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baseball games for radio broadcast based on wire reports. McCracken originally presented "The Game of Life" on Sunday nights, at various churches around the central Texas area. Everywhere he presented "The Game of Life", he got requests for copies. Eventually, he had a short run of records pressed to offer at churches where he spoke. The fictional radio station in the recording has the call letters "WORD", which was printed on the label of the custom record. After being asked by a friend when he was going to release a follow-up, McCracken then decided to pursue the label on a more serious level.
444:. In an agreement with Gaylord, Thomas Nelson continued to use the "Word Publishing" name for its book imprint until 2002, at which time it became "W Publishing Group" and retained the swirling "W" logo. A highly controversial ad campaign introduced at the CBA convention in 2002, created litigation and settled later.
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preacher, and based his recording on the article which is also called "The Game of Life". The event is based on a full-length match, between the forces of good and evil, with Jesus Christ and Satan coaching the two teams. McCracken was familiar with play-by-play broadcasting, having created virtual
483:
In March 2016, it was announced that Mike Curb acquired 100% of Word
Entertainment (excluding the print music division) from Warner Music Group. However, WMG has continued to distribute Word's output for the general market. The print music division (Word Music and Church Resources), excluding Word
439:
for $ 72 million, and Nelson made two major changes—developing the present swirling "W" logo for book products which was unveiled in 1995. Headquarters moved from Waco, Texas, to its present headquarters in
Nashville, Tennessee. Nelson split the record label and book publishing arms in 1996,
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Distribution deals with other labels in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s allowed Word
Records to rise to the top, virtually housing a who's-who in Christian music. They distributed, promoted and advertised the biggest names in
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recording written and narrated by McCracken, the first recording released by the label, entitled "The Game of Life". The 23-year-old KWTX sportscaster in Waco had read an article by Jimmy Allen, a former athlete who became a
447:
After Colin Reed took over
Gaylord Entertainment in 2001, the hotelier made corporate changes at the company, including the ousting of longstanding president Roland Lundy. The Word Entertainment group was sold to
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in 1972, DaySpring
Records in 1977, and Rejoice Records in the 1980s. Two of these labels no longer exist in their original form. The Myrrh label was resurrected in 2005, as a praise and worship record label,
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also gained a stake in the company during this time. In 2004, the company was sold again as part of Time Warner divestiture of its music division, selling it to a group of investors led by
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Christian division manager Barry Landis briefly took the position of president of the label group division. Word went through a period of restructuring, closing their
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signed a distribution and promotion contract in the 1980s. The agreement lasted well into the 1990s. Today, Reunion
Records is distributed through
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by
Jarrell McCracken, Baylor business major Henry SoRelle and radio/television executive Ted Snider. The label's name is based on a 16-minute
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The label struggled initially until Marvin
Norcross became an equity partner. By 1954, Word had become a publishing house as well.
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Milliot, Jim (December 2, 1996). "With Word sale, Nelson to focus on core business". Vol. 243, no. 49.
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This is a list of artists, past and present, who have recorded for Word
Records over the past several decades:
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was distributed in the 1970s by Word
Records, before being sold to Ralph Carmichael in the 1980s.
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was distributed by Word Records, but left their distribution deal in the late 1980s to sign with
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had a distribution deal with Word, from 1975 to 1980. Artists on Solid Rock included Norman,
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Subsequent records focused on other spoken word recordings, but Word soon branched out into
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Price, Deborah Evans (December 8, 2001). "Sale To Warner Brings Word into Major Leagues".
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1364:"GAYLORD ENTERTAINMENT COMPLETES PURCHASE OF WORD RECORDS AND MUSIC FROM THOMAS NELSON".
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1324:(unsigned) (November 1992). "In the News: EMI Buys Sparrow, Thomas Nelson Buys Word".
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to Word Records. It is still active, and remains under the independent ownership of
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Price, Deborah Evans (December 7, 1996). "Gaylord buys Word's music companies".
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Price, Deborah Evans (March 9, 2002). "Word restructures, Woos Landis".
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Price, Deborah Evans (April 23, 2005). "NEWSLINE: Word Label Group".
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with artist roster, Billboard pop performance, photo gallery, more.
