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Topic: Okeh Records


  
 Okeh Records - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918; from the late 1920s on was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.
Okeh Records pioneered the practice of "location recording" in 1922.
In 1926 Okeh switched to the electric microphone system of audio recording.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okeh_Records

  
 PBS - JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns: Jazz Exchange - Race Records
Record companies were eager to increase their markets, and even developed some non-musical recordings, including recorded sermons, gospel music, spirituals and comedy routines.
Gradually, the majors began recording their own versions of the whatever hits the independents were lucky enough to have, and by the 50s, race recording labels became superfluous.
Despite the popularity of African-American bands and musicians, record producers felt that white audiences would be more inclined to buy jazz recordings made by white musicians.
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/exchange/exchange_race_records.htm

  
 Outhouse Records Track Listings
Most of the records in the collection are Hawaiian and the three records the Tubize Hawaiians recorded for Okeh.
Recorded Oct. 18, 1929, released as Okeh 45455.
Okeh Records released one record from the October, 1929 Richmond Session and two records from the April, 1929 New York session.
http://outhouserecords.com/PAGES/TRACKS.html

  
 Vanguard Records Mississippi John Hurt
After that, Vanguard Records recorded what were to be his remaining albums.
Since this music wasn't played on any radio station (in fact, recorded music on the radio was virtually unheard of at the time), people would have to buy the records to hear the music.
He recorded for Piedmont Records in 1963 and 1964.
http://www.vanguardrecords.com/Hurt/home-m.html

  
 type_Document_Title_here
OKeh was one of the most important and influential record labels in the black music market for over five decades.
OKeh began its music history in 1918 in New York producing all kinds of music.
It was not only a source of great musicians and records, but also of song writers and producers.
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/4041

  
 Hadda
In late 1995, she was back in the recording studio for Point Blank records, and the result was the well received album "Time Was When".
Brooks' first records were instrumental, but by 1946 she began to vocalize.
Modern planned to record an LP album of the Hadda Brooks treatment of popular standards.
http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/Hadda.html

  
 [No title]
Okeh Records (1918-1969) is directly associated with the release of many significant "race" records.
Folkways Records FJ-2801 - "Jazz - The South" (1 LP) 1958.
Epic Records (CBS) released a 5-volume LP set of compilations in the '80s.
http://www.uncg.edu/mus/courses/flmccart/amr/contents/bludsc.txt

  
 Lonnie Johnson
His last known recordings in 1967, two solo albums for the Folkways label.
He records the first of ten excellent sides with the guitarist Eddie Lang in 1928, but in 1932 Okeh Records crash out of business as the Depression begins and Lonnie attends his last recording session for the next five years.
The same year Lonnie recorded with Creath's band, 1925, a blues contest was sponsored by talent scouts from Okeh Records at the Booker T. Washington Theater in St. Louis.
http://nublues.port5.com/Historyoftheblues/lonniejohnson.htm

  
 Mississippi John Hurt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
After the commercial failure of the resulting disc and OKeh records going out of business during the depression, Hurt returned to Avalon and obscurity working as a sharecropper and playing local parties and dances.
When Narmour got a chance to record for OKeh Records in reward for winning first place in a 1928 fiddle contest, Narmour recommended John Hurt to OKeh Records producer Tommy Rockwell.
A soft-spoken man, his nature was reflected in the work, which remained a mellow mix of country, blues and old time music to the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_John_Hurt

  
 Old Hat Releases - CD1002 Liner Notes
When Lonnie Johnson exclaimed, "Violin, sing the blues for me!" during a recording session for Okeh Records in 1928, he was in top form, performing with passion and artistry on the instrument that was his first love- the fiddle.
Record company executives, ever mindful of profit margins, were impressed with the sweeping popularity of blues music among black audiences, and felt reluctant to take a chance on the older forms of African-American music.
By the time Johnson recorded his Violin Blues, he was already one of the most prolific and influential musicians in the field of blues, an African-American musical form then dominated by guitar players, just as it is today.
http://www.oldhatrecords.com/1002Notes.html

  
 FYI - July 3, 2002
Hurt recorded two songs in February of 1928 while in Memphis, "Frankie" and "Nobody's Dirty Business," and these were released by Okeh.
Although he recorded two Bethlehem albums in 1956, Hartman was generally overlooked during the 1950s.
Cab Calloway and his orchestra recorded the classic"St. James Infirmary" for OKeh records.
http://www.dowop.org/7-3.html

