Elektra Records was started by Jac Holzman in December, 1950, in New York City.
The original parent company for the label was the Elektra-Stratford Record Corp. Elektra initially recorded folk music, ethnic music, jazz and gospel, although it later expanded into blues, pop, and rock music.

In 1963, Jac started Nonesuch as a sub-label for inexpensive classical releases.
(Nonesuch is now an affiliated label of Warner Bros. Records under the Warner Music Group).

By the late '60s, Elektra was having success with artists like The Doors, Judy Collins, Tim Buckley and Bread. But the record business was changing and Jac knew Elektra could not survive as a small independent label. Jac talked to Warner Bros. about combining the two companies and establishing a record distribution arm. He received 10 million dollars for Elektra and agreed to remain with the company for three years.

In 1974 Elektra was merged with Asylum Records. It was later merged with Atlantic and Lava to become The Atlantic Records Group, under the larger Warner Music Group.
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Label codes: LC 00192 / LC 0192.
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US Labels:

1951 - 1956
"Scripted logo in green or brown print on a tan background"
eg Jim Fawcett – Flamenco Guitar Solos

1956 - 1960
"The "atom" logo in a large variety of colours: green, red, blue, brown and orange print, also silver print on a pink background"
eg Love Songs Of Many Lands
eg New York Jazz Quartet – New York Jazz Quartet

1960 - 1961
"Guitar player logo, in an orange circle with a bunch of golden strings on a grey background"
eg Ed McCurdy – When Dalliance Was In Flower And Maidens Lost Their Heads, Volume II

1961 - 1966
"Guitar player logo, on a gold background with teethed rim"
eg Phil Ochs – I Ain't Marching Anymore

1966 - 1969
- "Large white "E" logo with an Ⓡ on the left, over a gold background"
eg The Doors – The Soft Parade
- "Large white "E" logo without an Ⓡ on the left, over a gold background"
eg The Butterfield Blues Band* – East-West

1969 - 1970
- "Large white "E" logo, over a red background without the rim text: «elektra records - 1855 broadway - new york city»"
eg Tim Buckley – Happy Sad
- "Large white "E" logo, over a red background with the rim text: «elektra records - 1855 broadway - new york city»"
eg Crabby Appleton – Crabby Appleton

1970 - 1979
"Butterfly labels. There have been many variations of this label over the decade, most notably the inclusion of the Warner Bros. reference and 'w' logo to the bottom rim text."
eg Queen – A Night At The Opera

1979 - 1982
"The red label re-appeared in 1979, but with a small "E" logo and the usual bottom rim text, including Warner Bros. reference, that makes it easily distinguishable from the original red label at the beginning of the decade. There have been many variations of this label over the decade, most notably the inclusion of the Warner Bros. reference and "W" logo to the bottom rim text."
eg Hank Williams Jr. – The New South

Through the 80's
- "Red / black labels all over"
eg Dokken – Tooth And Nail
- "Small red / black labels over white backround"
eg Doors* – Alive, She Cried
- "Small red / black labels over light blue-grey backround and white fight logo"
eg Simply Red – Men And Women

* The LP label changes were more consistent than the 45's, which didn't line up for quite a few years, leftover labels from previous designs sometimes used long after the new ones.