King of the Queen City : the story of King Records / Jon Hartley Fox ; foreword by Dave Alvin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fox, Jon Hartley.

Series:

Music in American life.

Music in American life

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sound recording industry--Ohio--Cincinnati--History.

Sound recording industry.

King Record Company--History.

King Record Company.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (281 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Urbana : University of Illinois Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

King of the Queen City is the first comprehensive history of King Records, one of the most influential independent record companies in the history of American music. Founded by businessman Sydney Nathan in the mid-1940s, this small outsider record company in Cincinnati, Ohio, attracted a diverse roster of artists, including James Brown, the Stanley Brothers, Grandpa Jones, Redd Foxx, Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett, Ike Turner, Roy Brown, Freddie King, Eddie Vinson, and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. While other record companies concentrated on one style of music, King was active in virtually all genres of vernacular American music, from blues and R & B to rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing, and country. A progressive company in a reactionary time, King was led by an interracial creative and executive staff that redefined the face and voice of American music as well as the way it was recorded and sold. Drawing on personal interviews, research in newspapers and periodicals, and deep access to the King archives, Jon Hartley Fox weaves together the elements of King's success, focusing on the dynamic personalities of the artists, producers, and key executives such as Syd Nathan, Henry Glover, and Ralph Bass. The book also includes a foreword by legendary guitarist, singer, and songwriter Dave Alvin.

Contents:

Syd starts a record company

The hillbilly boogie

The King gets a Queen

Henry Glover

Good rockin' tonight

Where the hell's the melody?

Business as usual was pretty unusual

Masters of the groove

I'll sail my ship alone

Record man

The Sixty-Minute Men

You give me fever

Every time I feel the spirit

How mountain girls can love

Let's have a natural ball

That ain't nothin' but right

The hardest-working man in show business

Brother Claude Ely and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

Life after death

"We broke the shit down".

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (P. [215]-228), and index.

ISBN:

9786613063878

9781283063876

1283063875

9780252091278

0252091272

OCLC:

1097099885