  
 Country Music and Technology
As songs were recorded and copyrighted, executives began to encourage their acts to write new "old-sounding" songs so that they would not have to pay to use copyrighted material; these ballads could also be recorded by popular artists and the companies could collect those royalties too.
Ralph Peer had quit Okeh Records and in 1925 went to work for Victor RCA for $1 a year on the condition that he could retain the copyright to all the works he recorded.
Traditional rural music was first recorded and marketed in 1923 in Atlanta, GA and was not known as "Country and Western" until the '30s and '40s.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/c_w/essay1.html

  
 78labels
Love Nest, The, Frankie Trumbauer's Orchestra, With Vocal refrain, Parlophone R 2645, recorded 10/05/28 H.E. Of all the Trumbauer/Bix Okeh recordings that were not released in the USA this is the rarest.
The record was released by HMV in Australia and in Italy.
Clarinet Marmalade, Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra with Bix, OKeh 40772, recorded 2/4/27 J.G. This number was waxed for posterity in the first recording session of the Frankie Trumbauer Orchestra.
http://bixography.com/images/78labels.htm

  
 Untitled Document
Columbia Records reactivates its Okeh label to concentrate on the sound of rhythm and blues and moves Cobb to that label.
Okeh also releases a former Cobb side for the parent Columbia label of "Smooth Sailing" and "Your Wonderful Love" on #6830.
In September, Columbia Records in an effort to increase its showing in the rhythm and blues field signs Arnett Cobb and his combo to a recording contract.
http://home.earthlink.net/~v1tiger/arnettcobb.html

  
 Okeh Records
It was made part of Columbia records in the 30s and continued to record blues acts.
Finally, you can look up records on Billboards charts with
records is owned and licensed by Sony Music
http://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/okeh.htm

  
 Major Lance - Free Music Downloads, Videos, CDs, MP3s, Bio, Merchandise and Links
The DJ helped Lance secure a one-shot single for Mercury Records in 1959, and the singer recorded "I Got a Girl," which was written and produced by Mayfield.
In 1962, Lance was signed to the revived OKeh Records, based on his connections with Otis Leavill and, especially, Curtis Mayfield, who signed with the Impressions to ABC Records and having hits with his own group.
Later that year, Lance recorded his first single, "Delilah," for the label.
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/bio/0,,456186,00.html

  
 Mamie Smith
They sold well enough and her manager Perry Bradford convinced Okeh Records that there was a market for earthier Blues records aimed at the large number of African-Americans who had migrated to the big cities of the north.
Mamie Smith was the first to record blues songs in 1920 with her versions of Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues", and "It' s Right Here for You" on Okeh Records.
It was a very important record, because it opened the doors of the recording industry to African-Americans, whether they were Blues, Jazz or popular singers or musicians.
http://www.thedevilsmusic.net/bios/mamie_smith.html

  
 eBay - record okeh, Records, Music Memorabilia items on eBay.com
78 RPM RECORD OKEH RandB DOO WOP THE RAVENS 6888 
GENE AUTRY COUNTRY OKEH 78 RECORDS 04415 and 05015 
OKEH Records Sampler CD and 45rpm-EP BLUES, RandB, RandR 
http://search-desc.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=record+okeh&newu=1&krd=1

  
 NothinButDaBlues Reading Room
OKeh Records called him "The Man with the Talking Guitar" and claimed "he certainly plays 'em strong on his big mean, blue guitar." By January 1924, Bessie Smith and Clara Smith were recording with studio guitarists.
The recording of solo blues guitarists commenced in New York City on November 2, 1923, when Sylvester Weaver of Louisville, Kentucky, recorded "Guitar Blues," a simple instrumental with sparse chords and slide melodies played with a knife.
Weaver was also the first guitarist to back a blues singer on record, a feat he'd accomplished a week earlier with Sara Martin.
http://nothinbutdablues.bizland.com/ReadingRoomApril01.chtml

  
 OKEH RECORDS: The Origins of Okeh (1918-1920)
Domestic's first records were 7-inch fine-groove vertical cut discs produced by the Domino Record Company, a short-lived venture unrelated to the 1920s label of the same name.
The story of Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" (Okeh 4169), the first authentic vocal blues record, is too well known to bear repeating here, but its release in November 1920 revealed a vast, untapped market for recordings by black performers.
The first Okeh releases (10-inch vertically cut discs bearing dark blue labels with an Indian-head trademark) were announced to the trade in May 1918.
http://www.mainspringpress.com/okeh.html

  
 Okeh Records
Epic Records proudly announces the rebirth of OKeh Records and the inception of a new series of contemporary blues-based recordings.
In 1945, as a Columbia Records subsidiary, OKeh became a thriving r&b, blues and jazz imprint.
Richard Griffiths, President of Epic Records, says: "The revival of OKeh brings Epic Records into a new creative area, of roots music with a '90s flavor and attitude.
http://users.ids.net/~kiselka/g-love/html/text/15r.html

