Tetragrammaton Album Discography
By Mike Callahan, Patrice Eyries and Dave Edwards
Last update: August 11, 2024





Tetragrammaton Records was a division of the Campbell, Silver, Cosby (CSC) Corporation, a Los Angeles based production company that produced films as well as records. The partners in the corporation were Bruce Post Campbell, Roy Silver, and Bill Cosby. Cosby, of course, is the famous comedian/actor. At the beginning, Tetragrammaton Records was located at 359 Canon Drive in Beverly Hills, California. The word "Tetragrammaton" (capitalized) means — according to The American College Dictionary — the Hebrew word written J H V H (or variations) representing, without vowels, the ineffable name of God, pronounced in Hebrew as "Adonai" and commonly transliterated in English as "Jehovah."

CSC was behind the production of Bill Cosby's television specials, the cartoon special and series on Fat Albert, and several motion pictures. They produced the 1968 anti-war animated film short "The Door," for example, as well as "Johnny Got His Gun" in 1971. Tetragrammaton was undoubtedly a side project for this group, as none of them were primarily "record men." Roy Silver was a manager of groups. Campbell was in film making. Although Cosby had made many recordings by the time Tetragrammaton was founded in 1968, his main interests were in other forms of artistic expression. The day-to-day running of the label was done by label President Artie Mogull, who was a record man, having worked for several labels before 1968 and signed a number of big names. Strangely, there didn't seem to be a consistent core of record producers at the label (David Briggs was apparently one), as each album seems to be produced by whomever was with the artist at the time.

Deep Purple, 1968 (l to r):
Top: Simper, Lord, Blackmore; Bottom: Evans, Paice. Tetragrammaton was fairly active for the last half of 1968 and the first half of 1969. One of their greatest successes was that they introduced the world to the heavy rock band Deep Purple. The label issued four albums by the group, which at that time consisted of Rod Evans (lead vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (lead guitar), Jon Lord (keyboard), Nic Simper (bass), and Ian Pace (drums). The first album, Shades of Deep Purple [Tetragrammaton T-102], contained the top-5 hit "Hush" [Tetragrammaton 1503], from the summer of 1968. By November of that year, their followup single, a hard rock version of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman" [Tetragrammaton 1508], was issued from their second album, Shades of Taliesyn [Tetragrammaton T-107]. This single barely scraped into the top-40 at #38. A second single from the album, the Phil Spector song "River Deep-Mountain High" [Tetragrammaton 1514], was issued early in 1969, but it reached only #53. Two more singles didn't manage to make even the top-100, as "Emmaretta" [Tetragrammaton 1519, 3/69, backed with "Bird Has Flown" from their third album] stalled at #128 while "Hallelujah (I Am the Preacher)" [Tetragrammaton 1537, 8/69, also backed by a song from their third album, "April"] made only #108. The orchestration employed in the 12-plus minute version of "April" on their third album actually telegraphed the "rock group and orchestra" concept of their fourth album.

But in truth, Deep Purple was hardly a singles band, anyway. Their albums made #24, #54, and #162 on the album charts. The huge success of "Smoke on the Water" (after some major personnel changes) was still several years away. Even with that huge single hit, the group has always done better selling albums. A planned single, "Black Night," got lost in the company's folding, and was issued in 1970 as Warner Brothers 7405.

Two Virgins Tetragrammaton also gave us the controversial John Lennon album with the formal title Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, usually referred to as just Two Virgins. When Lennon approached Capitol Records with his new album, complete with his own cover art consisting of time delay photos taken by the couple of themselves in the nude, Capitol flatly rejected it (after hearing it, I don't think the cover was the whole problem here). It was finally released as an Apple/Tetragrammaton collaboration, with the cover "covered" with a brown paper sleeve that just showed the couple's faces through a cutout hole. Whether this was consciously done to liken the cover to looking through a keyhole is unknown, but suffice it to say that most of the sales were in response to the salacious rumors about the cover and not the music inside. Once the brown paper bag was removed, one was left with a disappointing nude photo of what John Lennon described as "two slightly overweight ex-junkies" and an album whose content is, well... what we actually have here is about a half hour of noise, or I should say noises, of various sorts. At about 10 minutes in, we hear a sound not unlike someone heaving, and rightly so. The album is a historical footnote today mostly because of the clash between the nudity and the then-current obscenity laws. By today's standards, the photos are forgettable and the "music" unlistenable. As Bob Dylan once said, "when there's too much of nothin', nobody should look."

