The 1920s were the golden age of the recording industry. True, it was the dawn of that business, it was still rough and clumsy, but it offered an array of entirely new possibilities to make money.
Offerings of recording aimed to a particular audience began when record companies realised there was an untapped market of new immigrants yarning for the sound of home. Catalogues of ethnic records were produced specifically for this market and included re-pressed recordings form Europe and new recordings by American immigrants artists. These records were marketed directly to the specific ethnic community and seldom found their way outside of that context.
The first jazz record specifically labelled as such was recorded in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, a white band originally from New Orleans. Not until 1920 black musicians and singers started to make recordings with any regularity. That was the year in which black composer and pianist Perry Bradford championed a young entertainer named Mamie Smith, who recorded a version of Bradford’s Crazy Blues with the General Phonographer’s Company OKeh label. It was a huge success. It sold 75.000 copies the first week in Harlem alone and prompted OKeh Records to launch their own ‘race records’ line, the first ethnic line produced explicitly for African Americans.
Soon, other white-owned record companies followed in OKeh’s footsteps and the outstanding success of these records had in African American communities across the nation made it possible for smaller – and often short-lived – black-owned companies to open business. Among these, Black Swan was the most pre-eminent.
Race Records were sold practically only to African Americans and based their appeal to authenticity to a variety of qualities including musical characteristics, performer reputation, the race of performers and even the race of the company employees and owners. In fact, the name ‘race records’, that whites might have connected to segregation, probably had a very different meaning for African Americans who in the 1920s were strongly called to upholding the Race pride.
Race records didn’t just offer blues, although that was the principal and more popular subject. They also featured sermons, minstrel songs, spirituals and gospel tunes, popular song and some early jazz.
Sales reached 5 million copies a year. Newsboys sold blues records. So did door-to-door salesmen. Pullman porters carried copies south with them and paddled them in whistle shops.
They were hugely popular.
RESOURCES
Ogren, Kathy J., The Jazz Revolution. Twenties America and the Meaning of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989
Shmoop – Race in blues music history
Encyclopedia Britannica – Race Records
The Library of Congress – African American Performers on Early sound Recordings (1892-1916)
The People History – 1920s Music
PBS – Jazz
14 Comments
Tasha
It always takes one pioneer to start the gold rush, doesn’t it. I wonder what percentage of the recordings have survived, what with it being such a particular market.
Tasha
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jazzfeathers
I’m no expert, but I suppose quite a lot. These records were very popular, there was a great number of them produced every year.
Besides, it isn’t difficult to find recordings from the era even on you tube. I suppose most of them come from race records. Black music wasn’t really listen to outside the African American community, back in those days.
Kathleen Valentine
I can only imagine how thrilling it must have been for people to have records of their own music, sermons, stories. I wonder how many have survived all these years.
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jazzfeathers
I’m really no expert, but I’d guess quite a few have survived. I mean, it isn’t they were rare 😉
Arlee Bird
Recording companies have come a long way. Wish I had some of those old records!
Arlee Bird
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jazzfeathers
Have you tried ask our mutual friend, the Internet? 😉
Jessica A Goodsell
Wow! I would love to listen to some of those first recorded songs!
jazzfeathers
A lot of them are on you tube. While researching this theme, I’ve come across many reproduction of the Black Swan recordings 🙂
Megan Morgan
I had no idea about this! Like Arlee said, I would love to get my hands on some of those old records!
jazzfeathers
Me too 🙂
Carrie-Anne
I first heard the term “race records” when I was 20 or 21, and in the homestretch of the first draft of my first Russian historical. The source I found it in said it referred to jazz records, as a kind of euphemism for letting white folks know this was music made by African–Americans. The source also said they were typically only sold in African–American stores, in places like Harlem, never white establishments.
jazzfeathers
As I understand it, race records had very little to do with withes whatsoever.
Shilpa Garg
1917!! Wow! The first Jazz record came out that early! amazing!
jazzfeathers
And isn’t it amazing that we can still listen to that recording, one hundred years later? It doesn’t seem possible that so much time has passed.