Plantation Records
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Plantation Records was a country music record label of the 1960s and 1970s helmed by Shelby Singleton. The label is best known for Jeannie C. Riley's 1968 hit "Harper Valley PTA", which topped both the country and Billboard Hot 100 charts.
The label established Riley as one of the major country female vocalists of the late 1960s and early 1970s with a string of hits for the label and also topping the Billboard country album chart with the Harper Valley PTA album. Grand Ole Opry star Ray Pillow had light success on the label with one top 40 country hit in 1969. David Allan Coe's first two albums were on the Plantation label; Penitentiary Blues and Requiem for a Harlequin, before moving on to a major recording career at Columbia Records. Linda Martell became the first African-American female vocalist to record specifically for the country market, enjoying two top 40 country hits on Plantation in 1969-70 including the first hit version of "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" which peaked at #33. Other artists on Plantation included Harlow Wilcox and Dee Mullins.
After Riley left in 1972, the label declined, but it survived into the early 1980s. In the late 1970s the label signed a number of veteran country performers to the label including Webb Pierce, Jimmie Davis, Jimmy C. Newman, Hank Locklin, and Roy Drusky though few of these records charted. Broadway star Carol Channing also recorded two albums for the label in duet performances with Pierce, Newman, and Locklin.
Singleton established at least two other labels (SSS International and Amazon), and helped comedian Bill Cosby form a short-lived label, Tetragrammaton Records, in the late 1960s. He purchased Sun Records from Sam Phillips in 1969.
Other Notable Plantation Records
- PL 28 Harlow Wilcox & the Oakies - "Groovy Grubworm" / "Moose Trot"
- PL 43 Clark Bentley - "The Ballad of Archie Who?" / "One Way Tracks"
- PL 58 Robbie Harden - "Still Wanting You" / "The Service"
- PL 62 Col. Tex Herring, Auctioneer and Johnny Moore (Vocal) - "Sold to the Highest Bidder" / "Sold to the Highest Bidder"
- PL 73 C. Company featuring Terry Nelson - "Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley"
- PL 100 Sandy Cooper "Sweetheart"/"The Simple Way of Living"
- PL 144 Rod Hart - "C. B. Savage"/"Better Off Gone"
David Allan Coe's first two albums were also on Plantation label; Penitentiary Blues and Requiem for A Harliquin
See also
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