Dmitry Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Have a bunch of Rhino releases that I bought over the years, but never wondered about the company itself. Is it an off-shoot of one of the majors or an independent firm? Couldn't find any company history on their website.. Anyone with insight is welcome to share. Quote
Jazzmoose Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 Damn...that's a good question! I remember buying their releases of the Kinks LPs back in the mid 80s, but I'm sure they'd already been around for a while. Quote
kulu se mama Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 i believe they started as a record store in the los angeles area. the store is still there, but it is no longer connected to the label. they released odds and ends for years before signing an agreement with warner and then becoming a part of warner. if anyone has more detailed or more accurate info, please add. Quote
dave9199 Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 If I remember correctly, their first, or one of their first, albums they released was a Rodney Dangerfield album. Quote
BFrank Posted January 31, 2004 Report Posted January 31, 2004 (edited) From the website: How Did Rhino Start? Rhino began with Richard Foos indulging in his love of roots music (especially the blues) by digging through record bins at swap meets and record sales. Seeing that a $3 pile of albums could be sold for many times that led Foos to buy up old records. He initially sold them out of the trunk of his car, then the back of a small electronics shop, and eventually opened the first Rhino Records retail outlet in 1973. The store became a success, leading to a second store. Through those salad days, Foos gained a "from the ground up" retail experience that informed the company's planning in the years to come. Rhino also gained a reputation as the hippest record retailer in the L.A. area, thanks to Foos' collecting expertise and offbeat sense of humor. This success was enhanced when self-confessed "record fanatic" Harold Bronson became a steady customer of the expanded Rhino Records retail store near UCLA. Bronson's knowledge of music led Foos to hire him as a salesperson, and to promote him to store manager soon afterward. Bronson went on to help mastermind oddball ventures such as The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra (in 1978, the TCKO recorded the Rhino label's first true novelty hit, a version of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" - itself a version of Willie Dixon's "You Need Love"). Through the years Rhino evolved beyond novelty releases and into reissuing classic pop music and video from the 1920's to the present. More here: About Us Edited January 31, 2004 by BFrank Quote
Tjazz Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 (edited) There was a good article about Rhino Records in the January 2004 issue of Los Angeles Magazine. It mentioned the founders and that Time Warners bought half the company (Rhino) in 1992. In 1998, Time Warner bought the remaining half of Rhino. Estimated at the time - $60 million. In 2000, Time Warner merged with AOL. Garson Foos and Harold Bronson left when their contracts ended. Bronson is now president of Rhino Films. Foos has started a new re-issue company called SHOUT in January 2002. Specializing in putting out offbeat CD and DVD collections. Recent DVD releases include lost episodes of Groucho Marz in YOU BET YOUR LIFE, and its HEROES OF THE BLUES cd series. Some of the original staff still remain at AOL/Time Warner. Course, Time Warner has agreed to sell the music division to Seagram's heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. B) Edited February 3, 2004 by Tjazz Quote
brownie Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 Only in America.. Absolutely! I remember visiting the Rhino store in LA in 1984 when I was assigned to cover the Olympic Games. Nice store but gee! it did not look like a $60 million business deal then. Don't remember if I made any Great Finds there but the US dollar was way high compared to the French franc then (those were the Ronald Reagan Glory days) and life in LA seemed very expensive every time I ventured out of the press center. Quote
JSngry Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 I remember when Rhino was doing way-cool stuff like putting out Wild Man Fischer albums, reissuing the G.T.O.'s album, and giving The Turtles the respect they deserved as eccentric Pop heavyweights. They're still doing cool stuff, but a lot of their early releases seem to be OOP now, which is a drag. Quote
