Distribution History
Shelter Records was originally distributed by Blue Thumb Records, but then it was distributed by Capitol/EMI from 1970 until 1973. During this time, the label was red with an egg on top with an inverted Superman logo on the egg. This logo did not sit well with DC Comics, and they sued Shelter for trademark infringement. Shelter then blacked out the Superman logo on subsequent releases until the distribution deal ran out with Capitol/EMI. Afterwards, the Shelter logo was replaced by an egg with a hand-scrawled "S" on it.
From 1974 until 1975 (sporting a yellowish label and their new logo), Shelter was then distributed by MCA Records. Afterwards, the label from 1975 to 1977 was distributed by ABC Records (the first label being yellow; the second one was reddish-orange with the Shelter logo inside a Saturn-like planet with a crescent man-in-the-moon at the bottom of the label). In 1977, Shelter transferred distribution to Arista (principally for the Dwight Twilley Band), but the rights to Tom Petty and J. J. Cale were retained by ABC. Shelter continued as an active label until 1979, when ABC was sold to MCA. MCA released one more album using the Shelter label (a J.J. Cale album), then all remaining Shelter recordings held by ABC were put on another MCA subsidiary entitled Backstreet Records. The Shelter/Arista deal terminated in 1981, which was the effective end of Shelter Records. Shortly after the label's demise, the catalog was purchased by Dunhill Compact Classics (later known as DCC), which reissued several Shelter catalog LPs and compilations. DCC (which issued mostly compilation CDs mostly licensed from other labels, many remastered by respected recording engineer Steve Hoffman) later went out of business.
During 1993, the Shelter catalogue was bought out by Capitol/EMI, and their imprint The Right Stuff reissued many titles (except for Tom Petty and J. J. Cale albums, as the Tom Petty Shelter albums are controlled by Petty himself and currently distributed by Rhino, owned by the Warner Music Group, also owners of Petty's current label Reprise Records, and the J. J. Cale Shelter albums are controlled by Universal Music Group, the successor to MCA).
In the United Kingdom, records on the Shelter label were distributed by Island Records in the late 1970s.
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