BEAR FAMILY RECORDS Bear Family Records - Bear Family Records Complete Catalog 2011

Making tracks since 1975

Dear friends,
this is the latest issue of our Complete Catalog. After 35 years in the business, I'm proud to say that we've kept more clas-sic music in print than any other independent label. Our releases run the gamut from all-time great Top 20 artists like the Beatles, Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson, Del Shannon, Nat King Cole, and Gene Vincent to less appreciated but equally important artists whose music deserves a second listen.

It has always been our goal to issue important music... whether it's country, R&B, rock'n'roll, classic pop, or even British Music Hall or Trinidadian Ca-lypso... regardless of sales potential. Sometimes, the broader market eventually catches up with us, as - for example - with bluegrass. It has also been our in-tention to give the listener as much background information as possible in a readable print size as well as rare and interesting pictures. Single CD booklets of 40 pages or more are no exception. Many of our LP-sized box sets carry up to 500-page hardcover books. Try downloading that!

We have issued a number of interesting series compiled by acknowl-edged experts, including THAT'II FLAT GIT IT (our rockabilly series compiled by Bill Millar) BLOWING THE FUSE and SWEET SOUL MUSIC (the golden age of R&B and classic soul, compiled by Dave Booth) DIM LIGHTS, THICK SMOKE AND HILLBILLY MUSIC (the country & western hit parade, compiled by Colin Escott). We have received rave reviews and countless awards.

If you take the time to go carefully through the catalog, we believe you'll find many rewarding and interesting releases. Looking back, we were the first label to issue picture CDs and combine CDs with DVDs, and while we weren't the first label to issue box sets, we're cer-tainly the label that elevated the art of the box set to its highest possible level - just look at our massive set 'Next Stop Is Vietnam'. Others have tried to follow us, but have never reached our standard.
Very best Richard Weize