Gold Star Records

For the record label founded by Héctor el Father, see Gold Star Music.
Gold Star Records
"Jole Blon"
Parent companyQuinn Recording Company
Founded1941
GenreCajun, country, blues, rock, R&B, hip hop
Country of originUnited States
LocationHouston, Texas, United States

Gold Star Records is an American independent record label founded by Bill Quinn in Houston, Texas in 1941.

History

See also: SugarHill Recording Studios § Gold Star Studios

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]

References

  1. ^ Gish, Erica (19 May 2015). "Quinn, William Russel [Bill] (1904-1976)". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b Bradley, Andy; Wood, Roger (1 April 2010). House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios. Austin, Texas, US: University of Texas Press. pp. 18–22. ISBN 978-0-292-71919-4.
  3. ^ Dahl, Bill. "Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 30, 2009.
  4. ^ "Virgel Bozman's Oklahoma Tornadoes Archives". Bopping.org. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  5. ^ Yule, Ron (2009). Louisiana Fiddlers. University Press of Mississippi. p. 221. ISBN 978-1604732955.
  6. ^ "Texas Blues: Bill Quinn's Gold Star Recordings" (PDF). Folkways Media. 1992. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  7. ^ "Modern Buys 32 Hopkins, Jackson Masters for $2,500". Billboard. September 29, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved August 21, 2024.