The Kingston Trio on stage. Tetragrammaton produced several other interesting albums, including a wonderful 2-LP live set by the Kingston Trio, recorded in 1966 in their prime at the Sahara-Tahoe Hotel on the south shore of Lake Tahoe (and finally reissued on CD in 2008). In addition to the good musical representation of their live show, the album has many historical photos and liner notes that detail the history of the group. The album was put together and produced by George Yanok and their long time manager, Frank Werber. The liner notes were written by San Francisco Chronicle entertainment columnist John L. Wasserman (a friend of Frank Werber) under his frequently used pseudonym Joaquin Bandersnatch. In any case, it was a good package and the Nick-Bob-John Trio's last "new" album.

Tetragrammaton abruptly folded when they ran out of money. Warner Brothers (the company Bill Cosby had recorded for in the past) bought or leased some of the masters, e.g., Deep Purple, whose later output, as well as the release of "Black Night" and the reissue of the Concerto album, came out on that label. Another label, Creative Sounds, Ltd., (and their sub-label Rock Classics) reissued many Tetragrammaton albums (including the Deep Purple LPs) on vinyl and CD in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but not from master tapes. Their CD reissues were loaded with vinyl surface noise and the vinyl reissues were noisy right out of the shrink wrap. Although the Creative Sounds issues claimed license from Tetragrammaton, it is not clear what the relationship was of Creative Sounds and Tetragrammaton, since obviously master tapes were not involved in that relationship.

Tetragrammaton's catalog featured an inordinately high number of unreleased albums and/or unused catalog numbers. Tetragrammaton had a relatively small cadre of artists, and some of the unused numbers (like the Greasepaint Smile album by Elyse Weinberg) were probably planned for second or third albums by artists who already had album releases. Others of the missing numbers were probably planned albums for other artists signed to the label. Surprisingly, there were only five artists who had singles released on the label and no known albums. These were the Incredibles, Flora Purim, the Cups, Captain Milk, and George Soule. Captain Milk was definitely one of the artists who had an album scheduled (probably another of the missing numbers in the high 120s), as we received the following e-mail from Lee Hazen:

"I found your site on Tetragrammaton records most interesting. I am a retired studio mixing engineer having worked in the Nashville music community since March, 1968. One of the Tetragrammaton artists, Edwin Hubbard (Captain Milk) did a project with me at Woodland Sound Studios in 1969. A single was released from the project: "Hey Jude"/"The Impossible Dream" [Tetragrammaton T-1542]. Ernie Winfrey and I were the engineers who recorded the album project. I had a 7.5 ips 2 track stereo copy of the master tape and it was lost. The album was apparently never released by the label. David Briggs was one of the musicians on the album along with Kenney Buttrey (deceased), Charlie McCoy, Norbert Putnam, Bobby Thompson (deceased), Wayne Moss, Weldon Myric and others who eventually became the group Area Code 615. Area Code 615's album concept came from the Edwin Hubbard project - minus the flute."

The Tetragrammaton label remained the same design throughout their relatively short lifetime: silver with black print, with a blue logo at the top. Around the bottom edge of all labels, regardless of issue date, it read, "© 1968 TETRAGRAMMATON RECORDS (A DIVISION OF THE CAMPBELL, SILVER, COSBY CORPORATION) MADE IN U.S.A." The copyright date was for the design of the label and had nothing to do with album issue dates (some of which, however, incidentally coincided).


