Sussex Records operated from Hollywood, and was first distributed by Buddah Records, and then was self-distributed starting in 1974. Sussex had a wide range of artists, from the Presidents' great soul album (produced by Van McCoy) to the heavy rock of Mutzie, and to the curious Amish ("natural music" from a Galt, Ontario, Amish band).

Without a doubt, the most successful Sussex artist was West Virginian Bill Withers. After nine years in the navy (where he underwent speech therapy to overcome a stuttering problem), Withers wrote songs in his spare time while delivering milk or working for IBM or the Ford Motor Company. Eventually moving to Los Angeles in the late 1960s, he began proposing his songs to record companies. He was signed to Sussex in early 1970 by Clarence Avent, who introduced Withers to Booker T. Jones. Booker T. went on to produce Bill Withers' first album, with the M.G.'s and Stephen Stills as backing musicians. Many hits followed, of which "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean On Me" are best remembered. When Sussex folded in 1975, Withers moved to CBS, who also obtained his back catalog. Withers was also the vocalist on the 1981 top-5 smash "Just the Two of Us", by Grover Washington, Jr.

The label design stayed the same for all releases: a brown label surrounded by an orange circle, with blue, orange and green concentric circles around the center hole and "SUSSEX" written in thick orange letters just above these circles. After the Buddah distribution was discontinued, the label color changed slightly from a brown to a dark tan. During the Buddah years, the following text was written in black lettering in the form of an arc at the bottom of the label: "Sussex Record Inc. 6430 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Calif. 90028 - Dist. By Buddah Records, 1650 Broadway N.Y.C." with a small Buddah logo (i.e. the famous "Shiva" statue) in between the words "Buddah" and "Records". When the distribution deal with Buddah stopped, the text changed to "Sussex Record Inc. 6255 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90028".

All releases were stereo only. The track listing below is given in playing sequence whenever this information was available. The songs on the albums whose catalog numbers are marked with an asterisk (*) are given in alphabetical order because the exact playing order is not known to us. We would appreciate this information from anyone who has it.

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 Sussex or Buddah Records, which are currently owned by BMG Special Products. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 2000 by Mike Callahan.