American, out of Los Angeles. Mums was owned by Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts, and was a division of their Landers-Roberts Incorporated company, which covered motion picture production and concert promotion. According to 'Billboard' of the 20th of March 1971 the concert promotion side of the business also included a record label, Prophesy. In addition Roberts managed a number of artists, including The Mamas And Papas. He had previously been a partner in Dunhill Records, and he and Landers had been behind Dove Records, which released an album by comedian Richard Pryors in 1968 ('BB', 23rd November). The advent of Mums was announced in 'BB' of the 18th of March 1972. The article said that the new label would be handled by Columbia, and added that the company intended to stay small and unique and to concentrate on its artists' development as well as their records. Don Altfield was named as executive in charge of production, administration and professional publishing. 'BB' of the 8th of April 1972 was able to confirm that the launch had been carried out and that the first two Mums singles were available.
Mums enjoyed an early success in December 1972 when Albert Hammond's 'It Never Rains In Southern California' reached the Top 5 in the Hot 100, but after that things quietened down and mentions in 'BB' were few and far between. The edition of the 6th of October 1973 said that Larry Douglas had been appointed general manager of both Mums and Prophesy, but Prophesy seems to have been shelved not long after; one of its acts, The Jackson Sisters, was moved over to Mums. Steppenwolf, who were managed by Bobby Roberts, were signed in the summer of 1974 ('BB', 6th July), but their arrival doesn't appear to have had any great effect on Mums's fortunes. 'BB' of the 9th of August 1975 reported that Mums would be leaving Columbia when its three-year contract expired, with the intenion of looking for a distribution agreement with a smaller company. Steppenwolf and Albert Hammond, who was also managed by Roberts, were to stay with Columbia via its Epic label. General manager Larry Douglas had left, and his place was being taken by Steve McCormick, the company's assistant promotions director. The search for a new distributor seems to have failed, for there were no more records on the Mums label. Roberts did however return to the record label business, when he purchased Dunhill from MCA in 1979 ('BB', 27th October).
Mums was rather more successful in the States than it was in Britain, but it registered one hit in the British Singles Charts: Albert Hammond's 'Free Electric Band' b/w 'You Taught Me To Sing The Blues' (MUMS-1494; 5/73), which peaked at No.19. As was the case with the company's American parent, distribution in Britain was by CBS. Its first single, 'Down By The River' b/w 'The Last One To Know' by Albert Hammond, came out on CBS as CBS-8304 in August 1972, with an originating credit to Mums; Mums made its debut as a label some six months later, in January 1973. Its singles shared a numerical sequence with the other CBS labels, which explains the high catalogue numbers. The prefix was usually MUM but it switched to MUMS for a couple of issues around the turn of 1974-75. One label design served throughout. Promo copies were given white labels with a large orange 'A', which was one of CBS's usual ways of distinguishing promos at the time. 'I Believe In Miracles' b/w 'Day In The Blue' by The Jackson Sisters (MUMS-1829; 11/73 is sought-after by Rare Groove collectors. A couple of the Sisters' tracks had been on Prophesy in the States but they came out on Mums here.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.