Tradition Records


Tradition Records was an American record label from 1955 to 1966 that specialized in folk music. The label was founded and financed by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton in 1956. Its president and director was Patrick "Paddy" Clancy, who was soon to join his brothers Liam and Tom Clancy and Tommy Makem, as part of the new Irish folk group, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Liam Clancy designed the company's maple leaf logo. Columbia University Professor of Folklore Kenneth Goldstein was also involved in the early creation of the company, which operated out of Greenwich Village, New York, United States.
With artists like The Clancy Brothers, Odetta, and Jean Ritchie growing in popularity during the American folk music revival, the label began to generate good profits. When The Clancy Brothers signed with Columbia Records in 1961, Paddy Clancy ceased to run the day-to-day operations of the company. In 1966, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, as owners of the label, sold the Tradition catalogue to Everest Records. Everest reissued Tradition recordings without any notes in haphazard permutations. Much of the Tradition catalogue has been reissued on CD and/or for digital download. For many years John Jacob Niles received little acclaim, but following the broadcast of the Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home, there was a surge in the demand for his albums. His two albums on Tradition were reissued.
43 North Broadway. a private IP management fund, acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to the Tradition Records catalog as part of its acquisition of the Everest Record Group of labels.

Partial discography

TLP series