12/17/2025
On this date February 13, 1960 Reprise Records was formed by Frank Sinatra in order to allow more artistic freedom for his own recordings. Soon thereafter, he garnered the nickname "The Chairman of the Board".
Because of dissatisfaction with Capitol Records, and after trying to buy Norman Granz's Verve Records, the first album Sinatra released on Reprise was "Ring-a-Ding-Ding!"
As CEO of Reprise, Sinatra recruited several artists for the fledgling label, such as fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. The original roster from 1961 to 1963 included Bing Crosby, Stafford, Rosemary Clooney, Duke Ellington, Nancy sinatra, Esquivel and stand-up comedian Redd Foxx.
One of the label's founding principles under Sinatra's leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom, and at some point complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights.
In August, 1963, as part of a film deal, Warner Bros. purchased Reprise (which had been losing money) from Sinatra, who nonetheless retained a 1/3 interest in the label. Reprise president Mo Ostin was retained as the head of the label and he went on to play a very significant role in the history of the Warner group of labels over the next four decades.
Reprise would soon add teen-oriented pop acts like Dino, Desi & Billy to the roster. As well, Frank's own daughter Nancy Sinatra (who had started recording for the label in 1961) would be retained by Ostin, becoming a major pop star starting in late 1965.
Through direct signings or distribution deals, by the 1970s the Reprise roster grew to include Lee Hazlewood, Jill Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, the early Joni Mitchell recordings, Neil Young, the Electric Prunes, Donna Loren, Arlo Guthrie, Norman Greenbaum, Tom Lehrer, Tiny Tim, Ry Cooder, Captain Beefheart, Family, the early 1970s recordings by Frank Zappa and the Mothers, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Nico's Desertshore, the Fugs, Jethro Tull, Pentangle, T. Rex, the Meters, John Cale, Gordon Lightfoot, Michael Franks, Richard Pryor, Al Jarreau, Fleetwood Mac, F***y, and the Beach Boys.
In 1976, the Reprise label was deactivated by Warner Bros. and all of its roster (except Frank Sinatra and Neil Young) was moved to the main Warner Bros. label. An unconfirmed explanation for this move is that Sinatra wanted to be the only artist on Reprise, and Young is said to have been the only Reprise act who refused to agree to a change in labels.
Although older catalog albums continued to be manufactured with the Reprise logo, and albums by The Beach Boys on Brother Records were issued in the Reprise catalog numbering sequence, aside from Sinatra and Young (and the Sylvia Syms album "Syms" by Sinatra, which Sinatra conducted and co-produced) there were no new releases on Reprise for years.
