Label Guide: Peacock

Peacock Records was founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, named after the Bronze Peacock Dinner Club, a Houston night club owned by Robey. When Robey bought Duke Records in 1952, both Duke and Peacock were run with combined management from Houston. Peacock was primarily a rhythm and blues label but also had an important division for gospel music.

Don Robey was responsible for developing the careers of many rhythm and blues artists in the 1950s and 1960s. However, according to Jerry Leiber of the songwriting team Leiber and Stoller, Robey was a gangster who managed his various entertainment enterprises using violence, the threat of violence, and murder.

The combined Duke/Peacock labels were sold to ABC/Dunhill in 1973. The label name was changed to ABC/Peacock in 1974 until ABC Records itself was sold in 1979. The new parent label MCA later reissued several Peacock albums at budget price.