T-Neck Records
| T-Neck Records | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1964 |
| Founder | The Isley Brothers |
| Distributor(s) | Atlantic, Buddah, Epic, Island, DreamWorks |
| Genre | Soul, funk, R&B, rock |
| Country of origin | United States |
T-Neck Records was a record label founded by members of the R&B/soul group The Isley Brothers in 1964, which became notable for distributing the first nationally-released recordings of Jimi Hendrix, their guitarist, and which later became a successful label after the Isleys began releasing their own works after years of recording for other labels, scoring hits such as "It's Your Thing" and "That Lady".
The Isley Brothers had been recording music professionally since 1957 and had struggled with the release of many of its recordings. Encouraged by the million-selling success of their single "Shout", which the trio wrote, the trio formed the Three Boys Music publishing company, which would include their own compositions including later songs "Respectable" and "Nobody But Me", all of which helped to earn the brothers monetary royalties after the songs were licensed to other artists who covered the tunes including The Yardbirds and The Human Beinz.
In 1961, they left RCA, which had been responsible for releasing "Shout" but had failed to push any of their subsequent singles, for Scepter Records' Wand subsidiary imprint where they recorded the Bert Berns dance number, "Twist & Shout" and released the song in 1962. The song became the brothers' first to crack both the pop and R&B top 40 and also their first international success, reaching 42 in the United Kingdom. Much like RCA, however, Wand failed to deliver more singles and the brothers left the label in 1963 for United Artists Records, which released "Nobody But Me" but was also a short-lived tenure.
In 1964, they signed with Atlantic Records and released their penned composition, "Who's That Lady", which also failed to chart. In the meantime, the record success of "Shout" by other notable pop and rock acts had helped the song sell well over two million records, allowing the brothers, who had the song as part of their Three Boys Music company, to move the family out of the black Cincinnati suburb of Lincoln Heights into a house in Englewood, New Jersey. Meanwhile the three brothers of the group - Kelly, Rudy and Ron - had moved to certain areas of New Jersey. Ron had settled at a house in Teaneck, New Jersey. After discussing their musical futures, it was eventually decided that the brothers would form their own label, rather than allowing a major label to choose their path. They settled on an abbreviated forming of Ron's hometown, naming it T-Neck Records.
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