Unart
| United Artists Records | |
|---|---|
| |
| Parent company |
|
| Founded | 1957 |
| Founder | Max E. Youngstein |
| Status | Defunct (fate: absorbed into Liberty Records by EMI in 1980) |
| Distributor(s) | Self-distributed |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | New York City |
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as jazz, pop, and R&B.
In 1959, United Artists released Forest of the Amazons, a cantata by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos adapted from the music he composed for MGM's Green Mansions, with the composer conducting the Symphony of the Air. Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayão was the featured soloist on the unusual recording, which was released on both LP and reel-to-reel tape.
United Artists releases included soundtracks from the James Bond movies, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), A Hard Day's Night starring the Beatles (1964), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and Man of La Mancha (1972). The soundtrack album of United Artists's West Side Story (1961) was released by Columbia Records, which had also released the Broadway cast album. Also, the American version of the soundtrack album of United Artists's Help! (1965), also starring the Beatles, was released on Capitol Records.
As Henry Mancini was signed to RCA Victor, that company handled the soundtracks of the United Artists films that he composed the music for, most notably The Pink Panther; exceptions include Gaily, Gaily, The Hawaiians, The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge of the Pink Panther. Many of these soundtracks have reverted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose MGM Music unit licensed them to other labels for reissue, first Rykodisc, then Universal Music and EMI. As owner of Columbia and RCA Victor, Sony released the West Side Story original cast album and film soundtrack on CD. Sony has owned most of Mancini's soundtrack albums since its music division's merger with BMG in 2004.
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