Also appears as Kent Records, sometimes subtitled The Original Blues Label or The Legendary Blues Label.
Kent was launched by the Bihari brothers in Los Angeles, California in 1958 as a label for the blues musicians of their Modern Records (2) label. It released singles by famous artist like B. B. King, Elmore James und Z. Z. Hill. The mother label Modern Records (2) went bankrupt in the middle of the 1960's. Kent also released the repertoire from Crown Records (2), another sister label founded by the Bihari brothers, when Crown went down in 1969. In 1971 the releases of singles on Kent stopped. Following the creation of United Superior Records in 1969, part of the catalogue was reissued on label with two different label designs.
From 1982 on, Ace licenced and released the program of the labels, so see Kent Records for UK releases. In 1990, Ace acquired the rights and master tapes. Since December 1st, 1990, P-Vine Records has purchased the back catalogs of Kent and is managing the master recordings in the territory, which extends to East Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Australia.
LP LABEL VARIATIONS:
The light grey labels (used until the late 1960s) are sometimes slightly different from one release to the next, so please be sure to provide label images.
The second label variant was the orange and white label version (used in 1969/1970).
In 1970 the design changed to the multicolored hexagon, at first with black background (in 1970 for just a few months), then with light blue background and differences in colour display, typesetting and font.
The yellow label version belongs to the later 1970s, has a new 'kent' (lower case) logo and rim text: 'Mfd. by Cadet Records, Inc.'
There is also a spirograph label version having a 'Mfd. by Cadet Records, Inc.' text on lower rim, just as with one of the label versions of label, probably from the mid-1970s.
In the 1980s, the label layout changed again to a white label with black lettering and a blue horizontal stripe at the center hole.
For company credits, see:
Kent Records (7) (1950s / 1960s / 1970s)
Kent Records, Inc. (1980s)
Kamp Associates Inc. (1990s).
For bootlegs / counterfeits, see Kent (4).