Instant Records was an American independent record label based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, which was founded in 1961 by Joe Banashak (owner of Minit Records) and Irvin Smith. [1] It was originally called Valiant Records until another Valiant Records threatened to sue and forced the label's renaming to Instant Records. [2] The most successful artist on Instant was Chris Kenner. Several Instant recordings were distributed by Atlantic Records. [3]
Skip Easterling's version of Willie Dixon's " I'm Your Hoochie Koochie Man" (1970) was Easterling's biggest success, but its release on Instant proved to be the finale of the label's chart career. [4]