Los Angeles & West Coast

Modern Music Records was set up in Los Angeles in 1945 by the Bihari brothers, whose parents Edward Bihari and Esther Taub were Jewish immigrants from Hungary. The...

Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole’s daughter, was born in Los Angeles in 1950. She made her first commercial recordings in 1975 in Chicago at Curtom Studios, Paragon Studios...

Below is a list of the record companies that issued Race Records between 1920 and 1922. Not all companies used the term Race Records, not all companies created...

Etta James started her career at Modern Records in Los Angeles in 1955. The company released nine singles by James between 1955 and 1957 on the Modern label...

Minnie Riperton was born in 1947 and grew up in the Bronzeville area on Chicago’s South Side, the youngest of eight children. At an early age she took...

The Sonic Alchemist: The Story of Charles Stepney Charles Stepney’s story is one of profound musical genius, cultural resonance, and a legacy that reverberates across generations. Known as...

Earl Palmer was the main drummer who worked at J&M Studios at the start of the post-war development of the New Orleans signature R&B sound. He was born...

I would describe Bobby as a “Soul Folk Singer”. What I mean by that is that where other great Soul songs might include deep-rooted religious lyrics, whether to...

First published on December 11, 2020 At the age of thirty-three, on December 11th 1964, Sam Cooke was shot and killed at the Hacienda Motel, in Los Angeles....

First Published 10 July, 2010. The contribution of arrangers to popular music is often ignored, George Martin and Quincy Jones being the exception to the rule. Gene Page,...