Tetragrammaton Records was a record label, founded by artist manager Roy Silver with Bruce Post Campbell and comedian Bill Cosby in the 1960s. The name references a term for the un-nameable name of God. The label was distributed by Warner Bros. Records, whose artists included Cosby.

Tetragrammaton's biggest act was the first incarnation of the rock band Deep Purple. The label was also responsible for issuing John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Two Virgins album in the United States, after Capitol Records (who distributed Lennon's records in the US) refused to handle it, because of its nude cover photo of the pair. 8:15 12:15, a double-album of Cosby's stand-up comedy, was also issued by the label, as were two albums by comedian Murray Roman, titled You Can't Beat People Up & Have Them Say I Love You, and A Blind Man's Movie (which featured black-on-black artwork and text).

Despite having some popular artists, Tetragrammaton suffered bankruptcy in the early 1970s. Warner Bros. picked up Deep Purple for the American market, but the change in labels took a year, as the band changed personnel. (The compilation albums Purple Passages and When We Rock, We Rock feature songs first issued on Tetragrammaton.)

In the 1980s, a few reissues appeared of old Tetragrammaton albums, but these were of inferior, bootleg-record quality, pressed and released by a company who acquired the rights to the label's name.

[edit] See also

• List of record labels

[edit] External links

• Discography from BSN Pubs