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Now In: Home » About Rego
How Rego Irish Records came to be: The founding of the Irish Recording Industry may be single-handedly credited to Leitrim born Ellen O'Byrne-De Witt who proposed to Columbia Records that they make an authentic Irish Record. Previously all “Irish” records were made by “stage Irish”. She then arranged for Eddie Hebron and John Wheeler to record "The Stack of Barley" on September 15th 1916. She sold the record door to door in her New York City neighborhood and in the store bearing her name. In 1916 Ellen hyphenated her name and put it up over her store, something unheard of at in that era. She started an industry. Ellen passed in 1925 and soon after the O'Byrne-DeWitt family moved the business to the Irish immigration hotspot of Boston and began to release records on their own label - first called O'Byrne DeWitt, then "All Ireland Label", then in 1953 it became: COPLEY RECORDS. The greatest artists of the era recorded on Copley and became stars not only in America but back home in Ireland as well as Copley supplied record stores and Irish shops the world over. We make many of those historic recordings available to you today. In 1969 legendary Bandleader Paddy Noonan, a Copley artist himself, created REGO IRISH RECORDS in New York City. It soon became the premier Irish record label in North America. In 1984, after the passing of Justice O’Byrne-DeWitt, Rego Irish Records purchased COPLEY. Over the years the business grew to include the prestigious KELLS MUSIC label and COLLEEN RECORDS. Paddy retired from the business at the turn of the century handing on the tradition. Those labels and more, make up what has now become the Rego family of labels. Rego distributes not only its own recordings but a very comprehensive list of recordings and DVDs by other major and independent labels as well. Rego strives to deliver the finest recordings of Irish and Celtic Music to the worldwide market. In 1916, we started with Ellen’s vision of authentic music, today nearly a century later we remain loyal to that vision. And while times have changed, keep in mind we started with 78’s, then 45’s, LP’s, 8 tracks, BETA, cassettes, VHS, compact disc’s, DVD and now digital transfer, it’s all about good music. Whatever the format, you can count on us to be there, releasing and distributing the very best. We humbly ask you to help us continue a tradition started by a dynamic Irish immigrant. We honor Ellen’s vision everyday with low prices, complete inventory, and unparalleled customer service. On behalf of Ellen, her sons, Paddy and everyone over the years that has worked so hard to make us a world leader in Irish music, we thank you. |
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