Record labels owned by James Brown
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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People Records, Brown's most successful and prolific label, was founded in 1971. Like its predecessors, People was used to release recordings by performers associated with the James Brown Revue, including Lyn Collins, Bobby Byrd, Sweet Charles and the J.B.'s. It also recorded some musicians who did not regularly perform with Brown. Brown himself appeared in a supporting role on many People releases, playing organ or contributing backing vocals.
Initially distributed by King, People was acquired by Polydor on July 1, 1971, when Brown signed with that label. Unlike Brown's previous labels, it was commercially successful for a while; it released a number of charting singles, including the #1 R&B hit "Doing It to Death". People eventually folded in 1976, concomitant with the dissolution of the J.B.'s. The label's output was later anthologized in a series of three CDs released by Polydor titled James Brown's Funky People.
- A year prior to the founding of Brown's People label, there was another People Records that was founded and run by former Motown Records producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, but it was not related.
