Parkway Records
| Parkway Records | |
|---|---|
| Active years | 1949-1950 |
| founder | Monroe B. Passis |
| Seat | Chicago |
| Genre (s) | Blues , rhythm and blues |
Parkway Records was an American blues and rhythm and blues record label that was founded in 1949 and lasted until 1950.
The short-lived Parkway label was one of the small, independent companies that existed in Chicago in the second half of the 1940s. Parkway remains legendary for his recordings of the Chicago Blues in the post-war years. In total, the label only existed for four months, in which 23 recordings were made, 14 of which were released during this time, for example by Baby Face Leroy Foster , Little Walter , Memphis Minnie , Sunnyland Slim and the harmonica player Robert Jenkins . The company was founded by Monroe B. Passis (1914-2004), who worked in sales at Columbia Records in the late 30s and later worked as a co-producer on Bing Crosby's White Christmas . The place of business was at 2320 Michigan Avenue. In August 1949, Passis brought the African American George and Ernie Leaner into his company to become active in the race records market . Initially, Passis worked with his distribution company Chord Distributors , which traded with "popular, race, religious, and kiddy records". Since Passis was interested in blues recordings, he organized a first session with the trio of Baby Face Leroy, Muddy Waters and Little Walter, which also recorded two sides of Waters' classic Rollin 'and Tumblin' . The label's last session was on April 10, 1950 with jazz trombonist Bennie Green with pianist Willie Jones and bassist Gene Wright ( Pennies From Heaven ), but it remained unpublished. After the Leaner brothers, who built up the United Record Distributors company, left the company , the Parkway label was dissolved in September 1950.
The sessions
The sessions took place in the Universal Recording Studio, Chicago.
| Recording dates | Pieces | Artist | Line-up, accompanist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, January 1950: | Rollin 'and Tumblin' , Part 1 & 2 (Muddy Waters), Boll Weevil (unreleased) | Baby Face Leroy Trio | Leroy Foster, Muddy Waters, Little Walter |
| Chicago, January 1950: | Just Keep Lovin 'Her , Moonshine Blues , Bad Actin' Woman , Take a Walk with Me , Moonshine Baby | Little Walter Trio | Little Walter, Leroy Foster, Muddy Waters |
| Chicago, January 1950 | Down Home Girl , Night Watchman Blues , Why Did I Make You Cry , Kidman Blues , Ludella | Memphis Minnie and her Jumping Boys / Jimmy Rogers | Memphis Minnie (voc, eg); Little Son Joe [Ernest Lawlars] (eg); Jimmy Rogers (voc); Little Walter (hca); Sunnyland Slim (p); Ernest "Big Crawford" (b); Leroy Foster (d) |
| Chicago, late January 1950 | I Done You Wrong , Orphan Boy Blues , When I Was Young (Shake It Baby) , When I Was Young , (Low Down) Sunnyland Train | Sunnyland Slim | Sunnyland Slim (p, voc); Oliver Alcorn (ts); Robert Jr. Lockwood (eg); Ernest “Big” Crawford (b); Alfred "Fat Man" Wallace (d) |
| Early 1950 | Steelin 'Boogie , part 1 & 2 | Robert Jenkins and Trio | Robert Jenkins (hca); Gene Pierce (eg); unknown (eg, d). |
| April 10, 1950 | Pennies from Heaven | Bennie Green | Bennie Green (tb); Claude McLin (ts); Willie Jones (p); Gene Wright (b); Dorell Anderson (d). |
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Robert L. Campbell, Robert Pruter: The Parkway Label ( Memento from December 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Memento)