Appears mostly as "Rebel" only.
US label and record company. The Rebel story began in 1960 when a trio of bluegrass aficionados from the suburbs of Washington, DC, hatched a plan to launch a record label.
In short order, Charles R. “Dick” Freeland emerged as the primary force that would shepherd it the next two decades.
By 1979, despite the success of the label, Dick Freeland was ready to opt out.
He found a willing buyer in Roanoke, Virginia-based Dave Freeman, the owner of County Records
and the County Sales mail order outlet [said retail business closed in January 2018, but reopened in September under a new owner - Dylan Lock]
In recent years, Rebel has appealed to some of the big box retailers with several low priced CD series.
The 7500 line was started in 2000 and to date contains over 30 titles, each of which is geared to an individual artist.
The 8000 series, which was launched in 2006, contains various artists thematic collections such as True Bluegrass Essentials and True Bluegrass Gospel.
With over fifty years in the business of selling bluegrass and old-time music, Dave Freeman has ceded the day-to-day operations of Rebel to his son, Mark Freeman.
Label/Sleeve History and Timeline:
1960-1972 - "Rebel Flags" label . This label occurred both in red and blue (Example: The Country Gentlemen - Blue Bell) and monochrome blue (Example: Various - 70 Song Original Bluegrass Collection varieties. It is unclear if the monochrome blue label was for represses, or otherwise used for any other particular reason. Both appear to have been used interchangeably during at least 1965-1972. The first LP on the label was The Country Gentlemen - Bringing Mary Home(1966; RLP-1478; 1966). All LPs through Curly Ray Cline - They Cut Down The Old Pine Tree (SLP-1509; 1971) were originally pressed on the Rebel Flags label.
1972-1975 - Maroon and Teal label and Mt. Rainier, MD address on label and sleeve. From 1972-1976 Rebel Records used a maroon and teal label (Ex: The Seldom Scene - Last Train From Poor Valley), Above the album title, the label has a "Mt. Rainier, MD" address. This label began with Cliff Waldron And The New Shades Of Grass - One More Step With Cliff Waldron & The New Shades Of Grass (SP-1510; 1972). This was the Rebel Records label/sleeve and all LPs between SLP-1510 and Roy McMillan (2) And The High Country Boys - Time To Think (SLP-1540; 1975) were originally pressed with this label/sleeve combo.
In 1974 Dick Freeland moved the label from Mt. Rainier to Asbury, WV. ( https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/17 )
1975-1976 - Maroon and Teal label with Mt. Rainier, MD address on label and Asbury, WV address on sleeve. During 1975 and into 1976 the Maroon Labels with a Mt. Rainier address continued to be used, but the rear sleeves now state "For A Free Complete Catalogue Wrote Rebel Recording Co., Asbury West Virginia 24916". Above the album title, the label has a "Mt. Rainier, MD" address. Example: Ralph Stanley - Let Me Rest On A Peaceful Mountain (Hills Of Home). This combination began with The Marshall Family - Come Springtime (SLP-1541; 1975) and continued through Buck Ryan - Draggin' The Bow (SLP1552; 1976). There were also represses of earlier titles with this release/label combination from this era (Example: The Seldom Scene - Act 1).
1976: Maroon and Teal label with Asbury, WV on both label and rear sleeve. For a period during 1976 the labels were now also updated to reflect the Asbury, WV address. This combination began with The Marshall Family - Requests (SLP-1553; 1976) and continued through The Goins Brothers - On The Way Home (SLP1557; 1976). There were also represses of earlier titles with this release/label combination from this era (Example: The Seldom Scene - Act Two).
1976-1980* - "Banjo Player" label. In late 1976 Rebel Records switched to the Banjo Player label - on a grey label with blue text (Example: ). This label began being used with Cliff Waldron - Gospel (SLP-1558; 1976) and continued through The Goins Brothers - Wandering Soul (SLP-1586; 1980). It should be noted that the label detail on SLP-1586 indicates it was mastered in 1978 - "82178" and thus it was probably pressed shortly thereafter but not released until after the sale of the label by Dick Freeland in 1979.
*- there were no new releases on Rebel during 1979 and it is unclear if any repress were done during this time either until the purchase of the label and a new label which appeared in 1980.
Dick Freeland sold Rebel to David Freeman in 1979.
1980-1989 - Red/Orange/Blue. Following sale, new issues and reissues on label (except SLP-1586 which was probably old stock as noted above) were on a blue label with "Rebel" in Red/Orange text. (Example: Larry Rice - Hurricanes And Daydreams) this label was used for new releases beginning with Larry Sparks - John Deere Tractor (SLP-1587; 1980) through Belinda Carlisle - Runaway Horses (REB-1680; 1989) - which appears to be the last vinyl release until 2022/23.
Other Label and Catalogue notes:
From 1966-1980, ie. the Rebel Flag, Maroon/Teal, and Banjo Player Labels, under the catalogue number of the release there are numbers indicating a date, which appears to be the date(s) the material was mastered for vinyl pressing. See for example The Seldom Scene - Act Two with "122272" on Side 1 and "122372" for]. This is consistent on releases where Rebel is reissuing previously released material such as Tony Rice - Guitar, which was originally released in 1974 on a different label, but was reissued by Rebel in 1978 and where the label state "62578" and "62678".
For company credits, see Rebel Recording Co. / Rebel Recording Co., Inc..
The first two LPs released used "RLP" as a suffix. RLP-1478 and RLP-1479. Beginning with SLP-1480, "SLP" was the prefix for releases until SLP-1587 (but also SLP-1590) when after the sale in 1979 the catalogue number prefixes changed to "Rebel" or "REB" . Reissues of earlier titles varied on whether the original "SLP" prefix was used on the sleeve and on the label. See for example Ralph Stanley And The Clinch Mountain Boys - Clinch Mountain Gospel, The Seldom Scene - Old Train, and Tony Rice - Guitar
