Minit Records - WikiHQ

Minit Records was an American independent record label, originally based in New Orleans and founded by Joe Banashak in 1959. Ernie K-Doe, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Benny Spellman were early artists on the label. Later artists included Bobby Womack and Ike & Tina Turner.

History

left|thumb|Logo used from 1961-1963 ]]

Allen Toussaint was responsible for much of the label's early success, he wrote, produced, arranged and played piano on a number of tracks. After making a distribution deal with Imperial Records, the label released its biggest hit, "Mother-in Law" by Ernie K-Doe reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B singles chart in 1961.

When Allen Toussaint was drafted into the Army in 1963, the hits dried up and the label was sold to Imperial. Two years later Imperial and Minit were shut down and transferred to Liberty. In 1971, Liberty and its remaining labels (except for Soul City, whose catalog was sold to Bell Records) were absorbed into United Artists. In 1979, EMI purchased United Artists. The Minit catalog is currently owned by UMG, successor-in-interest to previous owner EMI.

Label variations

1961-1963: (catalog #s MR-601-626) Orange with black print and disclaimer indicating "C/O Imperial Records, Hollywood, Calif. Later pressings of some records in this period are on the second label."
1964-1968: (new series, catalog #s 32000-32076) Black label with silver print, multi-color logo on left side with "MINIT" inside the logo and "A PRODUCT OF LIBERTY RECORDS" under MINIT. Disclaimer at bottom of label reads "A DIVISION OF LIBERTY RECORDS."

|May 1961

|53

|21

|"Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta"

b/w "Real Man"

|Ernie K-Doe

|32002

|May 1966

|98

|21

|"Baby, I Love You"

b/w "You Won't Get Away"

|Jimmy Holiday

|32016

|Jul 1968

|52

|16

|"Fly Me to the Moon"

b/w "Take Me"

|Bobby Womack

|32055

|Mar 1969

|98

|46

|"I'm Gonna Do All I Can (To Do Right by My Man)"

b/w "You've Got Too Many Ties That Bind"

|Ike & Tina Turner

|32071