Companies

Stax/Volt Records went into decline after the golden years and was declared bankrupt on December 19, 1975, finally closing down on January 12, 1976. Jim Stewart lost his house. The...

Al Bell was born Alvertis Isbell in 1940 in Brinkley, Arkansas and moved to North Little Rock, where he attended the Scipio Africanus Jones High School. Education in...

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis in 1942, but grew up in Detroit, where her father, C.L. Franklin, was a minister at the New Bethel Baptist Church. As...

Charlie Reynolds had remained at the Flash Record store at 623, East Vernon Avenue, in Los Angeles after Leroy Hurte had given up his interest in the shop...

The “Recorded In Hollywood” label was founded in Los Angeles in 1948 by John Dolphin, a Black record store entrepreneur. The operation was centred on the Dolphin’s of...

Roy Milton was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, in 1907. His grandmother was a Chickasaw native American; Milton grew up on a reservation, later relocating to Tulsa. He joined...

Visitors to Quinvy in 1970 included Tony Borders, Buddy Causey and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who came to cut a few demos but also to offer their services as session...

In 1947, Jack Lauderdale founded Down Beat Records in Los Angeles. Two years later, the company name was changed to Swing Beat or Swing Records, and then in...

Keen Records was founded in April 1957 by two brothers, John and Alex Siamas. John ran a business manufacturing parts for the aircraft industry; he loved music but...

Big Town Records was set up by Bob Geddins in Oakland, California, in 1945. He established a base on the corner of 7th and Center Streets and also...