Trumpet Records
Trumpet Records was an independent music label founded by Lillian and Willard McMurry in Jackson , Mississippi in 1951 and existed until 1956.
history
The founders got into the music business by chance, as they found a lot of old blues and rhythm and blues 78rpm records in the back room of the building on Farish Street they bought in 1949. They opened a record store and realized that there was a market for that music in Jackson. Farish Street was on the border between the city's white and black districts, making it a good location for a record store.
The label was founded to give local groups and musicians recording opportunities that the majors had no chance at all. On April 3, 1950, the first recording session with the St. Andrews Gospelaires was held. Although the label only existed until 1956, it had a great influence on blues music. B. Elmore James on " Dust My Broom " for Trumpet. This single became and remained the greatest success of the young record company, it remained the only recording that reached the Billboard Rhythm & Bluescharts. The greatest importance of the company, however, lay in the fact that it gave artists a recording opportunity at a time when it was not possible to record in the southern United States. The company was based at 309 Farish Street, and the building had to be shared with a furniture store. Williamson's song "309" refers to this address, and the number "Pontiac Blues" is also related to his company, as it sings about Lillian McMurry's Pontiac. Today a plaque on the Mississippi Blues Trail commemorates the company's importance in the development of the blues.
In 1956 the record company was closed. The artists' contracts were sold to other record companies by the lenders, so Sonny Boy Williamson II, who made 11 recordings for Trumpet, went to Chess Records in Chicago , where he was able to continue his career. But the other artists also made great careers.
Lillian McMurry, who ran the record company, was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame in 1998. She was known for her fairness and decades after the last Trumpet Records recordings, she took care of the rights, sued if necessary and paid the artists or their heirs the royalties due to them. Also noteworthy is the fact that a white couple founded a black music company at a time of intense segregation, in a state that continued segregation for a long time afterwards. She died in March 1999, her husband, who was responsible for the economic side of the company, died in 1996.
Artist on Trumpet Records
One of the session musicians was Elmore James , who was a radio mechanic in Henry McMurry's shop. The first recordings of Sonny Boy Williamson II appeared on Trumpet , who brought his friend Willie Love , a pianist, to Trumpet. Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup recorded for the company under the name Elmer James. In addition to these artists, Wynonie Harris , Little Milton and Ike Turner were among the artists who recorded for Trumpet Records.
literature
- Marc W. Ryan: Trumpet Records: Diamonds on Farish Street , University Press of Mississippi, 1993
Individual evidence
- ^ Mississippibluestrail tablet in Jackson
- ↑ Book Review Diamonds on Farish Street
- ↑ Mississippi Blues Trail
- ↑ Bluescentric ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Mississippibluestrail tablet in Jackson
- ↑ Mississippi Blues Trail
- ↑ Mississippi Blues Trail
- ↑ Trumpet Records ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
