Editing Fraternity Records (section)

{{Short description|American record label based in Cincinnati}}
{{redirect|Fraternity Record|the [[2 Live Crew]] song|Fraternity Record (song)}}

'''Fraternity Records''' is a small [[record label]] based in [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]]. It was started by Harry Carlson and silent partner Dr. Ashton Welsh in 1954. The first recording to be released on Fraternity was [[Jerri Winters]]' "Winter's Here".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/fraternity.html |title=Fraternity Album Discography |access-date=2004-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040406232926/http://www.bsnpubs.com/fraternity.html |archive-date=2004-04-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The first hit was [[Cathy Carr (singer)|Cathy Carr]]'s rendition of a [[Tin Pan Alley]] song, "[[Ivory Tower (1956 song)|Ivory Tower]]" in 1956. It made #2, besting a cover version by [[Otis Williams and the Charms|Otis Williams & the Charms]].
A year later came the [[Jimmy Dorsey]] #2 charting instrumental "[[So Rare]]", the famous bandleader's final hit before his death.
1959 saw another big hit, Bill Parsons' "[[The All American Boy]]", which also peaked at #2 on the ''Billboard'' pop charts.<ref name=pc7>{{Gilliland |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19754/m1/ |title=Show 7 - The All American Boy: Enter Elvis and the rock-a-billies. [Part 1] }}</ref>  Parsons was a friend of country singer [[Bobby Bare]] and it was actually Bare's voice heard on the hit record.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fdvoZRLEs7EC&pg=PA111 |title=Rockabilly: A Forty-Year Journey - Billy Poore - Google Books |isbn=9780793591428 |accessdate=2013-06-18|last1=Poore |first1=Billy |year=1998 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation }}</ref> Parsons sang on the B-side.
Fraternity also leased songs from smaller labels, including one track by Jackie Shannon (later [[Jackie DeShannon]]).

Fraternity's biggest-selling hit was [[Lonnie Mack]]'s 1963 guitar instrumental cover of the [[Chuck Berry]] song "[[Memphis, Tennessee (song)|Memphis]]", which rose to #5 on ''Billboard''′s Pop chart and #4 on ''Billboard''′s R&B chart.

The final national Top 40 hit for the label was "[[Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye]]" by [[The Casinos]], which reached #6 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart in 1967.

Shad O'Shea purchased the company from Carlson in 1975.

Applegate Recording Society was also a subsidiary label of Fraternity.

UK reissue label [[Ace Records (United Kingdom)|Ace Records Ltd.]] currently makes a large handful of Fraternity recordings available on compact disc albums and digital downloads, including the original big hits mentioned here.