  
 CMT.com : The Opals : Biography
Okeh issued their debut single late in 1963, two Clifford Davis songs "Losers Weepers" b/w "Take It Right," the latter co-written with Phil Upchurch, and they were off and running.
The Opals recorded for four singles for Okeh Records from 1963 to 1965 and also backed Otis Leavil and
Their sides are available on many compilation albums and are getting more acclaimed and play these days then when first released in the mid-'60s.
http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/opals/bio.jhtml

  
 Discography of Okeh Records, 1918-1934
The company was among the most important in the growing record industry of its time, and it was among the first to record jazz, blues, folk, ethnic, country and popular music.
OKeh records produced hundreds of titles under the OKeh and Odeon labels.
The authors include a history of the company under its various names, recordings in chronological order, and a cross-listing of performers.
http://www.booksmatter.com/b0313311420.htm

  
 Perry Bradford
The songs were "Crazy Blues", and "It' s Right Here for You" but this time Okeh played up that fact that this was an African-American singer and band in their advertising and sheet music sales that accompanied the record.
Perry Bradford was a singer, songwriter, pianist and vaudeville and minstrel performer who forever changed the sound of American popular music by convincing Okeh Records to release the first Blues record in 1920.
It sold well enough that Okeh was willing to be a little more adventurous and record some real contemporary African-American music on their next release.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/bradford.html

  
 jabw_vintage/78rpmokehvalues
There will be some records by the same artistes worth more or less, depends on the quality of the music and on how many copies of the records were sold.
A fairly common record label in an American 78rpm collection, Okeh is a source of all types of music.
The values quoted below are typical prices paid at a British record fair stall where the stall-holder knows the demand for music and records, and they are for records in 'very good' VG to E- condition as excellent condition Okeh records are difficult to find.
http://www.jabw.demon.co.uk/rpmokeh.htm

  
 OKeh Album Discography
The OKeh Record label was founded in Germany in 1910, by Carl Linstrom, a German who owned record labels in several countries.
OKeh recorded all types of music, but in 1920 it started the black music recording industry by recording and releasing Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues." In the following decade it distinguished itself by recording blues and jazz, including Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven Combos.
During the 1960s, OKeh put out a mere 30 albums, none of which reflected the rich legacy of music recorded before 1960.
http://www.bsnpubs.com/okeh.html

  
 Postwar 45RPM and 78 RPM Okeh Records
Cylinder records and early 78 RPM disc records - From 1890 to about 1929 - Most of these disc records are one-sided
PostWar (1940's-1960's) Labels often issued records in both 45 and 78 RPM formats are wanted
1920 to 1930's 78 RPM Record Labels are wanted
http://78rpms.com/html/labels_postwar_okeh.html

  
 Oldies.com : Big Maybelle
There she was persuaded to record some recent pop hits by the Beatles and Donovan and had some minor chart success of her own with versions of "Don't Pass Me By" and "96 Tears".
Three years later, Smith made solo records for King and in 1952 she recorded as Big Maybelle when producer Fred Mendelsohn signed her to OKeh Records, a subsidiary of CBS Records.
Despite her acknowledged influence on the soul styles of the 60s, later records for Brunswick Records, Scepter and Chess Records made little impact until she signed to the Rojac label in 1966.
http://www.dell.oldies.com/artist/view.cfm/id_42.html

  
 Pic of the Month
While record companies included in their catalogs African American-inspired music by white performers, only a few Black musical entertainers, like W.C. Handy and Bert Williams, had managed to record.
Smith's hit record, "Crazy Blues," led other record companies to record blues and other music by African-American performers.
In early 1920, African-American composer, Perry Bradford, convinced the white manager of Okeh records to record an African-American female vocalist.
http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/pic/2000/00.feb.html

  
 [No title]
His impact, moreover, on the larger popular music industry—as a pioneer in recording, music publishing, and artist management—is incalculable.
As he recalled, “This was a business of recording new copyrights.
Among the country music innovators whose success can be credited to Peer are Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, both of whom Ralph Peer discovered, recorded, and managed.
http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/inductees/ralph_peer.html

