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Fantasy Records - Definition |
| Related Words: Western, Westerner, Absorption, Abstraction, Alienation, Allegory, Apologue, Apparition, Appearance, Autism, Brainstorm |
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Fantasy Records is a United States based record label, which was was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader and others. The label was the first to record "in person" performances by Lenny Bruce.
In the mid-1950s Saul Zaentz joined the company and eventually instigated the companies major expansion. In 1967 he led a consortium which bought out the Weiss brothers. The following year, Fantasy's most successful act emerged when the local group Creedence Clearwater Revival (which he managed) released their first hit record "Susie Q". Zaentz, advised by the journalist Ralph J. Gleason and benefitting from royalties from the sales of Creedence singles and albums, Fantasy pursued a policy of acquisition concentrating on independent Jazz labels. Zaentz had picked up Debut Records as a wedding present from Bassist Charles Mingus to which were added Prestige Records (in 1971), Riverside Records and Milestone Records (both 1972), Stax Records (1977), Contemporary Records (1984), Specialty Records (1991), Pablo Records (1987), Takoma Records and Kicking Mule Records (both 1995). Fantasy also built its landmark headquarters building at the corner of Tenth and Parker in Berkeley, California in 1970 which was nicknamed "the house that Creedence built."
Fantasy has long had a deserved reputation for keeping most of its catalog in print and this has continued in the CD era.
In 2004 Fantasy was sold to a consortium led by Norman Lear and merged with Concord Records.
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