Parent company Holiday Inn Status Inactive Genre Various Parent organization Holiday Inn | Founder D. Wayne Foster Distributor(s) Various Country of origin U.S. Date founded 1961 | |
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Holiday Inn Records was an American record label founded by Wayne Foster in 1961. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for Foster and Kemmons Wilson, as an independent business venture. Foster ran the label between 1961 and 1963. Sam Phillips of Sun Records later ran the label on behalf of Wilson.
History
In 1961, D. Wayne Foster discovered a musical group named The Roller Coasters. Foster brought the group to the Owen Bradley's Studio in Nashville, Tennessee to record. The group recorded two songs, "Rim Shot, Part 1" and "Rim Shot, Part 2". Foster created Holiday Inn Records to distribute the single.
Holiday Inn Records recorded a number of acts that Foster discovered, and in most cases was involved in the recording sessions, assisted by Neal Matthews Jr. of the Jordanaires. Notable artists signed in the first year include The Roller Coasters, Jimmy Foster, Frank Starr, Kenny Lund, Rusty Curry, Buck Griffin, Stan Daniel, and Tookie Collom.
By 1963, Foster was devoting only a small amount of time to devote to producing records for the label, as he had many other, more profitable business ventures. After producing eleven more records, Foster decided to leave Holiday Inn. This left Wilson needing to find someone to run Holiday Inn Records. He asked his old friend, Sam Phillips, of Sun Records. Since Phillips had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain earlier, he later recorded other artists on the Holiday Inn Record label for Wilson. Phillips recorded songs by recording artists including Charlie Feathers, Dolly Holiday, Diane Hull, Lee Adkins, Greg Todd and The Jacks, Jerry Dyke, The Climates, Ironing Board Sam, Portrait of Fun, Robert and Randy, Larry Brinkley, Larry and The Accommodations, Gary Ellison, Charlie Freeman, Charlie's Children, Load of Mischief, and Bill Haley and his Comets.