Goldband Records is an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

based in

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

, founded in 1945 and best known for its

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

and R&B recordings in the 1950s and 1960s. Its founder, Eddie Shuler, claimed "the record business is nearly always 90% hype and 10% record".

History

The company was established by Edward Wayne Shuler Sr. (March 27, 1913 - July 23, 2005). Shuler was born in

Wrightsboro, Texas Wrightsboro is an unincorporated community in Gonzales County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population 76 in 2000. Wrightsboro is located at (29.3738515, -97.5649940). It is situated al ...

, and moved to Lake Charles in 1942 to work in an oil refinery. He played guitar with The Hackberry Ramblers before forming his own band, The All-Star Reveliers, which performed on radio station KPLC in 1945. Shuler formed Goldband Records that year, originally to record his own group, but soon diversified into releasing records by other local bands. In 1948 he began releasing records by accordionist

Iry LeJeune Ira "Iry" LeJeune (October 27, 1928 Cajun Music a Reflection of the People – October 8, 1955) was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s. His recordings and repertoire remai ...

, on two subsidiary labels, Folk Star and TNT - among the first Cajun recordings released - and in 1951 The Reveliers had their own regional hit with "Ace of Love". In the early 1950s, Shuler established the Goldband complex—including recording studio, record store, and TV store—in Lake Charles, and began recording all genres of music, including R&B,

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 ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

swamp pop Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western ...

and Cajun. Hit recordings included

Boozoo Chavis Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis (pronounced CHAY-viss) (October 23, 1930 – May 5, 2001) was an American accordion player, singer, songwriter and bandleader. He was one of the pioneers of zydeco, the fusion of Cajun and blues music developed ...

"Paper in My Shoe" (1954) and the company's biggest seller,

Phil Phillips John Philip Baptiste (March 14, 1926 – March 14, 2020), known as Phil Phillips, was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1959 song, " Sea of Love". Biography Baptiste was encouraged to pursue a career as a singer after a scho ...

"Sea of Love" (1959). Goldband was also the first to record

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

(then 13 years old), with "Puppy Love" (1960). Other artists recording for Goldband included Sidney Brown,

Rockin' Sidney Sidney Simien (April 9, 1938 – February 25, 1998), known professionally as Rockin' Sidney, was an American R&B, zydeco, and soul musician who began recording in the late 1950s and continued performing until his death. He is best known for his ...

Jo-El Sonnier Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the ''Bi ...

, and

Freddy Fender Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was bes ...

. The company thrived with Cajun regional successes through the 1960s, but changing tastes in the 1970s led to a decline in its fortunes. By the time of Shuler's death in 2005 it was the longest established

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 ...

. Today, it has become a mail order record company using their online site. The Goldband studio buildings in Lake Charles were demolished in May 2017. The Goldband Recording Corporation archival collection, which includes original sound recordings, papers, and photographs, resides at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill within the

Southern Folklife Collection The Southern Folklife Collection is an archival resource at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, dedicated to collecting, preserving and disseminating traditional and vernacular music, art, and culture related to the American South. T ...

References

External links

The story of Goldband Records
American independent record labels Swamp pop music Lake Charles, Louisiana Record labels established in 1945 Record labels based in Louisiana 1945 establishments in Louisiana {{US-record-label-stub