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| The 2007 Texas Blues Radio design was inspired by the label
of a 1927
Paramount 78 RPM Blues record. It was submitted by KNON's Monday
Blues host JMAC. Paramount
was founded in 1917 by a Grafton, Wisconsin furniture company which made
cabinets for Edison phonographs. In the early 20th Century records were often
included with new phonographs. Recorded music was new and
phonograph records were scarce in some parts of America. Several of
the best known labels were established by companies that manufactured
phonographs to provide buyers with records to play. A few of those
labels are still around today.
The earliest Paramount releases included Vaudeville, Jazz, and early
Country music as well as Blues. After Blind Lemon Jefferson's huge
hits in 1926 and 1927 Paramount released primarily Blues recordings.
But competition from budget labels, the advent of
radio, and the Great Depression took their toll and the original Paramount record company went out of
business in 1935. Paramount is gone* but thousands of 78's survive as
a chronicle of Blues history. |
| Besides Jefferson, well known Paramount Blues
artists include Papa Charlie Jackson, Son House, Charlie
Patton, Skip James,
Charlie Spand, Big Bill Broonzy, Bumble Bee Slim, Little Brother
Montgomery, Rube Lacey, Henry Townsend, Buddy Boy Hawkins, the Hokum
Boys, and Blind Blake. Seventy years after the label went
out of business the Blues artists that recorded on Paramount are still being
heard and enjoyed.
Original Paramount 78's are sought by collectors and the rarest are
worth a small fortune. Contemporary labels such as Yazoo,
Document, Wolf, JSP, and others reissue Paramount Blues recordings
on CD today.
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| Many thanks to everyone that submitted designs for the 2007
T-Shirt Contest! |
| * The current Paramount label was formed in a 1954 merger of Paramount Film Studios and ABC Records
and has no connection with the 1917-1935 Paramount label. |
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