Embassy Records - History 1970-1980

History 1970-1980

Following the purchase of Embassy's parent label, Oriole, by CBS Records in late 1964, the label was discontinued, with the final Embassy release of the 1960s being "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow The Sun)" by Paul Rich and The Beatmen (b/w "The Special Years" by Burt Shane) in January 1965. However, in 1970 CBS revived the Embassy imprint to release budget reissues of albums that had originally been released in the United States on Columbia Records (or its subsidiaries). These latter-day Embassy LP releases were issued in the UK and Europe between 1970 and 1980, although there are known to be Mexican Embassy releases from much later on in the 1980s. Columbia artists who had their albums reissued on Embassy during the 1970s include Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Johnny Cash, Barbra Streisand, The Byrds, Tammy Wynette, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Spirit and Sly & the Family Stone. CBS once again discontinued Embassy Records and ceased issuing albums in the UK and Europe on the imprint in 1980.

Embassy Records should not be confused with the short-lived label of the same name that distributed recordings for the Warriors Dance record label during the 1990s. Neither should it be confused with the modern day independent record label Embassy Records, based in New Orleans. Likewise, there is no connection between the original Embassy Records and Embassy Productions, a heavy metal record label from the 1990s, or with the Avco Embassy record label that released records by The Chambers Brothers, The Stylistics and Henry Mancini (amongst others) in the 1960s and 1970s.