Bethlehem Records

Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s.

Bethlehem Records
Founded	1953
Founder	Gus Wildi
Genre	Jazz
Country of origin	US
Location	New York, New York
Official Website	www.bethlehemrecords.com

The label is mainly remembered for its jazz releases during the 1950s. Sessions were produced variously by Creed Taylor and Teddy Charles, among others. Bethlehem released the first albums recorded by singers Chris Connor (the dual releases Chris Connor Sings Lullabys for Lovers and Chris Connor Sings Lullabys of Birdland) in 1954, Nina Simone (Little Girl Blue) in 1958 and singer/actress Julie London. London did not record a full album for the label: she recorded four songs that would later be released on the compilation LP Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955, which also featured Chris Connor and Carmen McRae. Marilyn Moore also recorded her debut album for Bethlehem. Bethlehem recorded many modern jazz musicians including Howard McGhee, Herbie Nichols and Oscar Pettiford.

The Bethlehem label was purchased by the Cayre brothers (owners of Salsoul Records), who initially intended to release its back catalog for inexpensive 8-track tapes in the 1970s. Salsoul and Bethlehem fall under the same corporate umbrella, with Bethlehem as the primary distributor for North America. Bethlehem Records was acuqired by the Verse Music Group in 2010.

See also

• List of record labels

External links

• Official Bethlehem Site
• Official Bethlehem Records Facebook
• Official Bethlehem Records Twitter
• Official Bethlehem Records Youtube
• Official Bethlehem Records Google+