Founded by music lawyer Bernard Stollman, ESP-DISK opened for business in
New York City in 1966 on the 12th floor of 156 5th Avenue. During its
first 18 months, 45 albums were recorded and released, and featured
unknown artists. The only exceptions were Ornette Coleman and Paul Bley.
Both had won global recognition during the 1950's. Among the artists who
made their debuts as leaders on ESP were Gato Barbieri, Bob James, Marion
Brown, Sun Ra, Roswell Rudd, Burton Greene, Patty Waters, Henry Grimes,
Charles Tyler, Albert Ayler, Noah Howard, Sunny Murray, Milford Graves and
Frank Wright. Several of these artists were quickly sought out and
recorded by the Impulse and Columbia labels. ESP had signed no term
agreements with its artists, anticipating that this might happen, and that
the artists would then enjoy promotional support from these companies.
It was not anticipated that ESP's rock groups, the Fugs and the Pearls
Before Swine, would enjoy immediate success through word of mouth, and
appear on the pop charts. Overnight, the record industry began bootlegging
their lps, and no further orders reached ESP. The new music that was the
focus of the label was ignored in the U.S., while it was accepted in
Europe and Japan, where licensing agreements were entered into for the
catalog. ESP was out of business, for all intents and purposes, in 1968.
Stollman struggled to continue in business until 1974. Within months after
ESP settled with its creditors and closed its doors, tough new anti
bootlegging laws were enacted. The ESP tapes were stored in safe deposit
boxes, where they remained for 17 years. After 5 difficult years, Stollman
found work as a lawyer with the New York State government, and retired in
1991. A German record company, ZYX, then entered the picture, and licensed
the catalog in 1992, reissuing all 115 titles on cd. The relationship
continued for 6 years. It was followed by a brief licensing agreement with
a Dutch label, CALIBRE, and subsequently with an Italian company that has
expired.
ESP has begun to convert its catalog to surround sound dvd, utilizing a
proprietary system called SONATURE (www.sonature.com). The first titles to
become available on dvd will be Albert Ayler (Spiritual Unity, Bells,
Spirits Rejoice, and a previously unissued cd and dvd of the concert at
the Maeght Foundation), and Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds vols 1 and 2,
Nothing Is, and previously unissued material. Patty Waters and the Pearls
Before Swine (both One Nation Underground and Balaklava) will also be
converted to surround sound.
