Colonial

Colonial Records was a Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based record label that provided the springboard for artists Andy Griffith, George Hamilton IV, John D. Loudermilk, and Billy "Crash" Craddock. Origin Colonial Records was a record label founded in 1948 by Orville Campbell, a journalist and newspaper publisher in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Its first release was "All The Way Choo Choo," by the Bell Tones, which Campbell composed with partner Hank Beebe in 1949, about UNC football star Charlie Justice. A recording of the song by bandleader Johnny Long was released on King Records and sold well regionally. Benny Goodman recorded the song for Capitol Records but it was not released. Colonial's second release was another Campbell-Beebe composition, “Way Up In North Carolina,” also performed by the Bell Tones. The record caught the attention of bandleader Fred Waring, who performed it on his musical variety television program in 1951. "What It Was, Was Football" In the fall of 1953, a young monologist named Andy Griffith recorded a routine in the role of a naïve country preacher who describes his experience attending a college football game, which is entirely puzzling to him. He sent the recording to Colonial Records. “What It Was, Was Football” became the label's third release in November that year. Colonial sold nearly 50,000 copies regionally. Capitol Records publicity man Richard Linke heard the record on a distant radio station and flew from New York City to North Carolina to buy the masters. The record became a huge success in the comedy record market, selling some 800,000 copies, and reaching number 9 on the pop music charts.