Elektra

Elektra on vinyl: from folk to The Doors

In short: Elektra was founded in New York in 1950 by Jac Holzman and started with folk – Josh White, Theodore Bikel, later Judy Collins. In 1967 The Doors arrived, and Elektra became the label of psychedelic rock: Love, MC5, The Stooges. In the US, Queen also came out here. The Vinyl Room currently has 52 Elektra records, including many Doors albums.

From our stock

Elektra first pressings

Psychedelic & blues rock

Soul, funk & disco

New in

→ Atlantic · Warner Bros. Records · Psychedelic rock · How to spot a first pressing

What makes Elektra special?

Jac Holzman founded Elektra as a student – with little money and a lot of love for folk music. In our stock, Josh White and the duet album by Cynthia Gooding and Theodore Bikel from the fifties recall that time. The big leap came in 1967 with The Doors: their debut, “Waiting For The Sun”, “The Soft Parade” and “Morrison Hotel” made Elektra one of the most important rock labels. Then there was Love, whose “Four Sail” we have.

Later the range grew wide: Queen’s “News Of The World” in its American edition, eighties soul and disco from Leon Ware and Patrice Rushen, Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom” for the US market and, in the nineties, Stereolab.

Recognising Doors records

On American Doors LPs the label helps: early pressings have a brown label, from around 1969 came a red one, later the label with the butterfly. Which pressing you have exactly is only shown by label, catalogue number, runout and cover together.

FAQ

Who founded Elektra Records? Jac Holzman, in New York in 1950.

Were The Doors on Elektra? Yes, all of The Doors’ studio albums with Jim Morrison came out on Elektra, starting with the debut in 1967.

Does Elektra belong to Warner? Yes, since 1970. Together with Warner Bros. and Atlantic, distribution ran under the name WEA.

What music do you have on Elektra? Mostly rock – psychedelic and blues rock –, plus soul, disco and folk, 52 records in all.