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From 1984 to 1990, Word was distributed in the general market by
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Based on an interview with Jarrell McCracken, May 1997, Waco, TX
1273:
A City on a Hilltop? The History of Contemporary Christian Music
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was also re-opened in early 2007, with Dave Clark at the helm.
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In the 1976, McCracken sold part interest in his label to the
291:
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Word Records role in The History of Christian Stand-up Comedy
290:, which was taken over by Chordant Distribution and then by
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music. Early employees for the label included Tom Norfleet,
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is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in
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Chris Christian Entertainment - Home Sweet Home Records
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Several subsidiary labels were started over the years:
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The Vernon Daily Record, Tue, December 4, 1951, Page 3
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421:, Inc. and forced McCracken out of the company.
252:signed a distribution deal, to move his label
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78:Jarrell McCracken, Henry SoRelle, Ted Snider
1496:Record labels based in Nashville, Tennessee
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1432:"Curb Records acquires Word Entertainment"
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484:Publishing, was subsequently acquired by
435:In 1992, Capital Cities/ABC sold Word to
167:In 1951, Word Records was established in
1419:. Vol. 114, no. 10. p. 6.
1402:. Vol. 113, no. 49. p. 8.
1385:. Vol. 108, no. 49. p. 6.
1313:. Vol. 117, no. 17. p. 8.
1330:. Vol. 15, no. 5. p. 4.
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27:Christian-based entertainment company
7:
1368:. January 7, 1997. p. 1071302.
460:music publishing office, absorbing
159:(the former Warner Bros. Records).
1511:American independent record labels
417:. 10 years later, ABC merged with
25:
1516:Record labels established in 1951
452:in 2002. That same year, former
41:
1230:List of Christian record labels
639:Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters
1501:Companies based in Waco, Texas
1:
873:Holm, Sheppard, & Johnson
440:when the labels were sold to
415:American Broadcasting Company
1526:1951 establishments in Texas
476:to form a newly independent
300:contemporary Christian music
103:contemporary Christian music
1430:Rau, Nate (March 2, 2016).
1542:
1521:Gospel music record labels
1460:Word Entertainment website
1270:Mount, Daniel J. (2005).
1027:Morning Chapel Hour Choir
40:
1137:Sixpence None the Richer
408:Phil and Brenda Nicholas
284:Star Song Communications
254:Home Sweet Home Records
155:. It is distributed by
1506:History of Waco, Texas
962:Love & the Outcome
783:Joe English (musician)
524:For King & Country
486:The Lorenz Corporation
1032:David Mullen (singer)
1017:Cindy Morgan (singer)
556:(changed name to FF5)
529:Francesca Battistelli
442:Gaylord Entertainment
278:Provident Label Group
1470:Word Records History
1022:The Mercy River Boys
1007:Mighty Clouds of Joy
828:Happy Goodman Family
466:Squint Entertainment
392:Happy Goodman Family
302:. Artists included:
145:Nashville, Tennessee
120:Nashville, Tennessee
1167:Joni Eareckson Tada
1132:George Beverly Shea
1062:The Pat Terry Group
652:Charles Billingsley
619:The Alwyn Wall Band
437:Thomas Nelson, Inc.
410:and other artists.
151:, and is a part of
1416:Billboard Magazine
1399:Billboard Magazine
1382:Billboard Magazine
1310:Billboard Magazine
1142:Janet Lynn Skinner
945:& Broken Heart
813:Gaither Vocal Band
774:and the Associates
717:Patrick Ryan Clark
672:Scott Wesley Brown
488:in February 2017.
478:Warner Music Group
474:Edgar Bronfman Jr.
