The Numero Group
Encyclopedia
The Numero Group is an archival record label
that creates reissue compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label's focus since its 2003 founding has been to research and preserve obscure recorded material and ephemera by artists and entrepreneurs who found little commercial success upon their material's initial release.
label). The label's first release was a reissue of rare soul and R&B music first released by the defunct Capsoul label, which was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by William Roger "Bill" Moss.
Here is the label's stated mission (according to their website at www.numerogroup.com):
Similar to other reissue labels such as Rhino
, Bear Family
, Ace
, Cherry Red
, and Hip-O
, Numero releases feature extensive liner notes and rare photographs that provide context for the associated recordings. 2009's Local Customs: Downriver Revival was expanded to include a DVD containing a documentary and an additional 200 recordings to "dig" through (which is, in spirit, similar to the "digital dig" section of their website).
Unlike most other reissue labels, Numero largely releases compilations. The reason for this is explained by Shipley in a 2006 Pitchfork interview:
For Record Store Day
2009, the Numero group produced a vinyl-only sampler named This LP Crashes Hard Drives, which included not only a track from an upcoming Numero release ("Sam" from 029 Pisces: A Lovely Sight), but also tracks from such labels as Light In The Attic, Honest Jon's
, Now Again, Sublime Frequencies
, Daptone Records
, Jazzman, and Vampisoul.
The Numero Group gained recognition in 2010 and early 2011 after the song "You And Me" by Penny & The Quarters (Band) from one of the Eccentric Soul compilations was used in the 2010 film Blue Valentine
. Reports indicated that the band members were unknown and The Numero Group was actively seeking contact with band members or their relatives.
Cult Cargo: foreign interpretations of American music genres
Wayfaring Strangers: folk music, usually from privately-pressed LPs
Good God!: religious soul and funk
Local Customs: a document of an area's music scene, typically centered around one particular studio
001: Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label
(CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
002: Antena: Camino Del Sol
(CD and 2LP)
003: Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label
(CD)
004: Yellow Pills: Prefill
(2CD)
005: Fern Jones: The Glory Road (CD)
006: Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
(CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
007: Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label (CD and 2LP - 6 bonus cuts on LP)
008: Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon (CD)
009: Eccentric Soul: The Big Mack Label (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
010: Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal (CD and 2LP)
011: Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg (CD)
012: Catherine Howe
: What A Beautiful Place (CD and LP/limited 7" - 1 bonus cut on CD, 2 bonus cuts on 7")
013: Eccentric Soul: Twinight's
Lunar Rotation (2CD and LP - 14 bonus cuts on 4LP)
014: Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
015: Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label (CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
016: Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid Soul (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
017: Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts of Deep City (CD and 2LP - 4 bonus cuts on LP)
018: Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli (CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
019: Don't Stop: Recording Tap (CD and 3LP - 10 bonus cuts on LP)
020: Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels (2CD)
021: Good God! Soul Messages from Dimona (CD and 2LP)
022: Brotherman: OST by The Final Solution (CD, LP and cassette - 2 bonus cuts on CD)
023: Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples (CD and 2LP)
024: Titan: It's All Pop! (2CD)
025: 24-Carat Black: Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday (CD and LP)
026: Local Customs: Downriver Revival (CD/DVD and 2LP/DVD)
027: Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace (CD and 2LP)
028: Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes (CD and 2LP)
029: Pisces: A Lovely Sight (CD and LP/limited 7" - 2 bonus cuts on CD and 7")
030: Good God! Born Again Funk (CD and 2LP)
031: Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow (DVD)
032: Syl Johnson
: Complete Mythology 1959-1972 (4CD/6LP/limited 7")
033: Light: On The South Side (book/2LP/limited 7")
034: Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands (CD and 2LP)
035: Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (3CD)
035.5: Local Custons: Pressed/Dubbed/Burned at Boddie
036: Cult Cargo: Salsa Boricua De Chicago
037: Father’s Children: Who’s Gonna Save The World (CD and LP+45)
038: Willie Wright: Telling the Truth
039: Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels
042: Lou Ragland: Title TBA
Asterisk
The Asterisk (or *) label has been aimed at reissuing complete original LPs (in CD and LP formats) from artists associated with The Numero Group catalog, as well as others, in a variety of genres including soul, rock, folk, pop, and disco.
