Elektra Records is a
American record label owned by
Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's
Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in
2009.
Elektra was formed in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickholt, who both invested $300. The usual spelling of the Greek mythological heroine Electra was changed, with Holzman famously explaining, “I gave her the ‘K’ that I lacked.”
The first Elektra LP, “New Songs” (EKLP 1 released March 1950), was a collection of Lieder and similar 'art' songs which sold few copies. During the Fifties and early Sixties the label concentrated on folk music recordings, releasing a number of best-selling albums by Judy Collins and protest singers such as Phil Ochs and Tom Paxton, but by the mid-Sixties it had branched out into pop, gaining considerable prestige on the music scene by being one of the first labels to sign up leading acts from the new wave of American psychedelic rock of 1966–67. The label’s most important signings were the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band (with Mike Bloomfield), the Los Angeles bands Love and The Doors, and the Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5. One of Elektra's most significant LA signings was Tim Buckley, father-to-be of Jeff Buckley.
Also in 1967, Elektra launched its influential Nonesuch Explorer Series, one of the first collections of what is now referred to as world music. Excerpts from several Nonesuch Explorer recordings were later included on the two Voyager Golden Discs which were sent into deep space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes.
