Rebel Records (3)

Appears mostly as "Rebel" only. US label and record company. The Rebel story began in 1960 when a trio of bluegrass aficionados from the suburbs of Washington, DC, hatched a plan to launch a record label. In short order, Charles R. “Dick” Freeland emerged as the primary force that would shepherd it the next two decades. By 1979, despite the success of the label, Dick Freeland was ready to opt out. He found a willing buyer in Roanoke, Virginia-based Dave Freeman, the owner of County Records and the County Sales mail order outlet [said retail business closed in January 2018, but reopened in September under a new owner - Dylan Lock] In recent years, Rebel has appealed to some of the big box retailers with several low priced CD series. The 7500 line was started in 2000 and to date contains over 30 titles, each of which is geared to an individual artist. The 8000 series, which was launched in 2006, contains various artists thematic collections such as True Bluegrass Essentials and True Bluegrass Gospel. With over fifty years in the business of selling bluegrass and old-time music, Dave Freeman has ceded the day-to-day operations of Rebel to his son, Mark Freeman. <1959 - 1960s> Illustration of banjo picker (1400s) <1960s> Confederate Flags on light blue labels (1400s) Light blue & red label (1500s) light blue with red/orange type (later 1500s) For company credits, see Rebel Recording Co. / Rebel Recording Co., Inc..