A & M Records (Firm)

Historical Note

Founded in 1962 in Los Angeles by Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert, A & M Records became America's largest independent record company. Both men were born in 1935, Alpert in Los Angeles and Moss in New York. The two met in the early 1960s, when Alpert was writing and recording songs and Moss was an independent record promoter. Their social acquaintance quickly became a partnership when in 1962 the two formed Carnival Records, based in Alpert's garage. With contributions of $100 from each man, the company released the single "Tell It to the Birds." After discovering later that year that the Carnival name was already in use, Alpert and Moss created the company's new name from the initials of their last names.

A & M Records' first release, the single "The Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, came out in August 1962. It reached number six on the Billboard charts and sold some 700,000 copies, setting the tone for the band's and the company's success. Other best-selling Tijuana Brass albums followed, including "Whipped Cream and Other Delights" and "What Now My Love." Led by the success of the Tijuana Brass, A & M revenue topped $50 million by 1968; by the end of the decade the group had sold some 45 million albums.

From its founding A & M worked with recording artists other than the Tijuana Brass, and its roster featured many of the top pop and rock acts from the 1960s, '70s, and '80s, including Bryan Adams, Burt Bacharach, Joan Baez, the Baja Marimba Band, the Captain and Tennille, the Carpenters, Cheech and Chong, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton, Lani Hall, Janet Jackson, Joe Jackson, Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66, the Neville Brothers, Jeffrey Osborne, the Police, Squeeze, Cat Stevens, Sting, Styx, Supertramp, and the Tubes, among many others. Also issued by the label were a number of jazz composers and performers, including Gato Barbieri, Quincy Jones and Paul Winter as well as some late recordings by Chet Baker and Stan Getz.

In 1989 Alpert and Moss sold A & M records to PolyGram Records.

From the guide to the A & M Records Collection of business papers, sound recordings, music manuscripts, and memorabilia, 1959-1992, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Performing Arts Special Collections)