419:Capital Cities/ABC
384:Sweet Comfort Band
368:Gaither Vocal Band
316:Russ and Tori Taff
227:Solid Rock Records
153:Word Entertainment
1465:Word Distribution
1351:Publishers Weekly
903:JC & the Boyz
590:We Are Messengers
580:Sidewalk Prophets
372:Bill Gaither Trio
147:. It is owned by
138:
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130:wordentertainment
109:Country of origin
86:Word Distribution
16:(Redirected from
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957:Liberation Suite
952:The Lewis Family
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803:The Florida Boys
722:Ashley Cleveland
657:Caroline Bonnett
509:Meredith Andrews
454:Atlantic Records
308:Michael W. Smith
194:Ralph Carmichael
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125:Official website
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595:Zealand Worship
534:Big Daddy Weave
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450:AOL Time Warner
426:A&M Records
288:Sparrow Records
274:Reunion Records
262:Chris Christian
250:Chris Christian
231:Randy Stonehill
186:southern gospel
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376:Point of Grace
258:Benson Records
217:Canaan Records
206:in the 1960s,
204:Canaan Records
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157:Warner Records
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1439:. Retrieved
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1327:CCM Magazine
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1280:February 12,
1278:. Retrieved
1276:. p. 50
1272:
1212:Scott Wenzel
1207:Wayne Watson
1197:Sheila Walsh
1192:Greg X. Volz
1177:Randy Travis
1162:Stellar Kart
1122:Mark Schultz
1112:Remedy Drive
1107:Kelli Reisen
1082:David Phelps
1072:Leon Patillo
1037:Rich Mullins
1012:Julie Miller
987:Babbie Mason
938:The Lefevres
928:The Kingsmen
913:Troy Johnson
878:Holy Soldier
858:Benny Hester
818:John Gimenez
808:Richie Furay
798:John Fischer
767:Bryan Duncan
752:Dion Dimucci
682:Building 429
677:Anita Bryant
647:Helen Baylor
624:Dick Anthony
585:Stars Go Dim
565:Dara Maclean
560:Group 1 Crew
544:Jason Castro
519:Chris August
514:About a Mile
496:
495:
482:
470:Curb Records
446:
434:
432:until 2002.
430:Epic Records
423:
412:
400:Florida Boys
360:Steve Archer
348:Wayne Watson
336:Helen Baylor
320:Benny Hester
312:Rich Mullins
296:
282:
272:
266:
247:
223:Larry Norman
221:
201:
198:
183:
166:
149:Curb Records
141:Word Records
140:
139:
54:Curb Records
36:Word Records
30:Record label
1202:Mike Warnke
1147:Chris Sligh
1067:Sandi Patti
997:David Meece
982:Sarah Masen
977:Kenny Marks
888:The Hoppers
868:Dallas Holm
843:Bruce Greer
838:Lilly Green
823:Terri Gibbs
732:Clay Crosse
707:Johnny Cash
629:The Archers
458:Los Angeles
364:White Heart
356:the Archers
344:Kenny Marks
340:Sandi Patti
235:Daniel Amos
190:Kurt Kaiser
173:spoken word
169:Waco, Texas
1490:Categories
1236:References
1152:Paul Smith
1092:Don Potter
1042:The Nelons
992:Ken Medema
972:Mark Lowry
918:Anita Kerr
692:Steve Camp
662:Dave Boyer
394:featuring
388:the Nelons
358:featuring
324:Paul Smith
243:Mark Heard
239:Tom Howard
1441:August 1,
1336:1524-7848
1172:Russ Taff
908:J.C. Crew
883:Honeytree
833:Amy Grant
793:Fireworks
634:Bob Ayala
549:Everfound
380:Love Song
304:Amy Grant
248:In 1983,
1224:See also
1117:Salvador
923:Wes King
848:Guardian
762:Downhere
404:Guardian
117:Location
1187:Veridia
1097:pureNRG
1052:Newsong
967:LoveWar
502:Current
178:Baptist
163:History
75:Founder
65: (
60:Founded
1334:
697:Carman
602:Former
539:Blanca
352:Carman
99:Gospel
1077:Petra
448:then-
332:Petra
256:from
95:Genre
1443:2016
1332:ISSN
1282:2007
788:Evie
757:Dove
747:Dana
609:4Him
241:and
192:and
132:.com
67:1951
63:1951
292:EMI
225:'s
1492::
1434:.
1299:^
1256:^
1244:^
480:.
464:,
406:,
402:,
398:,
390:,
386:,
382:,
378:,
374:,
370:,
366:,
362:,
354:,
350:,
346:,
342:,
338:,
334:,
330:,
326:,
322:,
318:,
314:,
310:,
306:,
294:.
280:.
264:.
245:.
237:,
233:,
215:.
196:.
101:,
1445:.
1338:.
1284:.
69:)
20:)
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