Tradition Records

Tradition Records was an American record label that existed from 1955 to 1961.

The label was founded (and funded) by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon to join his brothers Liam and Tom Clancy and Tommy Makem, as part of the new Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Liam Clancy designed the company's maple leaf logo. Columbia University Professor of Folklore Kenneth Goldstein was also involved in the early creation of the company, which operated out of Greenwich Village, New York City.

The label may possibly have originally begun as a non-commercial exercise, but once popular artists and groups like The Clancy Brothers, Odetta, and Jean Ritchie recorded on the Tradition Label, it began to generate profits. When The Clancy Brothers signed with Columbia Records in 1961, the label ceased to be viable, and the catalogue was sold to "Everest Records". Some Tradition recordings were issued without any notes in haphazard permutations. Later Rykodisc bought the rights, and issued several recordings under the "Tradition" logo. Some of these were actually from the Everest catalogue. The history is cloudy, but Dizzy Gillespie, Erroll Garner, Coleman Hawkins and Jimmy Witherspoon almost certainly never recorded for Tradition, though recent issues would suggest they did.

For many years John Jacob Niles received little acclaim, but following the broadcast of the Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home, there was a surge in the demand for his albums. His two albums on "Tradition" were accordingly reissued.

Discography

TLP series

• TLP 1001: Through Bushes And Briars (Songs From The British Isles)
• TLP 1002: Hillel And Aviva Songs Of Israel And Many Lands 1956
• TLP 1003: Ed McCurdy - A Ballad Singer's Choice
• TLP 1004: Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem - The Lark in the Morning
• TLP 1005: Paul Clayton Whaling And Sailing Songs From The Days Of Moby Dick 1956
• TLP 1006: The Rising of the Moon: Irish Songs of Rebellion - Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, The
• TLP 1007: Various Instrumental Music Of The Southern Appalachians 1976
• TLP 1008: El Nino De Ronda The Real Flamenco 1969
• TLP 1009: John Langstaff Sings American And English Folk Songs And Ballads
• TLP 1010: Odetta: Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues 1957
• TLP 1011: American Folk Tales and Songs: 1956 Jean Ritchie & Paul Clayton
• TLP 1012: Norman Notley And David Brynley Elizabethan Songs
• TLP 1018: Kossoy Sisters, The Bowling Green And Other Folk Songs From The Southern Mountains
• TLP 1019: Come and Sit by my Side: 1957 - Glenn Yarbrough
• TLP 1020: Various Negro Prison Songs 1958
• TLP 1022: Oscar Brand Pie In The Sky 1967
• TLP 1023: John Jacob Niles I Wonder As I Wander - Carols And Love Songs
• TLP 1024: Mary O'Hara Songs Of Ireland
• TLP 1026: Ewan MacColl & A. L. Lloyd Blow Boys Blow 1960
• TLP 1032: Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, The Come Fill Your Glass with Us
• TLP 1033: Robin Roberts Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies
• TLP 1035: Lightnin' Hopkins Country Blues 1959
• TLP 1036: John Jacob Niles An Evening With John Jacob Niles 1959
• TLP 1037: Theodore Alevizos - Songs Of Greece 1960
• TLP 1040: Lightnin' Hopkins Autobiography In Blues 1960
• TLP 1042: Clancy Bros. & Tommy Makem, The Clancy Bros. & Tommy Makem
• TLP 1043: Carolyn Hester Carolyn Hester 1961
• TLP 1044: Tommy Makem Songs Of Tommy Makem

See also

• List of record labels

External links

• Discogs
• Metroactive.com
• Empire Musicwerks reissues