American. A Bop-orientated Jazz label, Prestige was founded by Bob Weinstock in 1949. Its roster of artists in the '50s included such luminaries as Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. The '60s saw a measure of diversification, with subsidiaries being formed to handle Mainstrean Jazz (Swingville), Mood Music (Moodsville) and Blues (Bluesville); in the later part of that decade Prestige started to explore Soul-Jazz. The label was acquired by Fantasy Records in 1971; it kept on issuing records throughout the '70s, but in the '80s and '90s it functioned as a reissue label. Over here, Prestige concentrated very much on LPs; its singles series started in 1977, at PRS-100, and seems not to have got past PRS-105. Two of those singles appear to have only been released in 12" form, sharing the same numbers but having a PRC prefix. RCA acquired the rights to Prestige products when it signed a licensing agreement with parent label Fantasy in April 1972, and retained those rights after Fantasy moved on to EMI, which it did in November of that same year. Demo labels were in typical RCA style, with a hollow 'A' in the centre of the label and the legend 'Demonstration sample not for sale' added (2).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.