What is Asylum Records?
'''Asylum Records''' is an American [[record label]], owned by [[Warner Music Group]]. After several incarnations, today it is primarily oriented towards [[Hip hop music|hip-hop]], [[alternative metal]] and [[Rock music|rock]]. ==Company history== ===Formation=== Asylum was founded in 1971 by [[David Geffen]] and his partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked an agent at the [[William Morris Agency]] and operated a [[folk music|folk]]/[[rock music|rock]] label. They founded their own management company, and when Geffen was unable to secure a recording contract for [[Jackson Browne]], one of his clients at the time, Geffen and Roberts founded Asylum specifically to sign Browne. Asylum's first releases were distributed by [[Atlantic Records]]. The same year, Asylum signed [[J. D. Souther|John David Souther]], [[Judee Sill]], [[Linda Ronstadt]], [[Joni Mitchell]] and [[Glenn Frey]] (who Geffen encouraged to form [[The Eagles]], with [[Don Henley]], [[Bernie Leadon]], and [[Randy Meisner]].) In 1972, then-folk singer-songwriter [[Tom Waits]] signed with the label and released his debut, ''[[Closing Time]]'', in 1973. His fifth and final album for the label, ''[[Heartattack and Vine]]'', was released in 1980. Asylum's crowning achievement was to sign [[Bob Dylan]], who had been with [[Columbia Records]] since the early 1960s but, after a falling out with the company, was looking for a new label. Dylan recorded two albums, ''[[Planet Waves]]'' and the live ''[[Before the Flood]]'' for Asylum before returning to Columbia. Columbia reissued Dylan's two Asylum albums in 1981. ===Warner takeover and Elektra merger=== In 1972 Asylum was taken over by the then-Warner Communications (now [[Warner Music Group]]) and Asylum merged with [[Elektra Records]] to become Elektra/Asylum Records. David Geffen received $2 million in cash and $5 million in Warner Communications stock, making it one of the company's largest shareholders. In 1973, Geffen opened the now famous Roxy nightclub on the [[Sunset Strip]] in [[Los Angeles]]