Brass (Label)

Brass was a record label from Kansas City, Missouri that lasted from 1961 to 1970. Primarily releasing 7-Inch singles, their catalog spanned across a variety of genres including garage rock, pop, jazz, rockabilly, surf, folk, bluegrass, psychedelic rock, rhythm and blues, and novelty. Brass was started by Geo. Hodes, Jr., owner of Prier Brass Co., which specialized in manufacturing toilet fittings. Headquarters became Hodes' trailer located in the parking lot of an industrial park by the Blue River in east Kansas City. The first single cut for Brass was an exotica / novelty single by The Crew (15) in 1961, with band members featuring two daytime lathe operators from Prier Brass. At some point, Kansas City country musician Gene McKown became associated with the label and it's believed that Brass records were distributed by Bill and Leroy Davidson's wholesale record warehouse and studio. Several of the early 7-inch releases list Brass as a division of Artel Industries, Inc., likely related to the industrial park where it was housed. The label released nearly two dozen singles over the decade and is notable for including the first recorded works of The Byrds' Gene Clark while playing with The Surfriders (5). In 1970, the label shuttered and George Hodes spent his final years building Prier Brass into the largest plumbing supply company in the Midwest. He died in 1988 at age 59.