1943

Syd starts a record company

His innovative staffing policies in the 1940s encouraged a racially integrated workforce with Black Americans in leadership roles

“I’m gonna start me a record company,”  Syd Nathan. Due to rations and restrictions for the war effort, obtaining phonographs for customers became more difficult. Syd began to think he could manufacture and sell his own. In September 1943 Syd Nathan decided to share this idea with two of his customers.

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1944

King on Brewster

Nathan sought out a local sound engineer at WLW Radio, Earl “Bucky” Herzog to get it moving

In August 1944, Syd incorporated King Records as a company, along with a friend Larry Sick and some family members as investors - his younger sister Dorothy, her husband Saul Halper, and a cousin Howard Kessel. They found a location for their plant on a street in the neighborhood of Evanston, a few blocks away from the campus of Xavier University.

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1945

WLW Talent

The Herzog Studio

By 1945 Syd began to think about other markets other than just country music. “We went along as hillbilly for well over two years then we saw the need to go into other categories in the record business because we saw a need. Why should our men go into these towns and sell to only hillbilly accounts? Why can’t we sell a few more while we are there?” Syd Nathan

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1946

Hillbilly Boogie

A Precursor to Rock and Roll

In 1946 King Records began recording a new music genre that would be an important precursor to Rock and Roll. Hillbilly Boogie, sometimes called Guitar Boogie, developed from Boogie Woogie, a piano style that began sometime in the early 20th century. Following World War II country guitarists began to incorporate the style in their playing, which had an up tempo beat and bluesy chord changes, foreshadowing rockabilly.

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1947

We Pay for Ability

King Leads the Path in America’s Hiring Process

“We pay for ability and ability has no color, no race, and no religion. Our hiring policy and our promotion system are based only on the question of the individual’s capacity to fill a given job.” Ben Siegel

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1948

King Lays the Blueprints

Cincinnati Introduces “Rock and Roll”

The late 1940s saw a shift from Big Band music and the arrival of a new development in post-war music known as Jump Blues which featured a new kind of singer - The Blues Shouter. Performers delivered risqué lyrics in a raucous vocal style and were accompanied by a small combo which showcased the saxophone as the lead instrument.

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1949

Syd Hires Henry Glover

King's A&R and Recording Director Helps to Create and Define the First Rock and Roll Record 

Starting in 1949, Syd and Henry began having their artists record each other’s songs. Glover oversaw recording sessions for both Country and R&B artists. Henry would help write and arrange many of these songs, many were hits in both white and black markets. This was a first in music, white and black America, coming together to record True American Music.

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1950

Breaking Barriers

Prolific Jazz Pianist, Composer, and Arranger Mary Lou Williams was Born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1910

She was self-taught as a young child, began to perform by age 6, and joined her first professional big band ensemble by the age of twelve.

Mary Lou Williams had a close relationship with Marian McPartland, another jazz pianist who recorded with King Records. McPartland fondly called Williams “my role model forever.”

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1951

On July 11, 1951, Freed Went on the Air at WJW and Began Playing “Blues for Moon Dog” as His Radio Theme

This Song by Todd Rhodes on King Records Considered the First Rock and Roll on the Radio

The squeals and sexual innuendo of "Sixty Minute Man" was a direct contrast to the way Billy Ward ran the Dominoes. Group members were fined for drinking and carrying on. Ward was versed in classical composition and had studied at Julliard. "Sixty Minute Man" wasn't only the best selling R&B record of 1951 but, the highest charted R&B record of all time.

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1952

Battling Jim Crow Laws

King Artists Persevered Through Segregation to Create New Forms of Music that Inspired the World

“At the time Cincinnati was a different kind of town, like they had gambling across the river. Music was just flourishing. You had music in every neighborhood. This was home base for Tiny Bradshaw, but we traveled all across the United States. Tiny was a popular band leader. He was an energetic performer,” said Philip Paul, a King Records session player that has been a stable in the Cincinnati music community well into his 90s.

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1953

Big Sessions, Big Talent

In 1953 King Records Signs Bonnie Lou, A Soon to be Country Star Who is one of the Original, if not the First Female “Rockabilly” Artist and Star 

John Lee Hooker did a recording session creating an entire album with DeLuxe, a King subsidiary label under the same King Records label. This was the year Brother Claude Ely from Whitesburg, Kentucky first started recording with King as well as The Platters sign with Federal. Their big hit, “Only You,” which can be heard on many soundtracks and movies throughout the last 50 years plus.

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1954

A Cincinnati High School football & baseball star, drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, decides to sing, Otis Williams and The Charms Hit Number 1

Five students at the Withrow High School in Cincinnati formed the group The Charms. “Hearts of Stone” released on King Records subsidiary label, Deluxe, was their first and biggest hit, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for nine weeks in 1954. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. The song also reached #15 on the pop charts.

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1955

Soul Singers

“Little Willie John was one of the Most Important Soulful Voices, A Soul Singer Before Anyone Thought to Call it that,” James Brown

By the end of 1954 the major labels were discovering the popularity of R & B music especially among white teenagers.  With other independent labels that started at the beginning of the 1950s such as Atlantic, Chess, and Sun, the market was becoming more crowded and competitive. A market Syd Nathan had had great success with since 1948. 

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1956

Please, Please, Please 

Here Come The Flames with James Brown and an A&R Man Named Ralph Bass.

In February 1956, King Records’ A&R man Ralph Bass brought a new band called The Flames to Cincinnati to record a song called “Please, Please, Please.” Syd Nathan dismissed the recording as trash and unlistenable. He fired Bass, but when the single began to sell nation-wide, Nathan rehired Bass. It was the first of many hits for James Brown at King Records.

