So why am I interested in Artie Ripp's, short-lived, Los Angeles-based Family Productions label? True, the
label released Billy Joel's 1972 debut "Cold Spring Harbor" (though they managed to screw up the master tapes
leaving Joel sounding like a member of Alvin & the Chipmunks). However that's not the reason for my interest.
The label also interesting for released an album with an eye catching and, for the mid-1970s, extremely risque
cover - Mama Lion's "Preserve Wildlife".
Though the Lynn Carey cover would alone be a good reason to check out the Family catalog, my interest
stems from the fact Family Productions appears to have been a 'feeder' label for Morris Levy's infamous
Tiger Lily tax scam label. Family only released about 15 albums, but at least four of those titles
subsequently reappeared on the Tiger Lily imprint. There's also a James Newton Howard solo album that
was recorded for Family, but never released. The resulting tapes showed up as a Tiger Lily album -
"James Newton Howard" (catalog number TL-14026). Admittedly that's not a gigantic number, but its still
statistically significant and probably something more than a fluke. The fact that Ripp had an industry
reputation for taking advantage of acts he signed (Billly Joel was reportedly pressured into signing away all
publishing rights, copyrights, and royalties for a 15 year period), would seem to lend some degree of
credence to a backroom deal between the two parties. So why weren't all of the Family albums reissued
on Tiger Lily? This is nothing more than speculation on my part, but by the time Tiger Lily started releasing
material in the 1976-1977 timeframe, an act like Billy Joel had already become a known quantity on the
market and would have attracted way too much attention for a label like Tiger Lily which was looking to avoid
the spotlight and sales. Ditto for an act like Lynn Carey and Mama Lion, or Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.
Not top-40 superstar acts, but well known enough to undermine the tax scam concept. Also worth pointing
out is the fact there are still some major gaps in the Tiger Lily discography (15 by my count), so we don't really
known the full extent of the the Family - Tiger Lily relationship. For what it's worth, you can see the cross-label
relationships below.
Recent additions:
2011
June 30 2011 - added in-depth review of Spooner Oldham LP
April 14 2011 - added review for "Brown Dust"
2014
March 8th 2014 - added a review of "Bloody Mary"
2016
January 20th 2016 - added photo of Jim Mandell "Metamorphosis" LP
| LP cover | Artist | LP Title | Label | catalog | Year | Tiger Lily cover |
Tiger Lily title |
Tiger Lily catalog |
 |
Billy Joel | Cold Spring Harbor | Family | FPS-2700 | 1972 | none | none | none |
 |
Brown Dust | Brown Dust | Family | FPS-2701 | 1972 | none | none | none |
 |
Mama Lion | Preserve Wildlife | Family | FPS-2702 | 1972 | none | none | none |
 |
Spooner Oldham | Pot Luck | Family | FPS-2703 | 1972 | none | none | none |
 |
Velvet Turner Group | Velvet Turner Group | Family | FPS-2704 | 1972 | |
Velvet Turner Group | TL-14030 |
 |
Peter Andress | Peter Andress | Family | FPS-2705 | 1972 |  |
Peter Anders | TL-14064 |
 |
Heavy Cruiser | Heavy Cruiser | Family | FPS 2706 | 1972 | VG+ cover / VG+ LP |
$50.00 |
 |
Bloody Mary | Bloody Mary | Family | FPS-2707 | 1972 | VG+ cover / VG+ LP | none | SOLD $70.00 |
 |
Sleepy Hollow | Sleepy Hollow | Family | FPS-2708 | 1972 |  |
Billay | TL-14033 |
 |
FPS-2709 | 1972 |
 |
FPS-2710 | 1972 |
 |
Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods | Special Someone | Family | FPS- 2011 | 1973 | none | none | none |
 |
Heavy Cruiser | Lucky Dog | Family | FPS-2712 | 1973 | none | none | none |
 |
Mama Lion | Give It Everything I've Got | Family | FPS-2713 | 1973 | none | none | none |
 |
Tidbits | Welcome To Jamaica | Family | FPS-2714 | 1973 | none | none | none |
 |
Mandell, Jim | Metamor- phosis | Family | FPS-2715 | 1973 | none | none | none |