Decca Records - Country Music

Country Music

In 1934, Jack Kapp established a country & western line for the new Decca label by signing Frank Luther, Sons of the Pioneers, Stuart Hamblen, The Ranch Boys, and other popular acts based in both New York and Los Angeles. Louisiana singer/composer Jimmie Davis began recording for Decca the same year, joined by western vocalists Jimmy Wakely and Roy Rogers in 1940. From the late 1940s on, the US arm of Decca had a sizeable roster of Country artists, including Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Ernest Tubb, Webb Pierce, Wilburn Brothers, Bobbejaan Schoepen, and Red Foley. In the late 1950s, Patsy Cline was signed to the US Decca label from 4 Star Records. As part of a leasing deal, Patsy's contract was owned by 4 Star; though she recorded for Decca as part of this deal, she recorded an album but saw little money. In 1960, she signed with Decca outright and released two more albums and numerous singles while she was alive and several more albums and singles produced after her untimely death in a 1963 plane crash. The Wilburn Brothers were ultimately signed to a lifetime contract with Decca. Doyle Wilburn of the Wilburn Brothers obtained a recording contract for Loretta Lynn who signed to Decca in the early 1960s and remained with the label for the next several decades. Loretta was also known as the "Decca Doll" till she was more known as the Coal Miner's Daughter. Owen Bradley was the A&R man for all of these artists. Decca quickly became the main rival of RCA Records as the top label for American country music by the early 1950s and remained so for decades.

Decca's country music branch was revived in 1994, with Dawn Sears being the first act signed to the newly-reformed label. Other artists signed to the label would include Rhett Akins, Gary Allan, Mark Chesnutt, and Lee Ann Womack; of these, all but Sears would be shifted to the MCA Nashville roster after parent Universal Music absorbed PolyGram in 1998 and shut down Decca Nashville. Decca also was a label in 1997-98 for Dolly Parton.

In 2008, the Decca country division was revived, with One Flew South becoming the first act signed to the newly re-established label.