for Elektra to experiment with their pop releases by the mid-Sixties.

Elektra's entrance into pop gained the label considerable prestige on the music scene by being one of the first labels to sign up leading acts from the new wave of American psychedelic rock of 1966–67. The label’s most important signings were 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. One of Elektra's most significant LA signings was Tim Buckley, father-to-be of Jeff Buckley.

Take a minute and visit www.Elektra60.com and enjoy some of the musical history found there.