The Tetragrammaton label (far left) was silver with black print. The blue logo was at the top of the label. The promotional labels (near left) were white with a blue logo at the top. To the right of the logo, it read, "PROMOTIONAL COPY/NOT FOR SALE". This promo notation is also known to have been placed at other locations on the label, such as the bottom in the mono example below.
Promotional copies are also known with a silver label, At far left, a mono promotional copy, whose label was the normal silver color. At least some of the early Tetragrammaton issues had mono counterparts issued to mono radio stations. These mono copies were not known to have been issued commercially and had a separate series, the M-2100 series, with last three digits corresponding to the usual T-100 stereo series. The label on promo copies sometimes read "Promotion Copy" (rather than "Promotional Copy") as shown in the example at near left.


We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Tetragrammaton Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and Follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2007 by Mike Callahan.



TETRAGRAMMATON ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY

Number - Title - Artist [Release Date] (Chart) Contents



Tetragrammaton T-100 series:

T-101 - You Can't Beat People Up and Have Them Say I Love You - Murray Roman [1968] Comedy. Three Kinds Of Highs/That's A Bust/The Banana Thing/Anything You Want To Do/Good Chicks And Bad Chicks/Three Ways To Score/The Baja Marimba Band Story//The Riots/Be There, Be There (Of Course)/Horror Films/Twiggy/Try This Little Joe!/Good News/Join The Navy/War Films/Our Real Enemy

T-102 - Shades of Deep Purple - Deep Purple [7/68] (9-68, #24) Produced by Derek Lawrence. And The Address/Hush/One More Rainy Day/Prelude: Happiness-I'm So Glad//Mandrake Root/Help/Love Help Me/Hey Joe

T-103 - The Thorn in Mrs. Rose's Side - Biff Rose [1968] (2-69, #75) Produced by Art Podell and Nick Woods. Recorded in what the album terms "natural stereo", which they suggest "was designed to create the illusion of being present at a live performance. We recommend that you adjust your stereo balance control until Biff appears stage center." What does all this mean? It means almost all of the album is in normal stereo, but "Paradise Almost Lost" has essentially no separation (it's just Biff and his piano, anyway). Mama's Boy/Angel Tension/Fill Your Heart/Paradise Almost Lost (Poem)/Molly//The Stars/It's Happening/What's Gnawing At Me/Buzz The Fuzz/Gentle People/The Man

T-104 - Ivory - Ivory [1968] Produced by Al Schmitt. Fuzz/psychedelic rock band with female vocals by Chris Christman. Reissued on CD in 2002 as Gear Fab 102. Silver Rains/Free And Easy/Losin' Hold/Laugh/A Thought//I, Of The Garden/All In My Mind/A Light/Last Laugh/Grey November

T-105 - Let Me Show You the Way - Bobby Paris [1968] Out of Key/I'm So Lonely/Per-son-nal-ly/No No No Girl/I'm That Kind Of Man/Going Out The Way I Came In//The Cycle: Interlude: The Beginning/Let Me Show You The Way/Interlude: The Love/You/Interlude: The End?/Please Mr. Sun/Interlude: The Hurt/Tragedy/Interlude: The Realization/Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying/Interlude: The New Beginning/Bye Bye Blackbird

T-106 - Together Again for the First Time - Carol Burnett & Martha Raye [1968] Vocal duets. Together Again, For the First Time!/Those Were the Days/Flings/I've Gotta Be Me/Let Go//A Big Beautiful Ball/This Girl's in Love With You/Watch What Happens/Little Lady Make-Believe/Baby Dream Your Dream/Whatever Happened

T-107 - The Book of Taliesyn - Deep Purple [11/68] (1-69, #54) Produced by Derek Lawrence. Taliesyn was King Arthur's bard. Listen, Learn, Read On/Hard Road [later retitled "Wring That Neck"]/Kentucky Woman (4:43 LP length)/Exposition-We Can Work It Out//The Shield/Anthem/River Deep, Mountain (10:05 LP length) High