AST1: Johnny Lunchbreak: Appetizer/Soup's On (CD)
AST2: The Four Mints: Gently Down Your Stream (CD)
AST3: Propinquity: Propinquity (CD)
AST4: Boscoe: Boscoe (CD/LP)
AST5: Wee: You Can Fly on My Aeroplane (CD/2LP)
AST6: Caroline Peyton
: Mock-Up (CD)
AST7: Caroline Peyton: Intuition (CD)
Numerophon
The Numerophon imprint specializes in vinyl-only releases in limited quantities. Its initial title, Niela Miller's Songs of Leaving, claims to feature the first rendering of the song "Hey Joe
."
44001: Niela Miller: Songs of Leaving
44002: Bruner: Songs for a Friend
Numbero
"Numbero" (sic) is a one-off imprint used on Eccentric Breaks and Beats. The name was used on the original bootleg release, and Numero decided to keep it on the official version.
Singles
Numero has released a number of 12-inch singles in the "Disco Series," mostly drawn from the regular Numero catalog. In addition, the label has repressed a number of rare 7-inch soul singles, many of which were originally released on Twinight Records
.
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
that creates reissue compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label's focus since its 2003 founding has been to research and preserve obscure recorded material and ephemera by artists and entrepreneurs who found little commercial success upon their material's initial release.
History
The Numero Group record label ("Numero" for short) was founded in 2003, by Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier, and Ken Shipley (a former A&R manager for the equally eclectic RykodiscRykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
label). The label's first release was a reissue of rare soul and R&B music first released by the defunct Capsoul label, which was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by William Roger "Bill" Moss.
Here is the label's stated mission (according to their website at www.numerogroup.com):
The mission was simple: to dig deep into the recesses of our record collections with the goal of finding the dustiest gems begging to be released from their exile on geek street. No longer would $500 singles sit in a temperature-controlled room dying for a chance to be played. No more would the artists, writers, and entrepreneurs who made these records happen go unknown and unappreciated.
Similar to other reissue labels such as Rhino
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
, Bear Family
Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label that specializes in reissues of archival material ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.-History:...
, Ace
Ace Records (UK)
Ace Records Ltd. was started in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick's pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing...
, Cherry Red
Cherry Red
Cherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
, and Hip-O
Hip-O Records
Hip-O Records is a record label, currently part of Universal Music Group, which specializes in reissues and compilations. Their Hip-O Select label is currently in the midst of releasing the Complete Motown Singles, a series of fourteen box sets which include both sides of every 45 from Motown...
, Numero releases feature extensive liner notes and rare photographs that provide context for the associated recordings. 2009's Local Customs: Downriver Revival was expanded to include a DVD containing a documentary and an additional 200 recordings to "dig" through (which is, in spirit, similar to the "digital dig" section of their website).
Unlike most other reissue labels, Numero largely releases compilations. The reason for this is explained by Shipley in a 2006 Pitchfork interview:
We consider our label to be a "cream of the crop" label. There are plenty of albums that we could do, but that's not what we are about as a company. We clean out all the bad stuff. We were like, ok, let's not be completists. If you're going to own a record of the [Miami soul] Deep City label, own our record. There are no duds.
For Record Store Day
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
2009, the Numero group produced a vinyl-only sampler named This LP Crashes Hard Drives, which included not only a track from an upcoming Numero release ("Sam" from 029 Pisces: A Lovely Sight), but also tracks from such labels as Light In The Attic, Honest Jon's
Honest Jon's
Honest Jon’s is an independent record shop based on Portobello Road in Ladbroke Grove, London, going since 1974. The shop is owned and run by Mark Ainley and Alan Scholefield, who took over from one of the original proprietors, ‘Honest’ Jon Clare...
