Blue Thumb Records

US record label

Parent label: The Verve Music Group·Est. 1968

bsnpubs.comvervemusicgroup.comcvinyl.com

US label founded in 1968; mostly appears just as "Blue Thumb" or "Blue Thumb Records, Inc.". Label Code: LC 1228 / LC 01228 Initially distributed by Liberty, the licensing & distribution moved in 1971 to Famous Music Corporation, a subsidiary of Gulf & Western Company who purchased the label in 1972 as Blue Thumb Records, Inc. In 1974, Gulf+Western sold its entire record operation, which included Dot Records and Paramount Records, to ABC Records. (A label history is in images). For its successive sister label, please see ABC Blue Thumb. Blue Thumb Records was founded in mid-1968 by Buddah Records producer Bob Krasnow on the strength of a recording deal he struck with Don Van Vliet during recording sessions for the second album by Captain Beefheart And His Magic Band. The album had begun life as It Comes To You In A Plain Brown Wrapper, a conceptual double album for release on Buddah Records. However, Krasnow's idea of an independent label effected new directions. Vliet had considered re-naming his band "Blue Thumb", but this became the name for the new label. The resultant recording Strictly Personal, produced and engineered by Krasnow, became the first release on Blue Thumb as BTS 1. Krasnow, who begun his career at , had previously effected a similar move with Vliet when he brought The Magic Band over from A&M Records [along with executives Tommy LiPuma & Don Graham] to the newly-formed Buddah label, created to gain distribution independence away from MGM for Kama Sutra. This had resulted in Krasnow co-producing the Safe As Milk album and striking a working relationship with the band. Strictly Personal on Blue Thumb was distributed by Liberty. The label's distribution, from BTS 20 through BTS 28, was by Capitol Records and starting with BTS 29 by ABC. The label of Blue Thumb Records, Inc. was quite innovative, with a roster of artists rather 'left-field' or blues oriented, echoing the similar style of Frank Zappa's Straight and Bizarre Records labels. Krasnow also created the sub-label Banana Records (4) for National Lampoon recordings, using the Blue Thumb "BTS" numbering system. By 1974 the label was being distributed by ABC Records, who bought Krasnow out that year. Blue Thumb continued to be used as an imprint on some ABC releases (mainly for albums by The Crusaders and the Pointer Sisters) until late 1978 when MCA Records bought ABC Records and folded it and all of its affiliated labels a year later. MCA revived Blue Thumb in 1995 as an imprint of GRP Records, Inc.. Following a series of label mergers and buyouts that eventually created the multi-national Universal Music Group, Blue Thumb and GRP became subsidiaries of the The Verve Music Group. Blue Thumb was deactivated in 2005 and replaced with a relaunched Verve Forecast.

Discography

306 albums
search
swap_vertexpand_more

Street Life

Crusaders · 1979

Studio Album

Alone Together

Dave Mason · 1970

Studio Album

Free As The Wind

The Crusaders · 1977

Studio Album

Southern Comfort

The Crusaders · 1974

Studio Album

Those Southern Knights

The Crusaders · 1976

Studio Album

Crusaders 1

The Crusaders · 1972

Studio Album

A Beard Of Stars

Tyrannosaurus Rex · 1970

Studio Album

Mark-Almond

Mark-Almond · 1971

Studio Album

Rainbow Seeker

Joe Sample · 1978

Studio Album

Chain Reaction

The Crusaders · 1975

Studio Album

Carmel

Joe Sample · 1979

Studio Album

Unicorn

Tyrannosaurus Rex · 1969

Studio Album

Images

The Crusaders · 1978

Studio Album

Can I Have My Money Back?

Gerry Rafferty · 1971

Studio Album

The 2nd Crusade

The Crusaders · 1973

Studio Album

Strictly Personal

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band · 1968

Studio Album

Space Is The Place

Sun Ra · 1973

Studio Album

That's A Plenty

The Pointer Sisters · 1974

Studio Album

Dave Mason & Cass Elliot

Dave Mason & Cass Elliot · 1971

Studio Album

The Pointer Sisters

The Pointer Sisters · 1973

Studio Album

False Start

Love · 1970

Studio Album

The Hunter

Ike & Tina Turner · 1969

Studio Album

Luzia

Paco De Lucía · 1998

Studio Album

Steppin'

The Pointer Sisters · 1975

Studio Album

New Year, New Band, New Company

John Mayall · 1975

Studio Album

Outta Season

Ike And Tina Turner · 1969

Studio Album

Headkeeper

Dave Mason · 1972

Studio Album

Sugar

Leon Redbone · 1990

Studio Album

Nuyorican Soul

Nuyorican Soul · 1997

Studio Album

Truckin' With Albert Collins

Albert Collins · 1965

Studio Album

Little Dreamer

Beth Rowley · 2008

Studio Album

Love Tattoo

Imelda May · 2008

Studio Album

Mark-Almond II

Mark-Almond · 1971

Studio Album

To Mum, From Aynsley And The Boys

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation · 1969

Studio Album

Last Train To Hicksville...The Home Of Happy Feet

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks · 1973

Studio Album

The Secret Sun

Jesse Harris & The Ferdinandos · 2003

Studio Album

Out Here

Love · 1969

Studio Album

Doctor Dunbar's Prescription

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation · 1968

Studio Album

Lucky Peterson

Lucky Peterson · 1999

Studio Album

Striking It Rich

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks · 1972

Studio Album

Unsung Heroes

The Crusaders · 1973

Studio Album

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation

The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation · 1968

Studio Album

Cositas Buenas

Paco De Lucía · 2003

Studio Album

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela · 1972

Studio Album

Afterglow

Dr. John · 1995

Studio Album

Where's The Money?

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks · 1972

Studio Album

While The Music Lasts

Jesse Harris And The Ferdinandos · 2004

Studio Album

No Time Like The Future

Incognito · 1999

Studio Album