Mainstream Records

great write up but as a vinyl lover i can say these lp reissue,s are digital so please mainstream records try re-releasing these lps in their original analogue form.ive brought a few reissues but sold them because they are digital i then brought a couple of original analogue releases.they sounded so much better & i learned that many criminal overdubs have been carried out on the reissues.so is there a market for analogue lps ?? yes the crazy thing is sacd is for cd.but analogue is clearly the best format for vinyl its as good as the master tape is.so please sony dont turn your back on analogue.now days most people listen to digital recordings for free on sites like you tube etc so the industry is loosing a massive amount of sales.but as a dj i can say analogue is still selling very big look at outta sight 45,s jazzman 45,s funk 45 bgp 45,s kent 45,s ubiquity 45,s.just because you can fool some people into thinking its analogue dosnt mean its any where near as good as the original master tape.so all you need to do is put a sticker on it saying exact repro of the original release series & i would buy quite a few lps.because i play funk soul 60,s garage jazz funk etc.i get requests for different styles so i have different records to satisfy most lovers of the underground sounds peace...

Mainstream Records is a prime example of a label that had several incarnations, each one as different as the next. Formed in 1964 by Bob Shad, it primarily released jazz and soundtrack LP's, with a emphasis on jazz vocal artists like Morgana King and Billie Holiday. Fast-forward a few years to 1966, and, in a 360 spin, the label begins g what seems to be every unsigned rock band, and thus letting each one record an LP - this is quite different than most major labels at the time, which preferred to have bands record 45's first, and then, if the 45's were successful, record an LP. , just a few years ago rock n' roll LP's were mainly reasons to compile previously released 45's, with the odd outtake or two stuck in for good measure. (this is not to say the most of the majors didn't sign hundreds of groups, and let them release an LP or two - what makes Mainstream different is the volume of LP's released by seemingly unknown bands in a short amount of time (from '66 to about '70).

As mentioned above, for psych and garage fans, the period of '66 to '70 is considered the prime era of the label, releasing LP's by such bands as Bohemian Vendetta, Lincoln St. Exit, The Art of Lovin', Ellie Pop, The Tangerine Zoo, The Orient Express and The Last Nikle, as well as the V/A comp of recently signed bands "A Pot of Flowers" (some of which, like Harbinger Complex, only got to release a 45 on the label, never recording an LP). Only two groups signed during this time achieved any real success in the sales department: Big Brother & the Holding Company and the Amboy Dukes (ironically, both of these acts would eventually leave the label, Big Brother quickly, while the Amboy Dukes stuck it out for several LP's before g to Polydor).

Now we get into Phase III: the funk era. By the early 1970s, the labels was releasing fewer rock/psych LP's, and focusing on funk/soul and jazz LP's and 45's, releasing records by Black Blood, Lenny Welch, Afrique, the Chubukos and others, as well as new recordings by Sarah Vaughan, and reissuing jazz LP's originally released on Time Records, one of Shad's earlier labels.

Sometime in the mid to late 70's the label folded, and remained dormant until the 1990s, when jazz titles began to be reissued on CD. Thankfully, in 1993, Sony acquired much of Mainstream's back catalog, and we now have excellent reissues of many of the psych & rock LP's mentioned above.

One final word: in the late 90's / early 00's, identical reissues of many of the psych LP's hit the market; some of these were pressed on color vinyl, while others on standard black vinyl. It's easy to spot a re (read: counterfeit), as the jackets are MUCH thicker than the OG releases, and look too white and crisp - thankfully, many have stickers indicating they are not the OG pressing, but a reissue. Still, if you see a sealed Mainstream LP in a record store, or for sale on Discogs for something like 14.99 or 19.99, pretty much assume it's a counterfeit reissue, and NOT a sealed OG.