Label Guide: Bell

Bell Records was founded in 1954 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, the owner of children's record label Golden Records. In the beginning Bell specialized in budget generic pop music, with the slogan "music for the millions", and nothing in its early catalogue is of particular interest for collectors today.

The label faded slowly until it fell completely dormant for several years in the early 1960s. In late 1964, Bell Records was revived, featuring a new logo utilizing a stylized "BELL" word mark shaped like a bell. The first albums under the 'new Bell' appeared in 1966 (6000 series), and the company expanded internationally, started several sub-labels, and produced a bunch of hit records like The Box Tops' The Letter.

After a series of mergers in the late 1960s, the combined Bell group was acquired by Columbia where it had a quite successful roster of acts in the pop and soft rock genre (David Cassidy, Fifth Dimension, Partridge Family). But in 1974, Columbia decided to further consolidate its recorded music business and merged Bell with its other legacy labels (Colpix, Colgems) into a new entity named Arista Records.

In The United Kingdom the Bell name was kept alive until 1976, when the Bell label was eventually transferred into Arista UK. The former catalog of Bell Records and its related labels is now owned by Sony Music.