  
 Hambone
On a recent bootleg doo-wop "repro" single, "Hambone" appears as the A side (the B side is "Zeke'l Zeke'l" from the next session); the "repro" is billed as derived from OKeh 6862.
The alternate take was probably used on Epic LP 22125 (a 2-LP set of OKeh Rhythm and Blues released in 1982) and definitely on Epic EG 37649, Okeh Rhythm & Blues, (apparently a reissue of this 2-LP set).
Jeff Hall points out that a collection of what were supposed to be 16 of Link Wray's late-1950s recordings was issued on in England on Edsel ED 149 [LP] and ED CD 149 in 1989.
http://www.geocities.com/rstevus/hambone.html

  
 [No title]
This record, sadly, is his ONLY recorded solo, although he can be heard ticking the ivories on several of his earlier tunes.
When asked by the OKeh folks what the title was, Bix said that he felt in a fog, and couldn't think of anything.
KE: Like the Edison and French Pathe' records, OKeh originally started out pressing vertical "hill & dale" records, but unlike Tom, they saw the writing on the wall and switched to the more popular, (and easier to manufacture) lateral technique.
http://users.ids.net/~kiselka/g-love/html/text/OKeh.txt

  
 "Okeh Records - The Great Race Record Labels" CD Review
Their strong performances are no less important to the rich fabric of recorded Blues from the earlier years in the 20th century, and the folks at Catfish have succeeded with all three discs in this set.
Prior to that year, African-Americans were represented on cylinders and records, but they were primarily 'coon songs' or traditional themes.
Others with familiar names who recorded for Okeh and crop up on this third volume in 'The Great Race Record Labels' series are Memphis Minnie, Memphis Slim, Blind Boy Fuller, Tony Hollins, and more.
http://www.mnblues.com/cdreview/2001/okeh-race-cr.html

  
 UW Libraries - Music Library - Records
The Birth of the Recording Industry Allen Koenigsberg
The Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music
Pictures of 78rpm Record Labels A Selection of Early UK Record labels
http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/records.html

  
 Total Energy Records. Roosevelt Sykes/Victoria Spivey. liner notes by John Sinclair
Spivey, a best-selling recording artist for OKeh, Victor, Decca, and Vocalion Records between 1926 and 1937, emerged from years of popular obscurity to shine as the star of the afternoon's show with her audacious snake dress, saucy humor, riveting compositions, powerful piano and victorious vocals.
She cut four singles for Vocalion records in 1930-31 in the company of people like Georgia Tom Dorsey and Tampa Red, and then suffered the fate of most blues artists during the Depression years as the record market shriveled to almost nothing and even the biggest stars went unrecorded.
The small loss at the gate was covered by the advance against producers' royalties paid us by Atlantic Records for the right to release a two-LP set of music from the event (still not available on CD) and a second, single LP by the Art Ensemble of Chicago (now on CD from Koch International Records).
http://www.disasterecords.com/GrindIt!2.html

  
 Walter Jackson, by Bill Pollak
The Chi-Sound remakes of Jackson's Okeh recordings are worth listening to, but most fans of hard-core RandB and soul will have a hard time with the schlockier material on this CD.
Jackson's Chi-Sound material was more pop- and mainstream-oriented than his Okeh recordings had been, and he succeeded with lushly produced covers of pop songs such as Morris Albert's "Feelings" (1976) and Peter Frampton's "Baby I Love Your Way" (1977).
In 1962, Okeh Records AandR Director Carl Davis brought Jackson to the label after hearing him sing in a Detroit piano bar.
http://www.billyprice.com/Jackson.html

  
 [No title]
Sergei Rachmaninoff recording for Edison was announced in January 1920.
Advertisements announced all types of new products: carrying cases, horns, mica diaphragms, furniture moving covers, jewel styli, needles, needle cutters, piano rolls, records, record albums, record brushes, record cabinets, repeating mechanisms, spring and electric motors, sheet music, different types of reproducers and tone arms.
Frankie Trumbauer has photos on various Okeh ads, such as on the ad dated December 1927 announcing the release of "Singin' the Blues" and "Clarinet Marmalade" on Okeh 40772 (famous Bix disc!).
http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/tmw.htm

  
 Amazon.ca: Music: Greatest Hits Recorded Live [Import] [Best of] [Live]
Now, he was signed to OKeh, and before a live audience at "Club OKeh" in Hollywood, he laid them down once again -- "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and ten others -- fronting a band led by his old Specialty Records compatriot Larry Williams.
By January 25, 1967, when he cut this live album, Little Richard had re-recorded his original Specialty Records hits for Vee-Jay and for Modern Records.
(Originally released in July 1967 on OKeh Records as OKeh 14121, Greatest Hits Recorded Live has been reissued by Epic Records several times, most recently in 1986 as Epic 40389.) ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000267D

