Parent company Chess Records Genre Jazz, blues, rock Date founded 1955 | Status Inactive Country of origin U.S. Defunct 1974 | |
Artists Ramsey Lewis, Etta James, The Dells, Dorothy Ashby, Rotary Connection Albums The Spice of Life, Afro‑Harping, Goin' Latin, Tell Mama, Maiden Voyage | ||
Cadet Records was an American record label which began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing records around 1974, when its artists were moved to Chess.
There was also Cadet Concept Records, for rock and more adventurous music, such as the Rotary Connection, and the experimental psychedelic Electric Mud album by Muddy Waters. The label had a Top 20 hit in 1968 with the single "Pictures of Matchstick Men" by the British band Status Quo through a licensing arrangent with Pye Records in London. A St. Louis band known as The Truth a.k.a. The Acid Sette were signed and recorded for this label under the guidance of Abner Spector.
The masters are now owned by Universal Music.
GRT consolidated Chess/Cadet album discography (1971-1975)
In 1971 Chess Records was purchased by General Recorded Tape, a.k.a. GRT Corporation, which consolidated both the Chess and Cadet labels into a single labeling number sequence.