king ubu Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 So the reason their nice Avenue Jazz/Bethlehem reissue series got lost in some merger around 2000? Those were OOP reeeeally fast! They are not as active as far as jazz is concerned, as they were in the nineties, no? I love their Coltrane and Dolphy boxes! And then the Mingus one! They should have done more of these, instead of all the "Anthologies"! ubu Quote
Tjazz Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 (edited) Only in America.. Absolutely! I remember visiting the Rhino store in LA in 1984 when I was assigned to cover the Olympic Games. Nice store but gee! it did not look like a $60 million business deal then. The retail record store did not sell for 60 million. Rhino label was like Mosaic label, they made re-issues and compilation box sets. Edited February 3, 2004 by Tjazz Quote
mikeweil Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 Foos has started a new re-issue company called SHOUT in January 2002. Specializing in putting out offbeat CD and DVD collections. Recent DVD releases include lost episodes of Groucho Marz in YOU BET YOUR LIFE, and its HEROES OF THE BLUES cd series. Is there a website of this new company? Quote
mikeweil Posted February 3, 2004 Report Posted February 3, 2004 In other words: Is this the new company? http://www.shoutfactory.com Quote
Tjazz Posted February 4, 2004 Report Posted February 4, 2004 In other words: Is this the new company? http://www.shoutfactory.com Looks like it. I just bought the Jim Croce LIVE DVD. Quote
BFrank Posted February 4, 2004 Report Posted February 4, 2004 From the website: The (very short) History of Shout! Factory Some of us here at Shout! are refugees from the Rhino label where we managed to unleash an ungodly number of music compilations, retro-TV re-issues and a few movies of dubious distinction on an unsuspecting public. Now, just when you thought it was safe, we're launching Shout! Factory. We had an amazing run at Rhino. I'm not taking too much credit. My brother Richard, Harold Bronson, Gary Stewart and several others deserve the bulk of it. 25 years for Richard, 15 years for me, and about the same for our partner Bob Emmer. Bob was Rhino's head of Business Affairs and the man responsible for putting us together with Atlantic in 1992. Last year it was time to move on, and Richard decided to put together a new label, got Bob involved then brought me in. The optimist that he is - he sees this as a great time for an entrepreneurial, independent audio and video co. They bought the Biograph catalog last year - our first acquisition - for the classic Skip James album (Hard Time Killing Floor Blues), Son House, Johnny Shines, plus historic piano rolls from Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton. We're putting together a bunch of Blues compilations (single and various artists), we're working on some themed multi-artist titles with mainstream, big hits, and some more conceptual compilations with cool, unexpected tracks. Initially, it looks like the video/DVD business could be bigger for us than audio. Our early releases are really varied - The DVD for The Rhythm, Love & Soul PBS special (PBS only until Summer); Pop culture documentaries - Timothy Leary, Kerouac, John Waters, Andy Warhol; A doc. about the 2000 Florida election scandal - Unprecedented; Legendary animation from Spike and Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival, where some of the edgiest and most creative animation that you have and haven't heard of gets started; The Warren Miller ski film library - new and classic films from the king of the genre; Some great concert videos - like Joni Mitchell's classic 1980 concert "Shadows and Light" with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius and other amazing musicians. We're in negotiation for several cult and classic TV show libraries that we hope to announce over the next few months. That's about all there is for now but we're coming up with new stuff every day so please stop back soon to catch up or, better yet, sign up for our no-spam newsletter and we'll send you updates from time to time (like once a month, not once an hour). Sincerely, Garson Foos Quote
Tjazz Posted February 5, 2004 Report Posted February 5, 2004 SHOUT bought BIOGRAPHY? Wonder how much that label sold for? Quote
cliffpeterson Posted February 6, 2004 Report Posted February 6, 2004 BFRANK_what connection was there, is there between rhino on the west coast and the rhino store that has been in several locations in the general catskill area of upperstate new york? there is currently one store in new paltz, ny Quote
BFrank Posted February 7, 2004 Report Posted February 7, 2004 I have no idea, Cliff. I was only reposting historical info from their website. I don't have any inside knowledge otherwise. I suspect there is no connection, but that's just a guess. Quote
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