Catfish Records was a
UK independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
, initially devoted to reissuing
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
records, mostly from the era of
78 rpm records.
Khaled Abdullah and Russell Beecher, concentrated on
country blues and
delta blues
Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...
during the heyday of the late 1920s and the early 1930s, with forays into later eras up to the arrival of
rhythm and blues in the late 1940s and electric
Chicago blues in the early 1950s. Their roster included
Charley Patton,
Son House,
Tommy Johnson,
Bukka White, and the
Mississippi Sheiks
The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, ...
. These selected releases generally featured the most artistically meritorious or historically relevant recordings of any of the musicians reissued. At the time, the label was particularly noted for the high quality of its digital restorations of pre-war blues recordings.
The company latterly issued a number of historical recordings in other genres including
jazz,
country and
bluegrass, but also featured releases from several contemporary artists including
Michael Messer
Michael Messer (born 28 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter, slide guitarist, recording artist, producer, guitar designer/manufacturer. He is noteworthy for his ability to combine acoustic and electric National slide and lap steel ...
,
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...
,
Bap Kennedy,
Townes Van Zandt and Terry Clarke. The company also handled DVD releases for projects including Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey, and the award-winning
alt country documentary, ''
Heartworn Highways''.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Illustrated Catfish Records discography
Blues record labels
British independent record labels
{{UK-record-label-stub