T-108 -

T-109 -

T-110 - Both Sides Now - Johnstons [1968] Irish folk group. The Johnstons were Adrienne and Luci Johnston with Paul Brady and Mick Moloney. The Wherefore And The Why/Sweet Thames Flow Softly/Walking Out On Foggy Mornings/Give A Damn/I Loved/I Don't Mind The Rain On Monday//You Keep Going Your Way/Amsterdam/Funny In A Sad, Sad Way/Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye/Both Sides Now/My House

T-111 - Re-Light My Fire - Rhetta Hughes [1969] Baby I Need Your Loving/Hip Old Lady On A Honda/Walk On By/Light My Fire/His Happiness/Cry Myself To Sleep//Sooky/Giving Up My Heartaches/Gimme Some Of Yours/You're Doing It With Her/I Can't Stand Under This Pressure

T-112 - Sweet Thursday - Sweet Thursday [1969] (Reissue on Great Western 32039 charted #214 in 7/73.) The group was Nicky Hopkins, Alun Davies, and Jon Mark, along with bassist Brian Odgers and drummer Harvey Burns. Dealer/Jenny/Laughed At Him/Cobwebs/Rescue Me//Molly/Sweet Francesca/Side Of The Road/Gilbert Street

T-113 - Tom Ghent - Tom Ghent [1969] Merri Go Round/Cause I Love You Gal/Maryanne/Turn Around/Pack My Things//Corrine/Sour Grapes/Singin' The Same Song/Cinderella/Do Your Thing

T-114 - Summerhill - Summerhill [1968] Soft Voice/Friday Morning's Paper/Bring Me Around/The Last Day/Follow Us//The Bird/My Way (Hard For You)/What Can I Say/It's Gonna Rain/Summer Days

T-115

T-116 - Children of Light - Biff Rose [1969] (7-69, #181) Ain't No Great Day/Communist Sympathizer/Evolution/Just Like A Man/American Waltz/Son In Moon//Children Of Light/Ballad Of Cliches/To Baby/Color Blind Blues/Spaced Out-I've Got You Covered

T-117 - Elyse - Elyse Weinberg [6/1/69] Folk singer from Toronto. Band Of Theives/Last Ditch Protocol/Oh, Deed I Do/Iron Works/Spirit Of The Letter/Here In My Heart//Sweet, Pounding Rhythm/Meet Me At The Station/Simpleminded Harlequin/Painted Raven/Mortuary Bound/If Death Don't Overtake Me

T-118 - Departure - Pat Boone [1969] Produced by Jerry Yester and Zal Yanovsky. What's Gnawing At Me/July You're A Woman/Within My Own Time/Song Of The Siren/Molly/Never Goin' Back//Long Distance/No Playing In The Snow Today/I've Got A Secret/Bad News/Break My Mind/Friends


T-119 - Deep Purple - Deep Purple [6/69] (7-69, #162) Produced by Derek Lawrence. Unipak gatefold cover. Cover features a reproduction of a fragment of the Heironymus Bosch painting "Garden of Earthly Delights" which caused this album to lose some sales due to refusal to stock it by some dealers. The song "Why Didn't Rosemary?" is a reference to the then-popular movie Rosemary's Baby. The lyric slyly suggests, "Why didn't Rosemary ever take the pill?" Chasing Shadows/Blind/Laleña/Fault Line/The Painter//Why Didn't Rosemary?/Bird Has Flown/April (12:20)

T-120 - Blind Man's Movie - Murray Roman [1969] Comedy. Cover is completely black, both front and back, including a completely black gatefold cover. What words there are on the cover are black-on-black. Chicks/Snow White/The War/Ralph/Transplants/Cuba/Black People//Black Sambo Pancakes/Strip Bust/Fuzz/Theology

T-121

T-122

T-123 - The Mother of Us All - Steve Baron Quartet [1969] Bertha Was The Mother Of Us All/Don't You Hate The Feeling/I Sang About My Lady/In The Middle/Lonely River//Goodbye Road/Mr. Green/Love Me Laura/God Never Lived For Me/Shadow Man

