| Gold Star Records | |
|---|---|
 "Jole Blon" | |
| Parent company | Quinn Recording Company |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Genre | Cajun, country, blues, rock, R&B, hip hop |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Houston, Texas, United States |
Gold Star Records is an American independent record label founded by Bill Quinn in Houston, Texas in 1941.
In 1939 Bill Quinn settled in Houston and established the Quinn Radio Service, a radio repair shop. After being intrigued by a home disc recorder he was asked to repair, he purchased one and began to experiment with it. In 1941 he opened a shop at 3104 Telephone Road in Houston, Texas, where he recorded personalized voice messages. Quinn renamed the business Quinn Recording Company and soon began recording radio jingles. [1] Venturing into music production in 1944, he founded the short-lived Gulf Record Company label. [2]
In 1946, Quinn founded Gold Star Records, initially recording local country (or "hillbilly") artists before expanding to record local blues and Cajun artists. In 1947, Gold Star had its first hit record, "Jole Blon" by Harry Choates, a swing and dance tune that and became the first and only Cajun record to reach the Billboard Top Five . [2] In 1948, Lightnin' Hopkins' songs "T-Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm", both became top 10 national hits, and Hopkins would record over 100 songs with Gold Star. Quinn also signed Lil' Son Jackson to the Gold Star Label, releasing "Freedom Train Blues" in 1948, which became a nationwide hit for Jackson. [3] Quinn would also release several Cajun songs on his Opera label. [4] [5]
In 1950, Quinn moved the studio into the first floor of his family home at 5628 Brock Street, just a few blocks from the original studio. He changed the name of the studio to Gold Star Studios. Around this time, the U.S. Government fined Gold Star Records $26,000 for unpaid excise taxes related to the sale of phonograph records on the Gold Star label that Quinn mistakenly thought were being paid by the pressing plants, but weren't. After costly legal negotiations, the sum total was reduced to $250, but Quinn ceased Gold Star Records operations. [6] Quinn sold or leased his catalogue of Gold Star master recordings to other labels and utilized Gold Star Studios to record for other labels. [7]
Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences. Although a fairly obscure genre, swamp pop maintains a large audience in its south Louisiana and southeast Texas homeland, and it has acquired a small but passionate cult following in the United Kingdom, and Northern Europe
Modern Records was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee Hooker. The label released some of the most influential blues and R&B records of the 1940s and 1950s.
Maison de Soul is a Louisiana-based Zydeco and blues record label. It was founded in 1974 in Ville Platte, Louisiana by Floyd Soileau and remains under his ownership. It is one of four record labels under Soileau's Flat Town Music Company umbrella, and combined the Flat Town labels make up "the largest body of Cajun, zydeco, and swamp music in the world". Living Blues magazine has called Maison de Soul "the country's foremost zydeco label".
James Floyd Soileau is an American record producer.
Roy Kent Head was an American singer, best known for his hit song "Treat Her Right".
Joseph Denton "Jay" Miller was an American record producer and songwriter from Louisiana, whose Cajun, swamp blues, and swamp pop recordings influenced American popular culture.
SugarHill Recording Studios is a music recording studio located at 5628 Brock Street in Houston, Texas. Originally founded by Bill Quinn in 1941 as Quinn Recording, it is the oldest continuously operating studio in the United States. Renamed Gold Star Studios in 1950, the studio was important in launching the careers of such artists as Lightnin' Hopkins, The Big Bopper, George Jones, the Sir Douglas Quintet, and Roy Head. In 1972 under new ownership, the studio's name was changed to SugarHill Recording Studios. Artists who have recorded at SugarHill include Freddy Fender, Lucinda Williams, Selena, Destiny's Child, Beyoncé, Lee Ann Womack, Lil Wayne, J. Cole and many others. A landmark in the Houston music community, the studio is renowned for its collection of vintage recording equipment, reverb chamber rooms, EMT plates and a long history of music.
Grand Ole Opry's New Star is the debut studio album released by George Jones in November 1956 with Starday Records. Produced by Jones' manager Pappy Daily, the album was recorded during early sessions in 1954, throughout 1955, and other sessions in 1956. It is also the first album to be released on the Starday label, a label only four years old.
Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson was an American blues guitarist and singer. He was a contemporary of Lightnin' Hopkins.
Harry Henry Choates was an American Cajun music fiddler known as the "Fiddle King of Cajun Swing" and the "Godfather of Cajun music." The scholar Barry Jean Ancelet called Choates "undoubtedly the most popular Cajun musician of his day."
"Why Baby Why" is a country music song co-written and originally recorded by George Jones. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily, it peaked at 4 on the Billboard country charts that year. It was Jones' first chart single, following several unsuccessful singles released during the prior year on Starday. "Why Baby Why", has gone on to become a country standard, having been covered by many artists.
Huey Purvis Meaux was an American record producer and the owner of various record labels and recording studios including Crazy Cajun Records, Tribe Records, Tear Drop Records, Capri Records, and SugarHill Recording Studios.
David Allen Stich, also known as Rockin' Dave Allen and Dave Allen, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Allen performed live throughout Texas and the Gulf Coast area from the late 1950s through the early 1980s. He recorded for the Jin, Eric, International Artists, Rock-a-Billy and Big Orange record labels for a total of sixteen 45 sides and two vinyl LPs. Some of this material has also appeared on compact disc anthologies by Ace Records. Approximately eighty minutes of Allen’s recordings remain unreleased.
Clarence Joseph Garlow was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who performed in the R&B, jump blues, Texas blues and cajun styles. He is best known for his recording of the song "Bon Ton Roula", which was a hit single on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1950. One commentator called it "a rhythm and blues laced-zydeco song that helped introduce the Louisiana music form to a national audience."
Jole Blon or Jolie Blonde is a traditional Cajun waltz, often called "the Cajun national anthem" because of the popularity it has in Cajun culture. The song was popularized on a nationwide scale by a series of renditions and references in late 1940s country songs. It has been the subject of occasional covers later in the 20th century by Cajun and classic country revival bands.
"Night Life" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson was inspired to write the song during one of his trips from his home in Pasadena, Texas, to his work, singing at the Esquire Ballroom in Houston.
"Family Bible" is a song written by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson began writing the song in 1957, while he enjoyed success as a disc jockey in KVAN, in Vancouver, Washington. After being denied a raise by the station, he moved to Houston, Texas. Due to financial issues he sold the song to Paul Buskirk.
"What a Way to Live" is a song written by country music singer Willie Nelson. He recorded the song on his second session with D Records, after moving to Houston, Texas. Produced by Bill Quinn, it was cut at Gold Star Studios in March 1960.
George Khoury was an American pioneer swamp pop and cajun record producer known for co-writing and composing the No. 1 hit song "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips as well as "Mathilda" by Cookie and his Cupcakes.
Macy's Recordings (Queen of Hits) was a Houston-based record label that released recordings of popular musicians around the southern United States. In April 1949, they famously recorded Lester Williams' song "Winter Time Blues" on their R&B series which became a hit. They would go on to record country and Cajun music as well.