, Now Again, Sublime Frequencies
Sublime Frequencies
Sublime Frequencies is a record label based in Seattle, Washington that focuses exclusively on "acquiring and exposing obscure sights and sounds from modern and traditional urban and rural frontiers," mostly from Southeast Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East...
, Daptone Records
Daptone Records
Daptone Records is a funk and soul independent record label formed by Gabriel Roth and Neal Sugarman and based in Brooklyn, New York.After the demise of the Desco label Gabriel Roth teamed up with Neal Sugarman to create a new label, Daptone Records...
, Jazzman, and Vampisoul.
The Numero Group gained recognition in 2010 and early 2011 after the song "You And Me" by Penny & The Quarters (Band) from one of the Eccentric Soul compilations was used in the 2010 film Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine is an album by Tom Waits, first released in 1978 on Asylum. The woman pictured with Waits on the back cover is Rickie Lee Jones, another singer/songwriter with whom he was having a relationship at the time....
. Reports indicated that the band members were unknown and The Numero Group was actively seeking contact with band members or their relatives.
Ongoing series
Eccentric Soul: obscure soul and funk, generally focusing on a particular, small labelCult Cargo: foreign interpretations of American music genres
Wayfaring Strangers: folk music, usually from privately-pressed LPs
Good God!: religious soul and funk
Local Customs: a document of an area's music scene, typically centered around one particular studio
Discography
Releases (in numerical order):001: Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label
Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label
Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label is the first compilation by The Numero Group and first volume in the Eccentric Soul series.Short for Capital City Soul, the Columbus, Ohio Capsoul label's history spans only five short years throughout the 1970s...
(CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
002: Antena: Camino Del Sol
Antena: Camino Del Sol
Antena: Camino Del Sol is the second compilation by The Numero Group , originally released in September 1982. It features tracks by French-Belgian band, Antena who were signed to Factory Benelux records...
(CD and 2LP)
003: Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label
Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label
Eccentric Soul:The Bandit Label is the third compilation by The Numero Group and second volume in the Eccentric Soul series.Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label takes a look at the underside of Chicago soul through twenty tracks of blistering R&B, sweet soul, and discofied funk...
(CD)
004: Yellow Pills: Prefill
Yellow Pills: Prefill
Yellow Pills: Prefill is the 4th release by The Numero Group. Compiled with the help of power-pop mastermind, Jordan Oakes, Yellow Pills takes a look at some overlooked pop gems from 1979-1982.-Track listing:SIDE A# Green Hearts - Luxury...
(2CD)
005: Fern Jones: The Glory Road (CD)
006: Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up
Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up is the sixth release by The Numero Group. The release documents Compton Fairweather's circle of musical influence in the tiny nation of Belize.- Track listing :# "Disco Connection" - Lord Rhaburn...
(CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
007: Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label (CD and 2LP - 6 bonus cuts on LP)
008: Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies From The Canyon (CD)
009: Eccentric Soul: The Big Mack Label (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
010: Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal (CD and 2LP)
011: Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg (CD)
012: Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe
Catherine Howe is an English singer-songwriter. She is an Ivor Novello Award winner who has earned critical acclaim in dozens of music magazines both in the UK and the US, including Folk Album of the Year from the Sunday Times.Howe began an acting career in the late 1960s, and has since gained a...
: What A Beautiful Place (CD and LP/limited 7" - 1 bonus cut on CD, 2 bonus cuts on 7")
013: Eccentric Soul: Twinight's
Twinight Records
Twinight Records was a minor American recording label, founded in Chicago 1967 by Howard Bedno and Peter Wright, who later added E. Rodney Jones as a partner. Specializing in R&B and soul music, for a few months the label was called Twilight Records until it was discovered that another company...
