Warner Brothers RecordsWarner Brothers Records was originally founded in the mid-1920's by the Warner Brothers film company as part of their development of sound in movies. Poor sales in the early 1930's forced the studio to sell off subsidiary labels and close down the record company. The Warner Brothers label was re-established in the late 1950's again partly as an outlet for sound recordings related to their movie and TV products. The first big success was with a 77 Sunset Strip related song. Other releases in the early years of the restarted company included albums by the Everly Brothers, Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Newhart. In the early sixties Frank Sinatra signed to the company in a deal that included movies and recordings, this deal also linked Sinatra's Reprise label with Warner Brothers. In the mid sixties the company started acquiring smaller labels, including Autumn Records. The label signed the Grateful Dead in 1966.During the late sixties the company changed ownership a number of times finally becoming part of the Kinney Corporation which also owned Atlantic Records, Elektra and Asylum. Signings to the label in the seventies included James Taylor, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers and Rod Stewart. Later signings included REM, Van Halen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and on subsidiary labels, Madonna and Prince. Warner Brothers is now part of the Time Warner group. The Grateful Dead signed with Warner Brothers in 1966, their first major records deal. They remained with the company until setting up their own label in 1973. See the Grateful Dead on Warner Brothers discography for a full list of their recordings for the label. Solo projects by group members were also released on the label during this period The third, fourth and fifth Beau Brummels albums were release on Warner Brothers. The first five Stoneground albums were release on the label.
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