Paramount Records
| Paramount Records | |
|---|---|
1926 disc label
|
|
| Founded | 1917 |
| Founder | Wisconsin Chair Company |
| Defunct | 1932 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Distributor(s) | Jazzology |
| Genre | Jazz, blues |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Wisconsin |
| Official website | www |
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Paramount Records was founded in 1917 by the Wisconsin Chair Company. The label's offices were located in Port Washington, Wisconsin and the pressing plant was in Grafton. The label was managed by Fred Dennett Key.
The Wisconsin Chair Company made wooden phonograph cabinets for Edison Records. In 1915 it started making its own phonographs in the name of its subsidiary, the United Phonograph Corporation. It made phonographs under the Vista brand name through the end of the decade; the line failed commercially.
In 1918, a line of gramophone records debuted on the Paramount label. They were recorded and pressed by a Chair Company subsidiary, the New York Recording Laboratories, Inc. which, despite its name, was located in the same Wisconsin factory as the parent concern in Port Washington. Advertisements, however, stated: "Paramounts are recorded in our own New York laboratory".
In its early years, the Paramount label fared only slightly better than the Vista phonograph line. The product had little to distinguish itself. Paramount released pop recordings with average audio quality pressed on average quality shellac. With the coming of electric recording, both the audio fidelity and the shellac quality declined to well below average, although some Paramount records were well pressed on better shellac and have become collectible.
In the early 1920s, Paramount was accumulating debt while producing no profit. Paramount began offering to press records for other companies on a contract basis at low prices.
Paramount was contracted to press discs for Black Swan Records. When the Black Swan company later floundered, Paramount bought out Black Swan and made records by and for African-Americans. These so-called race music records became Paramount's most famous and lucrative business, especially its legendary 12000 series.
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