The Music Corner

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UNITED ARTISTS RECORDS was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.

An earlier version of the United Artists Records logo used from 1960 through 1968

In 1959, United Artists released Forest of the Amazons, a cantata by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos adapted from the music he composed for MGM's Green Mansions, with the composer conducting the Symphony of the Air. Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayao was the featured soloist on the unusual recording, which was released on both LP and reel-to-reel tape.

Besides the movie soundtracks and the few classical releases, UA had quite a few rock 'n roll and r&b hits from 1959 (and into the 1960s) with hits by The Clovers, Marv Johnson, The Falcons, The Exciters, Patty Duke, Bobby Goldsboro, and later Manfred Mann and The Easybeats.

The soundtracks from the James Bond and Beatles movies were very popular in the 1960s. United Artists released many other movie soundtrack albums, including those of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and The Greatest Story Ever Told, and of the film versions of the musicals A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Fiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha. However, the movie soundtrack album of United Artists' most critically acclaimed and financially successful film musical, West Side Story, was released by Columbia Records, which had also released the Broadway cast album (Leonard Bernstein, who wrote the music for West Side Story, was a Columbia recording artist). Many of these soundtracks have reverted back to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose MGM Music unit (no connection with the now-defunct MGM Records) in turn have licensed them out to other labels for reissue; first Rykodisc, and more recently, Universal Music and EMI (the Fiddler on the Roof movie soundtrack). However, it is Sony, which now owns Columbia Records (and now a stake in MGM as well), that has released the West Side Story film soundtrack on CD.

In addition to soundtracks and pop output, United Artists also produced a series of children's records under the "Tale Spinners For Children" name throughout the 1960s. These were album-length adaptations of classic fairy tales and children's stories done in an audio drama format.

United Artists also had a few subsidiary labels: Ascot Records, Musicor Records, (United Artists was half owner of the company from 1960--1964 before selling out in 1965[3]) Ultra Audio (an audiophile label)[4] and Veep Records. Unart was initially created in 1958 and was only in operation until 1959 producing some vocal group 45 singles; Unart was recreated in 1967 for budget albums. Other UA labelsUnited Artists Special Projects were budget records designed for product and movie tie-ins. Examples are The Incredible World of James Bond an album sold by Pepsi Cola and Frito Lay of cover version themes and original soundtrack music of the first three James Bond films and Music From Marlboro Country, various cover versions of the theme to The Magnificent Seven and original soundtrack music from Elmer Bernstein's Return of the Seven that was sold by the Marlboro (cigarette) company.

Mainstream pop acts were signed to the label, among them being Traffic, the Spencer Davis Group, Peter Sarstedt, Shirley Bassey, and War. The label also attempted, without success, to update the style of 1950s rock group Bill Haley & His Comets with a 1968 single. After UA bought the small Mediarts Records label, their roster grew to include Don McLean, Merrilee Rush, Paul Anka, Chris Rea, Dusty Springfield, Bill Conti, Ferrante & Teicher, Johnny Rivers, Ike & Tina Turner, Gerry Rafferty and Crystal Gayle. Later, through a distribution deal with Don Arden's Jet Records, Electric Light Orchestra was signed to UA in America. UA also distributed the otherwise-independent Grateful Dead Records in the early-to-mid 1970s.

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