Attachment 16866
I'm pretty sure D.C. International WAS African-American owned. But I can't remember the owner[[s).
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Attachment 16866
I'm pretty sure D.C. International WAS African-American owned. But I can't remember the owner[[s).
Attachment 16868
Good one, Ralph! I don't know how I could have overlooked that one.
No problem, Robb. Your awesomeness remains intact with me.
Attachment 16874
Here are some more:
Curtom/Mayfield[[Chi) - Curtis Mayfield & Eddie Thomas, Windy C - Curtis Mayfield Co-owned
Con-Lo Records[[Phil) - Jerry Butler co-owner
Double-L Records[[NY) - Lloyd Price & Harold Logan
T-Neck Records - The Isley Brothers
Sussex Records - Clarence Avant
Solar Records - Don Cornelius
Tri-City Records [[Saginaw, Mich) - Choker Campbell
Velgo Records [[Det.) - Roger Bass & Tom Wilson
Teek Records [[St.L) - Fred Bosley
Carrie, Ricare, Staff [[Det)- Rev. James Hendrix
LaBeat, Mary Jane, Cool School[[Det) - Lou Beatty
Fulton[[Det) - James Fulton
Rendezvous - Leon René
Excelsior - Otis René
Exclusive - Leon René
Spinit - Leon René
Class - Leon & Googie René
Maurci - Maurice Jackson
Okay Rob.....now you're scaring me.
I'm thinking of a couple: Cecil Holmes from Casablanca Records had this imprint:
Chocolate City:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3a-ZmuWuvg
And Harvey Fuqua had Honey over at Fantasy Records:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlncLbXLfi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phQaNTZOxxA
Quote:
wiki:
Williams was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1911, and by 1918 had moved with his family to Los Angeles.[1] He was a leader of the Harlem Dukes band in the 1940s. While performing at gigs, he came up with the idea of recording other artists.[2]
In 1949, Williams founded the Blue Records label. Two years later he changed the name to Dootone. One of the first artists he recorded on Dootone was a violinist named Johnny Creach, who years later would become popular as Papa John Creach.[3] In 1954, he recorded a local group called The Penguins, who would have a huge hit with "Earth Angel".[3]
While the label would record a wide variety of music, it would be best known for a series of comedy recordings by Redd Foxx.[4] Williams saw the comedian perform at the Brass Rail, a local Los Angeles nightclub, and signed Foxx to a recording contract. Laff of the Party, the first of many albums that Foxx recorded for Williams, became a cult favorite and helped establish him as a national star.
that's some funny stuff from Redd Foxx!:D
then there was Greg Carmichael's Red Greg label out of NYC that fiddled a lot with something new and developing in the music scene ; Synthesizers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04AAhcgP7-4
Patrick Adams was very active at Red Greg , but also had his work pressed on his own P& P records which I believe represented the first initials of Patrick[[Adams) & Peter [[Brown):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z7CepnkFwU .
cool label!
In 1967, Chicago's Carl Davis began his label DAKAR [[ Tyrone Davis, Bohannon, Barbara Aiken).
Its biggest hit was the #3 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-opxZJvIZ0
I do !! thank you! And maybe Barbara was on BRUNSWICK proper....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFIFLSntWwg
Robb who is Juggy Murry. Did you mean Juggy Murray ?:p:rolleyes:
Don't forget his label of the mid seventies JUPITER , which featured this wild creation of his:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctur2c4F1KM
HOW is it possible ! on a Motown fansite!!, that this one remains unnamed!!!:eek:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePXUWxl0OWA
then there's Logan Westbrooks' SOURCE records which right off the bat had a #1 [[four weeks) soul hit with:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsWfbDDEt08
Attachment 17131
I forgot to list Mickey Stevenson's Stepp Records [[Detroit):
Attachment 17132
Junior Records:
Established in Philadelphia in '57 by Kae Williams and prospered for about ten years:
https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/...ve/s-l225.webp
A year past the seventies, in 1980, Hamilton Bohannon's Phase II Records:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8trRcZ9UFU
Attachment 17422
Yes, typo, light touch on the "a"- weak left pinkie.:p
Hi everyone - new member here!
I discovered this thread a couple of years ago while doing a "curatorial" appraisal of a large 78rpm and 45rpm collection of post-WWII Black music [[primarily R&B but also blues and gospel). I was able to identify many Black-owned labels in the collection, which piqued my interest in the topic [[FYI, that collection is now at UCSB). Anyways, fast forward, I am now retired and decided to take this on as a project. Using the info here as well as Discogs, 45Cat [[much appreciation to Mickey Rat), other online and print sources as well as colleagues, I have started compiling a list of Black-owned labels from post-WWII to 1970. I figured that was a good place to cut off for now, keeping in mind Robb-K's comment "There are literally thousands you didn't mention. I would die before I could finish listing them." I'm finding he may be right!
My current goal is to focus primarily on LA/SF, Chicago, Detroit and NY - adding other regional labels when found - and then make the list publicly available for additional crowdsourcing. Though I've been able to add some original research, I really envision this project as a compilation of sources that don't currently exist in one place. However, I haven't yet determined the best way to accomplish this. I'm currently dumping info into a Word doc and then transferring to Google sheets once confirmed. I'm including links to source info plus images [[labels/owners), and also have a separate bibliography plus a discography of label compilations. I love doing the research, but not sure if I want to maintain a website or blog. I could just compile lists in 45cat, but don't think this would reach students, scholars and the general public.
By way of introduction, I am a music archivist by profession, served as editor of the blog Black Grooves, and have been active in the Assoc. for Recorded Sound Collections for over 35 years. One caveat, I am not a private collector myself and sadly my brain is not capable of storing and recalling labels and catalog numbers at will, lol.
Attachment 21057
An ambitious project, to be sure. But why did you leave out Philadelphia labels? There were many Black-owned labels there as well. Philly seems a lot more in the league with your big 4 [[in a big 5), than down in the second rung with Washington/Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis, Nashville, St. Louis, Houston, Kansas City, etc.
Good luck!
Excellent point Robb. I certainly have Philly high on my list but figure it will take some time just to do a deep dive of LA/SF, Chicago, Detroit before I move on to the East Coast. Those cities were selected as a starting point due to the amount of initial data, and perhaps I'll make faster progress once cold weather sets in. As you can imagine, research on one label almost always uncovers additional labels. My Word doc dump has all of the second tier cities you mention, but mostly the more obvious labels.
Attachment 21058
Glad to learn that you'll include Philadelphia and other cities in your tabulation. By the way,...... are you originally from Nova Scotia? [[The NS in your moniker)
Nope, not originally from Nova Scotia but opposite coast [[PNW). NS just initials.
Thanks Robb, I had your list of Black Owned record companies, there are so many. However leaving aside Berry , my favourite is "Fat Jack Taylor" the owner of Rojac
Attachment 21116
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuKeohlZ-2M
Graham - thanks for that! Is the photo by any chance from Stuart Cosgrove's book, Harlem 69? I must find a copy after reading the description on 45cat.