SHINE Records appears to have begun sometime around 1962, under the direction of Thune Garrison and Evelyn Ross (who were also the principal holders of the GLEAM foundation). At its height, the label represented at least fifteen bands, their music ranging across Rock, Folk, Jazz, and several less easily defined forms.

The label's holdings extended beyond the recording studio. Near the storied Spahn Movie Ranch outside of Santa Susana California stood a sprawling property where many of the musicians lived and rehearsed. An estimated eight to ten small, house-like structures occupied the grounds, each furnished with basic kitchens and restrooms. There was a fully equipped six room recording studio on the grounds, and another mid-sized warehouse structure which housed a small pressing plant from which unmarked trucks would come and go at all hours of the day and night. The arrangement was communal, though the precise nature of the community remains difficult to determine.

Then, in the early-mid 1970s, SHINE disappeared.

Records vanished from store shelves. Some were apparently recalled and placed into private or otherwise inaccessible vaults. Others found their way into the hands of collectors who seemed to understand that something had happened. The label's entire catalogue is now long out of print. Many releases had received only modest pressings even before the disappearance.

The accepted explanation connects the collapse of SHINE Records to a failed global music festival held in South Africa in 1974. Beyond this, the history becomes increasingly difficult to follow. What remains consists largely of stories, legends, recollections, and scattered accounts that have proven remarkably resistant to verification.

Perhaps this is why the label continues to attract attention.

The Nazilic scholars have recovered a small number of materials relating to SHINE Records. As these fragments are examined and their histories become clearer, they will be placed here for you to explore.

There may, of course, be more.