Lunar Rotation (2CD and LP - 14 bonus cuts on 4LP)
014: Cult Cargo: Grand Bahama Goombay (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
015: Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label (CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
016: Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid Soul (CD and 2LP - 1 bonus cut on LP)
017: Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts of Deep City (CD and 2LP - 4 bonus cuts on LP)
018: Wayfaring Strangers: Guitar Soli (CD and 2LP - 2 bonus cuts on LP)
019: Don't Stop: Recording Tap (CD and 3LP - 10 bonus cuts on LP)
020: Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels (2CD)
021: Good God! Soul Messages from Dimona (CD and 2LP)
022: Brotherman: OST by The Final Solution (CD, LP and cassette - 2 bonus cuts on CD)
023: Eccentric Soul: The Young Disciples (CD and 2LP)
024: Titan: It's All Pop! (2CD)
025: 24-Carat Black: Gone: The Promises Of Yesterday (CD and LP)
026: Local Customs: Downriver Revival (CD/DVD and 2LP/DVD)
027: Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace (CD and 2LP)
028: Wayfaring Strangers: Lonesome Heroes (CD and 2LP)
029: Pisces: A Lovely Sight (CD and LP/limited 7" - 2 bonus cuts on CD and 7")
030: Good God! Born Again Funk (CD and 2LP)
031: Celestial Navigations: The Short Films of Al Jarnow (DVD)
032: Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson
Syl Johnson is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.-Biography:Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed...
: Complete Mythology 1959-1972 (4CD/6LP/limited 7")
033: Light: On The South Side (book/2LP/limited 7")
034: Local Customs: Lone Star Lowlands (CD and 2LP)
035: Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio (3CD)
035.5: Local Custons: Pressed/Dubbed/Burned at Boddie
036: Cult Cargo: Salsa Boricua De Chicago
037: Father’s Children: Who’s Gonna Save The World (CD and LP+45)
038: Willie Wright: Telling the Truth
039: Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels
042: Lou Ragland: Title TBA
Additional subsidiary labels
The Numero Group operates a pair of subsidiary imprints.Asterisk
The Asterisk (or *) label has been aimed at reissuing complete original LPs (in CD and LP formats) from artists associated with The Numero Group catalog, as well as others, in a variety of genres including soul, rock, folk, pop, and disco.
AST1: Johnny Lunchbreak: Appetizer/Soup's On (CD)
AST2: The Four Mints: Gently Down Your Stream (CD)
AST3: Propinquity: Propinquity (CD)
AST4: Boscoe: Boscoe (CD/LP)
AST5: Wee: You Can Fly on My Aeroplane (CD/2LP)
AST6: Caroline Peyton
Caroline Peyton
Caroline Peyton is an American singer and songwriter. Peyton was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi on Oct. 8, 1951 and grew up in Charleston, West Virginia. Her father, Thomas Peyton, is from Virginia and her mother, the former Joan Johnson, is a native of Mississippi. Peyton grew up with three...
: Mock-Up (CD)
AST7: Caroline Peyton: Intuition (CD)
Numerophon
The Numerophon imprint specializes in vinyl-only releases in limited quantities. Its initial title, Niela Miller's Songs of Leaving, claims to feature the first rendering of the song "Hey Joe
Hey Joe
"Hey Joe" is an American popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such, has been performed in a multitude of musical styles by hundreds of different artists since it was first written. "Hey Joe" tells the story of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico...
."
44001: Niela Miller: Songs of Leaving
44002: Bruner: Songs for a Friend
Numbero
"Numbero" (sic) is a one-off imprint used on Eccentric Breaks and Beats. The name was used on the original bootleg release, and Numero decided to keep it on the official version.
Singles
Numero has released a number of 12-inch singles in the "Disco Series," mostly drawn from the regular Numero catalog. In addition, the label has repressed a number of rare 7-inch soul singles, many of which were originally released on Twinight Records
Twinight Records
Twinight Records was a minor American recording label, founded in Chicago 1967 by Howard Bedno and Peter Wright, who later added E. Rodney Jones as a partner. Specializing in R&B and soul music, for a few months the label was called Twilight Records until it was discovered that another company...
.