Dunhill Records


Dunhill Records was an American record label started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distributed by ABC Records.
The first Dunhill single was "My Prayer/Pretty Please" by Shelley Fabares, who was married to Adler at the time. In mid-1967 Adler sold his shares to ABC Records, creating ABC-Dunhill Records, after which he started yet another label Ode Records. Until 1975, ABC continued to release records on the Dunhill label, after which all remaining artists were absorbed into the ABC Records roster before MCA Records bought the label outright in 1979.
Buluu Dunhill Records was an offshoot of the ABC/Dunhill days using catalog series B-73001 and B-60001.
Today, the Dunhill catalog is managed by Geffen Records.
A later independent reissue label called Dunhill Compact Classics was formed in 1986 to reissue recordings on the new CD format. British American Tobacco, a UK tobacco company, sued the company because of the use of the "Dunhill" name, forcing the company to rename itself DCC Compact Classics.

Dunhill label variations

  • 1965–1968—Black label with DUNHILL in white outline letters inside yellow frame
  • 1968—Same as above, but with the "abc" logo added in front of the DUNHILL logo
  • 1968–1969—Black label with 3-compartment multi-color box consisting of smaller DUNHILL logo in the left hand box and the white circular "abc" logo and "RECORDS" in the right hand boxes
  • 1969–1973—Same as above, but with the multicolor "DUNHILL" and "abc RECORDS" boxes separated
  • 1973–1974—Black label with DUNHILL spelled out in children's blocks in white box
  • 1974–1975—Yellow, orange, red and purple label with "abc Dunhill" in between two black lines
  • White labels were used for most promotional issues.

Dunhill (ABC/Dunhill) Records artists