The Shelter label was established in the late 1960s by Leon Russell and some friends from Oklahoma, including producer Denny Cordell and well-known studio musicians Carl Radle, Don Preston, Jesse Ed Davis, and others. Russell and Cordell were the main owners of the label and ran things. In 1976, Russell and Cordell had a falling out and Cordell ended up with sole ownership of the label. Russell and his wife Mary (McCreary) started Paradise Records (distributed by Warner Bros.) with the initial Wedding Album by Leon and Mary Russell.

The Shelter label was more than a vehicle for Leon Russell records, although a large percentage of the output involved either Russell or Cordell in some way. Oklahoma legend J.J. Cale got his start with the label, as did Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Phoebe Snow, and the Dwight Twilley Band.

The first release on the Shelter label was distributed by Blue Thumb, but distribution was changed to Capitol Records during the period from 1970 to 1973. The first issue, Leon Russell [Shelter SHE- 1001] had a track called "Old Masters" which was only on the initial Blue-Thumb-distributed pressings. When Capitol took over distribution, this track was deleted. The standard CD issue these days has the song, but as a bonus track. Only the DCC gold CD has the song in its original spot in the lineup.

One of the interesting sidelights to this label concerns the original logo, with the inverted "Superman" emblem on an egg. Apparently, D.C. Comics, the owners of the Superman copyright, thought it was a bit too close for their liking, and the resulting settlement caused Shelter to place a black rubber stamped box or bar over that part of the logo, until a new logo and new label blanks could be produced. This started in 1972, and records pressed before that have the superman-egg logo without the bar, while remaining Capitol-distributed labels after mid-1972 had the bar across the logo.

After the Capitol distribution contract ran out in 1973, Shelter went to MCA for distribution. The initial offering on MCA was Mary McCreary's Butterflies Are Free, which was released on the MCA label. Later Shelter issues distributed by MCA were placed in the consolidated 2100 series. MCA distributed the label until 1975, when ABC took over distribution. This lasted until 1979, when ABC was taken over by MCA, and Shelter once again became part of the MCA distribution system. MCA issued one J.J. Cale albums on the Shelter/MCA label, then folded the artists into their Backstreet group of labels. Cale and Tom Petty continued with MCA, but there were no more "new" releases on Shelter. When Dwight Twilley went from Shelter to Arista the initial releases had the Shelter logo on the Arista label.

During each different distributorship, many of the existing albums were reissued with new numbers, consequently many of the Shelter albums were reissued 3 or more times.












The first label was red red with black print. To the left of the center hole was an egg with the inverted "Superman" logo with "SHELTER RECORDS" below the egg. For SHE-1001, at the bottom of the label is "DISTRIBUTED BY BLUE THUMB RECORDS, INC." For the Capitol-distributed issues, which used the same label, at the bottom of the label is "DISTRIBUTED BY CAPITOL RECORDS, INC." Labels for issues after mid-1972 or so had a bar across the egg logo. There were several custom labels, also, such as Leon Russell's Carney (see below) and J.J. Cale's Really. These custom labels used a new logo without the "superman" emblem, with just a shakily hand drawn "S" inside an egg-shaped oval.

When Shelter switched to MCA for distribution, a new label was designed. It was yellow-orange with bl;ack print, with the logo at the left of the center hole, and "SHELTER RECORDING COMPANY, INC." on three lines at the top. When ABC took over distribution, they initially used an orange label with orange print, with similar design to the MCA label, but with a small ABC logo at the right of the center hole. This was later changed to a red label with the Shelter logo with a saturn-typ ring around it at the top and a "man in the moon" figure along the left side of the label.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Shelter Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (all of which are out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2002, 2005, 2018 by Mike Callahan.