This is an Atlantic Records Discography, albums released on the Atlantic Records label from its founding up until 1982, ordered by catalog number. Two of the major series of LP recordings were the "1200" and "8000" series, started by Nesuhi Ertegun. The "1200" series was reserved for jazz albums. The "8000" and subsequent series, started shortly after the 1200 in 1956, featured Atlantic's R&B and pop albums; when the "1200" series was discontinued in the 1970s, the jazz albums were mixed with the R&B and pop albums in their respective series. This list includes albums using Atlantic's numbering system that were released under their numerous subsidiary labels. There is a section containing albums related to the label as well.
Discography
100 & 400 10-inch LP Series
Atlantic's first 33⅓ RPM LP records were 10-inch albums and their first release in 1949 was a recording of Walter Benton's poetry set to music which was also issued as three 12 inch 78 RPM records. This was followed by two albums in 1950 with the bulk of Atlantic's 10-inch albums released between 1951 and 1953. The 100 Series released mainly instrumental jazz LPs and the 400 Series featured vocalists. The album catalog numbers were often denoted by the prefix "LP" on the album cover and "ALS" or "ALR" on the record label.
The 1200 "Jazz" Series
Atlantic commenced releasing 12 inch LP records with the establishment of their 1200 Series in 1949 with an album consisting of three 78 RPM records of Walter Benton's poetry. This was followed by a two record set of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 1951. Subsequent releases featured Dixieland, opera and selections from Broadway musicals before Nesuhi Ertegun took over responsibility for the LP series in 1955 and the series focussed almost exclusively on jazz releases. After one a very early experiment in 1953 stereo releases of Atlantic LPs began production in 1958 and by 1960 all releases were available in mono or stereo pressings – indicated by the prefix SD on the catalog number. The series continued until late 1977 when it concluded with SD 1700 and most of the popular jazz artists moved to the SD 18100 Series and a limited number of albums were released on the 8800 Series.