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1957

A True Melting Pot of Music and People

“Black and White America Coming Together at King Records, A First, True American Music” Philip Paul

The unsung heroes were the musicians who worked on countless King recording sessions. There was a large talent pool of jazz players in Cincinnati who had the skill set needed to record, at a moment’s notice, any number of music genres and styles at King. King Records was recording all kinds of music by this time, even inventing genres.

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1958

Ralph and Carter Stanley

Their Legend Started in the Hills of Virginia and Continued to Soar at King Records

In eight years, from 1958 to 1966, the Stanley Brothers released 15 albums on King, making them one of the most recorded bands in bluegrass. Ralph Stanley released his first three solo albums on King. “A big break for the Stanley Brothers came from a Cincinnati label called King Records, run by Syd Nathan, who gave us the freedom to make our music at a time when Nashville had shut the door on us.” Ralph Stanley

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1959

The Twist 

Written at King Records, “We Changed the Way People Danced,” Philip Paul

Lead vocalist of The Midnighters, Hank Ballard was one of the first rock and roll artists to emerge in the early 1950s. He first wrote “The Twist” at King Records in 1958 and in 1959, Chubby Checker covered it and the song exploded.

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1960

Taking Soul Music to the Next Level

“You can hear the thing starting to change on records put out during the beginning of 1960. I was reaching for a different sound. See, when people talk about Soul Music they talk only about Gospel and R&B coming together. That’s accurate about a lot of Soul, but if you’re going to talk about mine, you have to remember the Jazz in it.” James Brown

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1961

Enter Freddie King and Seymour Stein

“I Think Freddie King is the Guy I Learned the Most Volume of Stuff from,” Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead

“The most significant event for me was when [my friend] Tom one day brought out a record by black artist Freddy King, a 45 rpm instrumental called “Hideaway” that he was mad about. I’d never heard Freddy King before, and listening to him had an effect on me similar to what I might feel if I were to meet an alien from outer space. It simply blew my mind.” Eric Clapton

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1962

Building Careers

Mabel Louise Smith, better known as “Big Maybelle,” was born in Jackson, Tennessee in 1924.

After touring with the Tiny Bradshaw Band, she recorded several tracks with King Records and went on to bridge gaps with various hits in Gospel, R&B and Rock and Roll.

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1963

The Tragic Plane Trip in 1963 

Country Music’s Darkest Day

On March 5, 1963, country music stars Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed in an airplane crash near Camden, Tennessee, United States, along with the pilot Randy Hughes. Cowboy and Hawkshaw were King Records legends, and we all know Patsy was the Queen of Country Music.

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1964

King Blues

In 1964 King released the first album by blues guitarist Albert King, who would later record the classic “Born under a Bad Sign” at Stax Records. A marathon recording session resulted in another great Freddy King album of instrumentals, which was his last album for King Records.

Lonnie Johnson, the pioneer blues guitarist who influenced B.B. King, returned to Cincinnati in April 1964 for a 4 song session. Johnson had a series of hits for King Records, starting in 1948 with “Tomorrow Night,” that topped the R & B charts for seven weeks and reached number 19 on the pop charts with reported sales of three million copies.

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1965

James Brown Takes Off

“I discovered My Strength was in the Rhythm. I Heard Everything, Even the Guitars, like they were Drums.” James Brown

James Brown sent Syd Nathan a tape of a song that would forever change his career and revolutionize modern music. It showcased a new style Brown had been developing during his live performances, with a sound that emphasized the percussive aspects of all instruments and leaving the established patterns of soul music behind.

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1966

James Brown Reignites King Records

“Things were Getting Bigger and Bigger.” James Brown

On February 16, 1966 James Brown recorded his third number one R &B hit and third Top 10 pop single. "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" demonstrated his ability to powerfully sing a romantic ballad. With such massive hits, Brown’s live performances were in great demand and moved into the larger venues.

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1967

The Birth of Funk

Before Motown, there was King Records

Cold Sweat, the very first funk album was created at King Records with James Brown and crew. "Cold Sweat" is the first recording in which Brown calls for a drum solo (with the famous exclamation "give the drummer some") from Clyde Stubblefield, beginning the tradition of rhythmic "breaks" that would become important in dance music and form the foundation of sampling. It also features a saxophone solo by Maceo Parker.

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1969

Funky Drummer

The Single is Just a Minor Hit When it's released but Clyde Stubblefield’s Drum Break Would Live to Become the Most Sampled Beat in all of Hip Hop.

On November 20th, Brown and his band record “Funky Drummer,” it was a late night coming off the tour road, but James Brown had an idea. The single was just a minor hit when it was released but Clyde Stubblefield drum break would live to become the most sampled beat in all of hip hop.

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1970

The New J.B.’s - Here comes Bootsy

Brown and the New Band Whipped into Shape – Brown’s New Sound Transfer the Emphasis from his horn.

On March 8th members of the road weary James Brown Show present an ultimatum. Unless demands are met, they will consider refusing to perform the next night in Columbus, Georgia. Not to be intimidated, Brown sends for a teenage band he has been producing in Cincinnati. Beging with their show in Columbus, Bootsy Collins and the J.B.'s replace suddenly unemployed veterans like Maceo Parker.

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1971

James Brown to Polydor

The End of an Era with James Brown, His Catalog & Labels to Polydor, and Starday-King Sells to Executives

"Hot Pants" was Brown's final release under King's purview before he (and the People label) moved to Polydor Records. The song's lyrics are an ode to the captivating power of the title garment, which members of the band first saw on their 1970 European tour. Like much of Brown's funk repertoire, "Hot Pants" has been extensively sampled in hip hop productions, notably by Eric B. & Rakim on the title track of “Paid in Full.”

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