Elko Records was originally called Echo Records. The company was formed in 1949 by John R. Fulbright and Jack Jackson in Los Angeles. Not much is known about the two men. An interview with Fulbright was conducted in 1967 by Gary Paulsen for Blues Unlimited magazine, in which Fulbright mentions being a drummer, playing with Ma Rainey. He was born in 1900 and therefore witnessed the impact of Mamie Smith’s recording of “Crazy Blues” and the development of Race Records. Between 1921 and 1951, when he released his first Elko record, he worked in the music industry as a musician, agent and talent scout and music shop owner. He also mentions being a co-owner of Big Town Records with Bob Geddins!
Echo Records didn’t last long. Jack Jackson soon left for Texas, whereupon Fulbright renamed the company Elko and set about recording local Black singers, concentrating on Gospel and Blues performers. He set up his company in his store “The Old House of Music” at 823, East Adams Boulevard, in Los Angeles, and determined that he would make his operation as lean as he could. His method for achieving that aim was to do most of the production work himself, using outside companies as little as possible. He built a studio, a pressing machine, and a cooling machine (an adapted refrigerator). He mixed his own shellac to create the discs. In the Paulsen interview, he claims that he was able to manufacture sixty discs an hour. He also distributed the records he made from the boot of his car.
Around thirty-five Elko singles are known, including eleven Gospel issues. The remainder are Blues. The slow Blues use guitar and piano backing in a similar vein to the songs of Charles Brown. The up-tempo tracks are in Boogie-Woogie style, often with a strong saxophone accompaniment. It is clear that many of the singers he recorded were based in Texas, Louisiana, or other southern states. Fulbright undertook regular field trips to seek out new talent and then brought the performers he found back to Los Angeles to record them.
Fulbright’s numbering system for his records is not straightforward. The earliest singles have a 200 series number. Eight singles have such a number, with two bearing number 201 and two with the number 208 (One of these has a JM code added before the 208). There are many numbers unaccounted for, as the highest number used was 254. From 1953, an 800 series appears, which runs from 821 to 827, with 825 and 826 both unknown. It is possible that they were never assigned or that the recordings with those numbers were never issued. Also in 1953 and 1954, a 900 series was issued, starting at 901 and ending at 920, with the usual gaps. There are seven singles extant in this series. These were the last of the Elko releases until 1959, when Fulbright issued a few singles in a 000 series. There are around a dozen singles from these three series which have not been dated to a particular year, but estimates have been made based on their serial numbers. That just leaves two singles whose serial numbers are 107 and 108. Most experts slot them into 1953, ahead of the 800 series. There is also a single by J. D. Nicholson with the serial number 1024, which is probably from 1952.
There are a couple of Echo releases known, Larry Costello’s “Doggin’ Woman Blues”/ “Texas Hop Boogie” (Echo 101) and Johnny Crawford and His Basket Room Orchestra’s “State Street Boogie”/ “Smokey Lynn’s Blues” (Echo 102). It is likely that they were released in the early 1950s.
The earliest Elko release was a Gospel pairing of the Watson Sisters’ “Didn’t It Rain” and Tommy Watson’s “I Live The Life I Sing About” (Elko 201). It was followed by a secular Blues “Black Night Is Gone”/ “Love’s Limit” (Elko 202) by J. D. Nicholson and His Jivin’ Five. Both were issued in 1951.
J. D. Nicholson was a piano player from Louisiana, who came to Elko early in the label’s history. Five singles were issued by Nicholson and His Jivin’ Five, including the excellent “51 Boogie”. He had teamed up with Jimmy McCracklin in the forties. His first recordings in his own name are probably the two singles that were cut at Courtney Studio in 1948, “South Town Boogie”/ “Strange Woman Blues” (Courtney 119) and “Bouncing Boogie”/ “Sweet Woman Blues” (Courtney 120), all of which he wrote. They are credited to J. D. Nickelson.
Both singles were also issued on a short-lived label, a forerunner of Elko, that bore the name J&M Fullbright. They were in all probability the label’s only releases. Nicholson later backed Harmonica Slim at Aladdin and Vita Records in 1956, and George Allen at Sotoplay Records in 1960.
Jesse Thomas was born in 1911 in Logansport, Louisiana, the younger brother of Ramblin’ Thomas. He was a Blues guitarist who recorded at several Los Angeles companies including Miltone (1948), Specialty (1951), and Swing Time (1951), before coming to Elko to cut one single. “Another Fool Like Me” is a foot-tapping dance track that shows off Thomas’ guitar technique alongside an excellent harmonica player.
Malcolm Willis, a young Blues singer and pianist, came to Elko from his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, to cut one single at Elko in 1952. He teamed up with E. McInnes, a guitarist, to record his songs “Pretty Woman” and “Howling Woman”. “Pretty Woman” is a slow old-time piano Blues. Willis later recorded more of his songs at Swing Time.
Big Son Tillis was also a Texan, from Longview. Fulbright brought him to Los Angeles in 1953, along with his wife Lillian Tillis and harmonica player D. C. Bender, and recorded fifteen songs at Elko. Tillis was an old-style guitarist who drew his inspiration from the Mississippi Delta. “Rocks Is My Pillow” and “When I Get In This House Woman” were released at that time, but other tracks have become available on the P-Vine Special compilations “Mr Fulbright’s Blues”.
Thanks to the poor spelling of his name, Clifton Chenier is not immediately recognised for his contribution to Elko’s discography. Fulbright discovered him playing outdoors in southern Louisiana and took him to Lake Charles to make some recordings. The masters were later sold to Imperial Records. The single that Fulbright did release was issued in the name of Cliston Chanier! “Louisiana Stomp” is a slow Blues on which the accordion replaces the harmonica that was popular on the West Coast. It is backed by a lively dance instrumental “Cliston Blues”.
Jimmy Nolen was born in Oklahoma City in 1934. He took up the guitar after hearing T-Bone Walker and Lowell Fulson on the radio. He was offered a job in Jimmy Wilson’s band when the latter heard him playing in a club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and came with him back to Los Angeles. In 1953, Nolen cut some tracks in his own name at Elko. Two singles followed, “I Used To Love A Woman”/ “Strangest Blues” in 1953 and “Slow Freight Back Home”/ “Let’s Try Again” in 1954.
He joined other local bands, playing with Chuck Higgins, Johnny Otis, and Monte Easter, while also working as a session guitarist. He recorded several tracks for Federal in 1956 and one single for Fidelity in 1959. Then it was back on the road backing harmonica player George Smith.
In 1965, he joined the J.B.’s, James Brown’s backing group and played on “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”. He stayed with James Brown (with a short break around 1971) until his death in 1983.
The tracks that he recorded at Elko demonstrate the quality of his single-note guitar style. “I Used To Love A Woman” is a slow Blues with soft horns and melodic guitar fills. “Strangest Blues” is more up-tempo with a strong saxophone solo and a clever, rhythmic drum pattern. “Slow Freight Back Home” is an instrumental with a driving guitar riff and strong horn backing. Finally, “Let’s Try Again” is Blues with a swing, plus another excellent saxophone solo. The tracks are well-recorded and offer a nice variety. Mr. Fulbright must have been very delighted with Mr. Nolen!
The P-Vine Special compilation of Elko recordings
