Track Records

Track Record
Founded	1966
Founder	Kit Lambert, Chris Stamp
Distributor(s)	Polydor Records (UK) Atlantic Records (US) Decca Records (US) MCA Records (US)
Genre	Rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, blues-rock
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Location	London
Official website	www.trackrecords.co.uk

Track Record (a.k.a. Track Records) was founded in 1966 in London by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of the hard rock band The Who. It was one of the first British-owned independent record labels in the UK. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap Newman and Golden Earring. In its early years Track was one of the hippest and most successful record companies in the UK. The label ceased operations in 1978 but was revived in 1999.

Track was originally intended to provide more creative freedom for the Who, but according to Stamp, at the end of 1966 he and Lambert were spurred to set up Track in order to get involved with new arrival Jimi Hendrix,. Even though Hendrix was not in need of management (as he had already signed an agreement with Chas Chandler) he was in need of a UK label.

Lambert and Stamp had already grappled with the rigid confines of the established record companies. In 1966 they were involved in a court battle to release The Who from an onerous contract with producer Shel Talmy and the Decca (US) and Brunswick (UK) labels. At this time Lambert and Stamp started releasing the Who's records in the UK on Robert Stigwood's Reaction Records label. Both Track and Reaction were very much reliant upon distribution support in the UK from the large Polydor Records label based in Germany. Polydor's involvement with these two small labels can be seen as its learning process about the rock music market. Polydor was interested in expanding its base beyond easy listening and ballads. Its best known artist at the time was Bert Kaempfert.

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