T-124 - Hello Love [aka Gene and Francesca] - Gene & Francesca [1969] Front cover does not show the title "Hello Love", which is listed on the label. Hello Love/Other Birthdays, Other Years/Wait For Me/Angola Railroad/Woman's Mind (No Man Will Fathom)//Those Were The Days/Come Let Me Hold Your Hand/Dandelion Wine/$47.50 (For The Air-O-Plane)/On My Own

T-125 - Joshua Fox - Joshua Fox [1969] Young Man (From Transfiguration Of Hiram Brown Suite)/It's Just Meant To Be/Goin' Down For Big Numbers/Come What May/We're All In It Together/How I Managed To Stay Off The Truck And And Find Comfort In My Insanity/Monkey Song #1//Don't Tell Me A Story/Billy Goat Capricorn Lover/Anne/Are You Sleeping/Moontime Bore (She Said)

T-126

T-127

T-128 - Greasepaint Smile - Elyse Weinberg [1969, unissued] This was being mixed in August, 1969, in San Francisco. It was not released, but test pressings were made. David Briggs produced it, and Neil Young's guitar is prominently heard on "City of the Angels" and "Houses." This is the record that led to Briggs producing Neil Young from his second album forward. This album was finally released in 2015 on Numerophon 44008. What You Call It/City Of The Angels/Houses/It's Alright To Linger/Collection Bureau//Gospel Ship/Nicodemus/My My My/Your Place Or Mine/Grease Paint Smile

T-129

T-130

T-131 - Concerto for Group and Orchestra - Deep Purple [1969] Reissued in early 1970 as Warner Brothers WS 1860. First Movement: Moderato-Allegro/Second Movement: Andante (Part 1)//Second Movement: Andante (Conclusion)/Third Movement: Vivace-Presto



Tetragrammaton T-5000 series:

T-5000 - The Girl on a Motorcycle (Soundtrack) - Douglas Gamley & British Lion Orchestra [1969] Girl On A Motorcycle/Dream/Holiday With Raymond/Daniel/Souvenirs Of Raymond (Souvenirs Of Stefan)/Surrender To A Stranger//Take Me To My Lover/Dawn Idyll/Journey Of Love/Big Bare Beat/The Summer House/Don't Ask Me

Apple/Tetragrammaton T-5001 - Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins - John Lennon & Yoko Ono [11/68] (2-69, #124) Produced by John Lennon. Original cover had a brown paper sleeve that covered the record jacket, which featured full nude pictures of the couple on/from the front and back. The music consists of tape loops and other avant garde experimentation. Original LP copies such as shown at left opened at the side, while counterfeits have been known to open at the top, as shown at right. Reissued on CD in 1991 on Rock Classics SSI 9999. Two Virgins No. 1/Together/Two Virgins No. 2/Two Virgins No. 3/Two Virgins No. 4/Two Virgins No. 5//Two Virgins No. 6/Hushabye Hushabye/Two Virgins No. 7/Two Virgins No. 8/Two Virgins No. 9/Two Virgins No. 10

T-5002 - Quatrain - Quatrain [1969] Gatefold cover. Los Angeles group featuring Don Senneville (lead guitar), Rick Pease (rhythm guitar), Steve "Buff" Lindsay (bass), and Jim Lekas (drums and primary songwriter for the group). Fragments/Unconquered Islands/Flowing Robes/Fields Of Love/Canyon Woman/Rollin'//Black Lily/Early Morning Company/Ask Me No Questions/Try To Live Again/Masquerade/The Tree

T-5003 - Mark Slade's New Hat - Mark Slade [1968] Mrs. Beardsley Smith/Cumberland County Jail/A World Where I Can Love You/Skip A Rope/Misty Night/Theme From Blue//Don't Walk In My Footsteps/Are They Gonna Shoot God?/Roots/How Can She Still Go On Sleeping/A Dream/High

