Ralph was founded in 1972, shortly after the Residents had moved to San Francisco, when they realized that it was the only entity willing to publish their work.
The band had trouble with distribution and made up 4,000 seven-minute flexi-disks based on the album with which to promote it.
In 1976, the Cryptic Corporation took over control of Ralph Records and maintained it until 1985, when it handed it over to sales manager Tom Timony.
In August 2010 Ralph Records announced its closing "due to the general state of the music business and the expanding cost of creating physical products.
Notices were sent on Twitter saying that it would sell out its stock of various limited Residents releases and have a sale on all the other items offered online.