Hindsight Records was founded by Big Band aficionado, recording engineer and studio owner Wally Heider, who built the label's initial catalog by obtaining Big Band radio broadcast recordings from the 1940s that had never been commercially released, along with agreements with the artists or their estates for permission to release the recordings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Hindsight released over 100 albums, including performances by Duke Ellington, Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Mildred Bailey, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman. For liner notes, Hindsight hired music historians such as Brad McCuen and Irving Townsend.

• Drums – Sonny Greer
• Edited By – Tom Shallcross
• Guitar – Fred Guy
• Leader – Duke Ellington
• Liner Notes – Patricia Willard
• Mastered By – Steve Guy
• Orchestra – Duke Ellington And His Orchestra
• Photography By – Dave Dexter, Jr.
• Piano – Billy Strayhorn (tracks: B5), Duke Ellington (tracks: A1 to B4, B6)
• Producer – Wally Heider
• Reeds – Al Sears, Harry Carney, Jimmy Hamilton, Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope
• Research, Programmed By – Joseph H. Igo
• Trombone – Claude Jones, Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton*, Lawrence Brown, Wilbur DeParis*
• Trumpet – Cat Anderson, Francis Williams, Harold Baker, Ray Nance, Shelton Hemphill, Taft Jordan