Sunset Records was a record label started in 1965 as the budget album subsidiary of Liberty Records to reissue and issue material originally recorded for Liberty, Imperial, Minit and other Liberty subsidiaries as well as leased material from other entities.
History
Sunset Records was started by Liberty Records in 1965 as a budget line, with Ed Barsky at the helm. The label was named for the location of Liberty's corporate offices, and possibly a sly acknowledgement that the material was towards the end of its economic usefulness to Liberty.
The Sunset label was introduced to the United Kingdom in February, 1968, which also included licensing from Hanna-Barbera. Later in 1968, Liberty was acquired by Transamerica Corporation, an insurance company who then merged Liberty with its United Artists Records subsidiary. Sunset was retained as the budget imprint for the combined operation, and United Artist's brands Tale Spinners, True Action and UnArt subsequently appeared as Sunset releases, all under the direction of Ed Barsky.
The label was discontinued in early 1970 in the United States, Sunset also released material leased from other companies, such as Vee-Jay Records. Rarely were any charting hits included, although songs appearing at the lower reaches of the charts might be incorporated.