  
 Ronny Weiser Feature Column
Always a man who can appreciate good stuff, Elvis Presley covered the song in his 1961 comeback album.
A strong case actually could be made that it was the Atlantic productions which were influenced by the 1955 Okeh recordings.
It is thanks to Sears' efforts that Columbia's A&R man Danny Kessler signed Chuck Willis to Okeh Records in 1951.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/COLRockRon65.html

  
 St. Louis Discography
This credit was used on the first record by Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon.
Frank Trumbauer, Cm reportedly joins the band; one of the Cm in the photograph of this orchestra in The Talking Machine World of November 15, 1922 could be he.
http://www.bluesworld.com/StLouisDiscogEdit.html

  
 Amazon.ca: Books: Discography of Okeh Records, 1918-1934
This discography documents all recordings made by this pioneering and influential record label which was active in many areas - popular, jazz, blues, country, and ethnic music during a formative and dynamic period in America's cultural history just before and during the 1920s on into the early 1930s.
All known 78rpm record releases in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and Japan are detailed.
Top of Page : Discography of Okeh Records, 1918-1934
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0313311420

  
 JOHNSON, Lonnie : MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music
Johnson's own records on OKeh (also Gennett '27, Columbia '31--2) began '25 with Charles Creath's Jazz-O-Maniacs, continued with nearly 100 sides, incl.
Compilations It Feels So Good on Queen Disc (OKeh sides '27--30), He's A Jelly Roll Baker on Bluebird, Steppin' On The Blues on Columbia Legacy, Complete Folkways Recordings from '67.
Gigged locally with his brother, James 'Steady Roll' Johnson; went to Europe c'17, thought to have toured with Will Marion Cook; returned to USA to find that flu epidemic '18--19 had killed most of his family.
http://www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/j/J61.HTM

  
 Monarch Jazz Quartet
The group appears to have recorded religious material under the name of the Jubilee Quartet of Norfolk at the same time that these secular records were made.
The picture of the band on the right is purported to be the Monarch Jazz Quartet and is from an Okeh Records advertisement from 1929.
The Monarch Jazz Quartet was an unknown vocal harmony group thought to be from Norfolk, Virginia.
http://www.redhotjazz.com/mjq.html

  
 [No title]
As producer and A&R director for OKeh Records, he got hits with Major Lance that helped define the Chicago soul sound, as well as working on lesser-known but quality soul discs by Billy Butler and Walter Jackson.
After leaving his position at OKeh, Davis worked at A&R and production for Brunswick Records, which recorded the bulk of top Chicago soul in the late '60s and '70s.
In the early '60s, Davis co-ran the small Chicago Nat label, which had a small hit with a single, "Nite Owl," by the vocal group the Dukays.
http://www.kzsf.com/iplaylist/artist/374029

  
 Soulindex for ska2soul.net
the rare records and some of the artists that made the label popular.
index contains the record history of some of the finest UK/USA 60's
To mark the first anniversary of Dave Godin's death, 15th October 2004...
http://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/soulindex.htm

  
 NPR : Richmond's OKeh Sessions
Though no future "stars" were "discovered" the Richmond sessions provide a lens on the musical diversity of Virginia at the time -- blues, "old time," shape-note singing, Hawaiian music.
Weekend Edition - Saturday, October 19, 2002 · In October, 1929, 30 different groups from across Virginia converged on Richmond for sessions organized by OKeh Records.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1151951

  
 Tower Records - The Okeh Ellington - Duke Ellington
Tower Records - The Okeh Ellington - Duke Ellington
Tower, Tower Records, TowerRecords.com, Tower.com, Tower CD Listening Station, Tower Outlet, Tower Records Videos Books, Tower Essentials,
Collecting the sides Duke and his Orchestra waxed for the legendary OKeh label, this set gives a stunning overview of the dance-oriented compositions Ellington wrote, performed and popularized at New York's Cotton Club in the 1920s.
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1003458

  
 Find in a Library: Discography of OKeh Records, 1918-1934
Find in a Library: Discography of OKeh Records, 1918-1934
WorldCat is provided by OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. on behalf of its member libraries.
To find a library, type in a postal code, state, province, or country.
http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/f11d3c268b0d752ba19afeb4da09e526.html

  
 OKeh Project
If you have any of the records listed below, the easiest way to transmit the information required is by xeroxing each side and adding details of label colour, whether surfaced or plain paper and plain or milled edge, plus all wax information.
All sources of information and the identity of the owners of the records will be kept as confidential, unless otherwise advised!
Geneva Gray (Info from Blues and Gospel Records only)
http://www.rainerjazz.com/OK_Proj.htm

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