Label Guide: Herald

Herald Records was founded in 1950 in New Jersey by Fred Mendelsohn, who worked as an A&R man for Savoy Records. The first releases on the label, by the likes of Little Walter and Eddie Boyd, were heavily blues-influenced and did not sell well. Mendelsohn approached Al Silver, who acquired sole ownership along with sister label Ember, and gradually shifted Herald's output to R&B and vocal groups.

Herald's commercially most successful acts were doo wop groups as The Turbans, The Nutmegs, and Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. Williams scored the biggest hit for the label with "Stay", which became the shortest record ever to top the US Billboard chart, at 1 minute 39 seconds. Herald Records lasted until 1963.

Herald Records (Gospel) was an unrelated Christian gospel label, active in the mid-1970s, and based in Johnsonville, South Carolina. The label was owned by The Herald Association.

Herald Records (UK) was another unrelated Christian music label, founded by Scottish Christian music entrepreneur Bill Hamilton in 1960 in London. This label was set up in cooperation with Livingston Recordings Ltd. (LRL), who were distributing the records. Herald Records (UK) went into liquidation in 1967.