George Khoury (record producer)

George Khoury
Background information
Born	July 17, 1909
Died	January 8, 1998 Lake Charles, Louisiana
Genres	Cajun, country, swamp blues, swamp pop
Occupation(s)	Record producer, songwriter, musician
Years active	1950s-1960s

Khoury
Khoury's and O.T. labels
Founded	1947
Genre	Cajun, country, swamp blues, swamp pop
Country of origin	United States
Location	Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States

George Khoury (July 17, 1909 – January 8, 1998, Lake Charles, Louisiana) was an American record producer, whose Cajun, country swamp blues, and swamp pop recordings made an impact on American popular culture. He recorded Nathan Abshire and the song "Pine Grove Blues". Later he would record Lawrence Walker and His Wandering Aces, Elise Deshotel with Dewey Balfa, Harry Choates, Jimmy Newman, and Phil Phillips with the Twilights.

Khoury's birthplace is unknown; however, he was of Lebanese ancestry. In 1947, as an owner of a record shop, he noticed a lack of Cajun music being recorded in south Louisiana and decided to open a business to compete with Ed Shuler's Goldband Records and J. D. "Jay" Miller's Fais-Do-Do and Feature labels. His base of operations was just around the corner from Shuler's, on Railroad Avenue in Lake Charles.

A longhorn salesman named Virgil Bozman had travelled to Lake Charles and noticed the music being recorded in the region. In the 1940s, Virgel Bozman created a string band that became the studio band for Bill Quinn's Opera label and Gold Star Records label out of Houston, Texas. The band would be called the "Oklahoma Tornados" and sometimes feature fiddler Floyd Leblanc. Khoury, who saw the need for more Cajun music, decided to help Virgil finance a new label, O.T. Records, named after his band. Based in Westlake, Louisiana, this label would record famous Cajun artists including Nathan Abshire Floyd Leblanc, and Harry Choates. Later, the label moved to San Antonio, Texas, and was run by James Bryant and Bennie Hess.