Kicking Mule Records was an independent American record label founded in Berkeley, California, in 1971 by guitarist Stefan Grossman and Eugene "ED" Denson, formerly co-owner of Takoma Records. The company's name comes from the country blues sexual two-timing allegory "there's another mule kicking in your stall".
During the 1970s, the company did much to popularize solo fingerpicking guitar, expanding the style with recordings of Scott Joplin rags, Beatles hits, big band tunes, and Turlough Carolan harp tunes. The label also released several similarly-styled banjo records.
In the 1980s, Grossman left the label and Denson branched out to include many dulcimer releases as well as recordings by Charlie Musselwhite and Michael Bloomfield.
In the early 1990s, Fantasy Records bought both Takoma and Kicking Mule from Denson and soon began to re-release selected LPs on CD.
In 2004, all of Fantasy's labels were purchased by Concord Records which was renamed them as the Concord Music Group.
A few of the Kicking Mule titles were retained by Grossman and have been reissued on Shanachie Records. Although some of the Kicking Mule records have been re-issued on CD, many others have not and remain treasured collector's items.
Currently, Kicking Mule is handled by Ace Records (UK)
Famous quotes containing the words kicking and/or records:
“All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door. The violence of revolutions is the violence of men who charge into a vacuum.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)
“Although crowds gathered once if she but showed her face,
And even old men’s eyes grew dim, this hand alone,
Like some last courtier at a gypsy camping-place
Babbling of fallen majesty, records what’s gone.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)