T-5004 -

T-5005 -

T-5006 - Ché! (Soundtrack) - Lalo Schifrin [1969] Contributing artists include Mongo Santamaria and Tommy Tedesco. Emboscada/Charangos/Ché (Solo Guitar Version)/Ché (Orchestra Version)/Recuerdos (aka Agnus Dei)/La Columna (aka Theme From Ché)/La Ruta/La Barraca/Anita/Fiesta Numero Dos/Fiesta Numero Uno/Tiempo Pasado

T-5007 - The Chairman (Soundtrack) - Jerry Goldsmith [1969] Main Title/Goodbye for Now/The Fence/The Tour/Soong Chu/Fire Fight//The World That Only Lovers See (Love Theme From "The Chairman")/The Red Guard/Hathaway's Farewell/A Late Visitor/Escape/End Title



Tetragrammaton TD-5100 (Double-LP) series:

TD-5100 - 8:15 12:15 - Bill Cosby [1969] (7-69, #62) (2-LP set) Gatefold cover. Times are the shows where the album was recorded, at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. 8:15, Part 1//8:15, Part 2//12:15, Part 1//12:15, Part 2

TD-5101 - Once Upon a Time - Kingston Trio [1969] (7-69, #163) (2-LP set) Produced by Frank Werber. Gatefold cover with an extra page of liner notes glued inside. Recorded live in 1966 at the Sahara-Tahoe Hotel in Las Vegas. Disc 1 (Side 1/Side 4): Hard Travelin'/Early Mornin' Rain/The M.T.A. (The Boston Subway Song)/Tomorrow Is A Long Time/Rovin' Gambler-This Train//Tijuana Jail/Silicone Bust/I'm Going Home/Where Have All The Flowers Gone/Scotch And Soda/Blind Date/When The Saints Go Marching In; Disc 2 (Side 2/Side 3): Police Brutality/One Too Many Mornings/Colours/A Day In Our Room/Wimoweh/Tom Dooley/Goodnight Irene//Hard, Ain't It Hard/Getaway John/The Ballad Of The Shape Of Things /Greenback Dollar/Babe, You've Been On My Mind (Mama, You Been On My Mind)



Tetragrammaton TDL-5200 (Box Set) Series:

TDL-5200 - The Great White Hope (Original Cast) - Charles Gross & Cast [1969] 3-LP Box set with 36-page libretto. Cast includes James Earl Jones, Jane Alexander, Lou Gilbert, Jon Cypher, Jerry Laws, George Ebeling, Peter Masterson, Marlene Warfield, Hilda Haynes, Eugene R. Wood, and a Broadway cast of 60. Time: The years preceding the First World War. Act I: Scene 1 - Parchment, Ohio: Brady's Farm/Scene 2 - San Francisco: A Small Gym/Scene 3 - Reno: Outside the Arena (Cap'n Dan)/Scene 4 - Chicago: A Street/Scene 5 - Chicago: The District Attorney's Office/Scene 6 - Beau Rivage, Wisconsin: A Cabin (Scipio)/Scene 7 - Chicago: Mrs. Jefferson's House; Act II: Scene 1 - London: A Chamber In The Home Office/Scene 2 - LeHavre: A Customs Shed/Scene 3 - Paris: Vel d'Hiver Arena/Scene 4 - New York: Pop Weaver's Office/Scene 5 - Berlin: A Sidewalk Cafe/Scene 6 - Budapest: Cabaret Ragosy (Mrs. Bachman)/Scene 7 - Belgrade: Railway Station; Act III: Scene 1 - Chicago: A Street/Scene 2 - New York: Pop Weaver's Office (Clara)/Scene 3 - Juarez: A Disused Barn (Cap'n Dan)/Scene 4 - United States: A Street/Scene 5 - Havana: Oriente Racetrack




Thanks to Steve Espinola, Harry Young, Gerry Ross, Jim Dunbar, Lee Hazen, Dick Rosemont, SB, and Ernie Mabrey.



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