Transatlantic - Biography

Biography - Transatlantic

UK

Founded by Nathan Joseph, an entrepreneur who intended to supply the market with a range of popular and classical music. He launched the label with a 3LP set entitled "Live With Love" - a sort of aural version of "The Joy of Sex" with none of the faintly titillating images. It was a popular idea and he sold sufficient of these records to have a fund to release other, more interesting musical records.

Part of the business model was to issue a classical label of Russian records but repressed in the UK - known as "MK". He also gained distribution of Folkways records in the UK. Transatlantic probably had most success with its stable of folk musicians - Ralph McTell, Pentangle, Dransfield, Humblebums, Billy Connolly, John Renbourn and Bert Jansch. However there are a smattering of weird psychedelic records and some UK issues of American artists such as Frank Zappa, Richie Havens, Allan Ginsberg, Bob Newhart, John Fahey and The Fugs. The comedy of Newhart complemented the later comedy albums of Private Eye, The Two Ronnies and Billy Connolly (who made his recording debut, not as a comedian but as a banjo player and singer, as a member of The Humblebums).

Nathan or "Nat" Joseph was helped in the early days by Bill Leader, the self-taught recording engineer and producer who was to go on to have such an impact with his own labels and who had already recorded many stars for Topic Records in London.

Some of the early records which Bill Leader worked on were the Jazz/Skiffle/Blues of Alexis Korner "Red Hot With Alex", "Putting Out The Dustbin" by Shelia Hancock and Sydney Carter and the wonderful "Annie Ross & Tony Kinsey" LP "Loguerhythms".

The Transatlantic Group also produced the following labels:
Big T, Xtra 1000, Xtra 5000, Everest (Classical), Folkways, Audio Fidelity, Conversaphone, Sonet and Transatlantic Prestige

Eventually, the label went the way of all labels and was bought out by another company who became "Logo Records". They reissued Gerry Rafferty tracks from the early Humblebum LPs and began to have some success with records by the Tourists (Annie Lennox), Paul Young's Streetband, Dave Swarbrick (formerly with Ian Campbell's folk group on Transatlantic too), Driver 67, Mick Farren (formerly member of the Deviants), Duncan Browne, The Magnificent Mercury Brothers and Straight Eight.

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