Black First of the Day
What was the first Black record company?
- It was eventually sold to Paramount Records.
- Founded by Henry Pace.
- Ethel Waters recorded the company's first hit, "Down Home Blues/Oh, Daddy."
- It used the Black Swan label.
1921
The Pace Phonograph Company
the Pace Phonograph Company, which used the Black Swan label, was the first record company owned and operated by a black. It was established in January 1921 by Henry Pace (1897-1943), who had been owner of a music publishing company with W. C. Handy. Two former workers for the Pace-Handy Company joined him: Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952) as a recording manager and William Grant Still (1895-1978) as an arranger. In spring 1921 Ethel Waters (1896-1977) recorded the company's first hit, "Down Home Blues/Oh, Daddy." During its first six months the company reportedly sold more than half a million records. It went broke in 1923, and was sold to Paramount Records the following year.
Sources: Southern, The Music of Black Americans, pp. 366-67.
From Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events by Jessie Carney Smith, © 2013 Visible Ink Press®. A celebration of achievement, accomplishments and pride.
| < Previous Fact | Next Fact > |
Dig deeper with these related titles:
|
Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events, Third Edition Achievement engenders pride, and the most significant accomplishments involving people, places, and events in black history are gathered in Black... Read More » |
|
 |
African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence A wealth of milestones, inspiration, and challenges met. . . The most complete and affordable single-volume reference of African... Read More » |
|
 |
Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience Spanning nearly 400 years from the early abolitionists to the present, this guide book profiles more than 400 people, places, and events that have... Read More » |
|
 |
Black Heroes "If there is no struggle, there is no progress," wrote Frederick Douglass. "This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may... Read More » |