Park Foundation Music App

Home > Labels

Canaan Records

Profile

[b]Canaan Records[/b] was a Southern Gospel label, mainly active from the mid 1960's through 1980's and based in Waco, Texas. [b]Canaan Records[/b] was established in 1964 by [l=Word, Inc.] executive [a=Marvin Norcross] as the Southern Gospel subsidiary for [l=Word, Inc.]. For the rest of the 1960s and 1970s, the names Canaan Records and [a=Marvin Norcross] were synonymous. An LP titled Wonderful Time Up There by [a=Plainsmen Quartet] marked the beginning of the label in 1965. A CD/cassette titled Thanks by [a=The Nelons] released in 1987 was, for a number of years, the final Canaan Records recording. Some of the other artists who appeared on the historic Canaan label from 1965 to 1987 include [a=The Blue Ridge Quartet], [a=Wendy Bagwell], [a=The Florida Boys], [a=The Happy Goodmans] and [a=The Inspirations (2)]. Aside from one [a=The Cathedrals] recording (A Reunion) issued in 1995, the label name lay dormant for the next 20 years. In April 2007, [l=Word] announced the revival of the Canaan label. The first release on the revived Canaan label came the following fall, a re-issue of a 2006 independent Hoppers release titled The Ride. In 2009 [l=Word] closed the doors on Canaan Records; Word continues to release "The Canaan Vault" collection on iTunes; remastered past recordings from the 1960s, '70s and '80s strictly for digital download.