Sacred Records
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music recording |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Founder | Earle E. Williams |
| Defunct | 1963 |
| Fate | Purchased by Word Records |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles , United States |
Sacred Records was a faith-based music record label established in 1944 by Earle E. Williams.
History
In 1944, Earle E. Williams, who served as a youth minister and music director in the Los Angeles region, founded Sacred Records to fill the gap of appropriate religious music recordings for his weekly Sunday broadcast on KXLA. To finance the new venture, Williams liquidated personal belongings and secured loans to accumulate $3,000.
Operating out of Los Angeles, Sacred Records focused on producing and distributing religious music. By 1949, the label merged with White Church Records from Kansas City, which led to the expansion of its facilities with additional branches in Kansas City, Philadelphia, and New York by 1950. Composer Ralph Carmichael convinced the company to back Rhapsody in Sacred Music (1958), a bold instrumental project featuring a full symphony orchestra. Carmichael described it as "the first all-instrumental sacred music recording with that size orchestra," a daring endeavor that nearly caused financial ruin for the label.
Sacred Records was purchased by Word Records in 1963, after which Williams remained involved as a salesperson and distributor for Word.
See also
External links
- Articles with short description
- Record labels established in 1944
- Record labels disestablished in 1963
- Record labels based in California
- Gospel music record labels
- American companies established in 1944
- American companies disestablished in 1963
- Companies based in Los Angeles
- 1944 establishments in California
- 1963 disestablishments in California