Gennett Records

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Gennett Records logo in the early 1920s

Gennett Records was an American independent label . Gennett was one of the most successful labels of the 1920s and is considered important for the promotion of jazz .

history

Founding by Starr

As early as 1915, the Starr Piano Company was selling records under its Starr Records label; however, the project was discontinued due to poor sales. Although there are different dates from 1915 to 1919, Starr actually founded Gennett Records in October 1917 to enter the record market. In the beginning, gramophones were also manufactured under the name Gennett , but they were only sold in Indiana . Gennett Records' studios were located in New York City , New York , (37th Street), and in 1921 studios were also set up in Richmond , Indiana, where the label is based.

While the recordings from New York were of average quality, the Richmond studio struggled with recording technology problems that major labels like RCA Victor and Columbia Records had resolved 20 years earlier. This often resulted in a bad sound on the records.

Ascent

Sioux City Six - Flock O'Blues

In the 1920s, Gennett rose to become one of the most sought-after labels in the United States. Especially in the field of jazz, the label showed itself with artists such as Jelly Roll Morton , Bix Beiderbecke , New Orleans Rhythm Kings , Joe "King" Oliver , Louis Armstrong , Original New Orleans Jazz Band (by Johnny Stein ), Thomas A. Dorsey and others significantly involved in the development. The label first became well known when Jelly Roll Morton recorded the piano solo King Porter Stomp on July 17, 1923 , which rose to the jazz standard in the subsequent big band era . While the big corporations concentrated on a kind of “mainstream jazz”, Gennett did not shy away from making recordings of alternative styles and musicians. But the label was not only active in the field of jazz, famous old-time and hillbilly musicians such as Vernon Dalhart , Carson Robison , Ernest Stoneman and David Miller also recorded for Gennett. Also some Delta Blues musicians like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Big Bill Broonzy were under contract with Gennett.

From 1926 - after initial problems - the principle of "electrical recording" developed by General Electric was used. The new recording technology set new standards in terms of sound. In addition to Gennett's sub-labels, the label also produced records from other companies such as Supertone Records , Silvertone Records and Challenge Records . They also had contracts with Autograph, Rainbow, Hitch, KKK, Our Song and Vaughn, whose records Gennett pressed.

Decline

In 1930 the global economic crisis hit the Gennett label hard, and production had to be cut back a considerable amount. Few recordings were made until 1934, mainly sound effects for radio stations. In 1935, the Starr Piano Company sold the label together with Champion Records and the entire catalog to Decca Records , which continued both labels with little success until 1937. The final end for Gennett Records came shortly after the end of the Second World War . The music publisher and producer Joe Davis had previously tried to revive the label.

present

The Starr-Gennett Foundation , founded in 1991, created the Gennett Walk of Fame in 2007 to honor the most influential and important artists of Gennett Records. The Walk of Fame is located in Richmond along the Starr Piano Company building . The following musicians have already been immortalized on the Walk of Fame:

Bailey's Lucky Seven - My Old Ramshackle Shack, 192?

2007:

2008:

2009:

2010:

2011:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WSEM gives the year 1915 for the foundation, Björn Englund 1916. However, 1917 seems more likely, which was also confirmed by the Starr-Gennett Foundation.
  2. ^ Bob Koester: Joe Davis and Gennett Records

Web links

Commons : Gennett Records  - collection of images, videos and audio files