Famous Records got its start because Saul Karp (1925—1998) was the right man in the right place at the right time. Karp was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. By the 1950’s the recording industry was booming in New York and the young Karp landed a job with Menorah Records which produced and distributed recordings of Jewish music. Saul Karp and his wife Eleanor were dining one evening with their friends Cantor and Mrs. Moshe Koussevitsky. According to Mrs. Karp, “It was the Cantor who instigated the whole thing. He suggested that Saul make records of him singing.” Soon Karp had a record company which he named Famous Records.

Mrs. Karp remembers that the recording sessions were often in the middle of the night because that was when the fee for studio recording time was least expensive. Soon other Jewish performers including Seymour Rexite and his wife Miriam Kressyn began recording with Famous Records. In addition to his work distributing Jewish recordings with the Famous label, Saul Karp also worked for Vanguard Records, which began as a classical label and later became known for challenging the blacklist by signing performers such as Paul Robeson and The Weavers.

In 1980 Saul Karp became ill and retired to California. At the time of his death in 1998 he was survived by his loving wife, Helen, his five children, 12 grandchildren and his first great-grandchild.