About Us

I.T.P. Records
A Label History

ITP Records was formed in 1996 by Alan Beck. Realizing that record companies across the nation had ignored the majority of the top urban/R&B soul groups and individual artists who recorded between 1960 and 1984, Beck set out to change this unhealthy trend.

After establishing the Pacific Concert Group in 1992 as a company to promote R&B classic soul concerts, Beck began to meet, book and interact with many of the legendary recording artists. There was a mutual desire shared by all the artists to record new music and to see that their old music was still being released to the public. After seeing and hearing many of these acts up close on his shows, Beck realized that the majority of the artists still had their vocal skills and abilities, and in many cases sounded just as good, if not better, then they did in the 1960's and 1970's.

“There was another side of the concerts made obvious to me,” Beck remembers. “I knew that when you have 8-10,000 many people at a concert, they will want to leave with music from the artists they are seeing perform. Initially I would go out and purchase album compilations, buying music from other lables to sell at the venues. I hired Chicano artists to do T-shirts. At my shows all the fans that came up to the merchandise booths would ask, ‘do you have any new and old recordings available?’”

As a result of promoting live 'R&B Oldies concerts , Alan soon realized that this era of music was being ignored in the recording studios and many of the rare 'original musical recordings' of these 60's, 70's and even 80's artists was sitting on the shelves and in tape vaults and not being marketed directly to the public. The common songs were readily available by these artists but all of them had a “B” side catalogue that was of great interest to me and the collectors.

“It was obvious that a record label needed to be a part of my organization. Even the biggest labels were ignoring these “B” sides which I trademarked , Underground Oldies. So I started researching and started licensing masters from labels and also purchased masters from the smaller labels who saw little value of these more rare oldies. At the same time I wanted to start recording and capturing the history of the groups in the studio so I made offers to performers like Barbara Lynn ,Bloodstone, and Sly Slick and Wicked and others to start recording again!. It was important to me to own the recordings and not just license masters from existing record labels. When we recorded, we used live musicians and we tried to keep the sound true to the oldies. In addition we allowed the artists to put one or tow new tunes to test the waters.”

One of the most often questions asked of this label is what do the initials I.T.P. stand for?
Back in the day, during the 1950's and 60s musicians used to listen to music and come up with one of two conclusions. Either the music was "In The Pocket" meaning that the music sounded right, or the music was "Out Of Pocket" and the music sounded wrong. If it was "right" the session was completed and pressed to vinyl. If it was "wrong" the entire 'take' was re-recorded. This form of evaluating the quality of the music was so prevalent in the R&B world that it was the highest compliment to tell any label, producer or artist that their music was "In The Pocket.” “So, being that the goal of this label is to produce and compile only the very best sounding music, the name "In The Pocket Records" or "I.T.P. Records" was chosen,” he volunteers.

It was by popular demand that I.T.P began it's own roster of artists which today include: Bloodstone, GQ, Barbara Lynn, Sly Slick and Wicked, M.C. BLVD, The Superbs, Barbara Lewis, Gene Chandler, Barbara Mason, The Escorts, The Delegation, Garland Green, Ron Preyer of The Younghearts, Carl Carlton, Deniece Williams and many more including the very talented and young Sophia Maria. While not all of these are artists are under recording contracts with I.T.P. or have recorded full albums with I.T.P Records, all of them have been in the studio with ITP Records and have worked under the musical production team led by musical producer, Charles Crews who also serves as the musical conductor for The Pacific Concert Group for the last 16 years.

In addition to the above, ITP Records has leased and licensed rare musical tracks by such influential and historic artists as Smokey Robinson, The Manhattans, Billy Stewart, The Whispers, The Tempations, Lenny Williams, War, Eddie Holman and many more. Most of these artists appear on the exclusive I.T.P Records "Underground Oldies Series" or on other non-exclusive capacities highlighted in important I.T.P compilations. The I.T.P. label includes 'Rare and Hard to Find Soul', 'Slow Jams', 'Love Jams', 'Classic Soul' and the best in 'Cruisin Soul Oldies'.

Beck’s audio vision with his recording roster artists has integrated some extended-length versions and re-records of the original master recordings. “I would encourage the artists in the new studio sessions to try and do their hits exactly like some but also improvising in the middle. Stretching the tune out that also reflects how the song had been developed from many years on stage in front of appreciative audiences. And thankfully the collectors and the consumers have supported these titles because the vibe is sincere.

In 2006, Beck and the label will issue vintage masters of their first Spanish record by Johnny Martinez, a Salsa veteran from the 1970s. “I bought his catalog a few years back. We re-released some Spanish music by Tierra too and we just issued a Joe Bataan album called the "Message"..MC Blvd is a longtime artist on ITP, and charted with ‘I Remember You Homie.’ He’s veered into Christian Music now, and we’re putting together his first Christian music cd which will incorporate oldies, salsa, ballads and some rap. “I feel very strong about this project as it is positive and inspiring music and definitely at the beginning of a musical genre that will become very popular”
Initially the ITP record label was something for a regional market. But now the catalogue has national appeal. “The internet has played an important role for us reaching buyers world wide. And we are very diversified with our distribution.” We are also reaching the Japanese market too and will develop a full line of DVD's and live recordings. We curently have out a great 3 hour DVD called "Super Soul Legends"

Alan Beck has also established publishing divisions augmenting his recording endeavors. Hymie Gropo is the BMI publishing company, and an ASCAP affiliation, Harold Clark Music. Both companies are a nod to Beck’s favorite TV series, “Get Smart.”

You can find I.T.P. selections at Wherehouse, Musicland, Tower and other national and global outlets. You can also purchase I.T.P. product online through this website by clicking on to www.itprecords.com and click "Shop Online" on our home page or by clicking "Home" at the bottom of any page on this website. To receive a catalog of our music you can call our toll free number to 1-(877) U-BUY ITP 1-(877) 828-9487, or you can click on to the "Request A Catalog" button on the home page or at the bottom of each page on this website!

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