Goldwax Records was 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 ...

founded in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, United States, in 1964 by

Quinton Claunch Quinton Mavis Claunch (December 3, 1921 – April 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, record producer and record label owner, who was responsible with others for setting up Hi Records in the 1950s and Goldwax Records in the 1960s. Bi ...

and Rudolph V. "Doc" Russell.

History

Claunch was a hardware store owner who had previously worked as a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

guitarist, a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny C ...

, a

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

, and a

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and had co-founded

Hi Records Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partn ...

in 1957 before selling his stake two years later. Russell was a pharmacist who was interested in becoming involved in the music business. The label had its biggest successes with James Carr, who had a series of hits on the

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

between 1967 and 1969, including "

You've Got My Mind Messed Up ''You Got My Mind Messed Up'' is a 1967 album by James Carr. Although Carr is not as well known as his contemporaries such as Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin, "You Got My Mind Messed Up" has been cited as one of the top soul music albums of all ...

" and "

The Dark End of the Street "The Dark End of the Street" is a 1967 soul song, written by songwriters Dan Penn and Chips Moman and first recorded by James Carr. History and original recording The song was co-written by Penn, a professional songwriter and producer, and Mo ...

". It also had some success with

The Ovations The Ovations were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who recorded in the 1960s and 1970s. Their biggest hit, a remake of Sam Cooke's "Having a Party", reached no.7 on the '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1973. Biography The group was formed b ...

Spencer Wiggins Spencer Wiggins (born January 8, 1942) is an American soul and gospel singer. He is an exponent of so-called "deep soul" and is considered one of the best kept secrets of soul music. Life Wiggins was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where he grew ...

, and

Wee Willie Walker Willie Earl Walker (December 21, 1941 November 19, 2019), also known as Wee Willie Walker, was an American soul and blues singer. Life and career He was born in Hernando, Mississippi, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, where he started singing ...

. The label was dissolved in 1969, as a result of differences between Claunch and Russell as well as Carr's erratic behaviour. In the mid 1980s, the company was re-launched by Memphis businessman Elliott Clark, and Claunch became its President, but he left again in the 1990s.

Notable artists

* James Carr *

* Percy Milem * The Lyrics *

O.V. Wright Overton Vertis "O. V." Wright (October 9, 1939 – November 16, 1980) was an American singer who is generally regarded as a blues artist by African-American fans in the Deep South; he is also regarded as one of Southern soul's most authoritative ...

* George Jackson *

Timmy Thomas Timothy Earle Thomas (November 13, 1944 – March 11, 2022) was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "Why Can't We Live Together". Life and career Thomas was born in Evansville, In ...

* Eddie Jefferson * George and Greer * Barbara Perry * Gene Miller * Drothy Williams * Eddie Bond * Ben Atkins * Jeb Stuart

References

External links

Album discography
American independent record labels Record labels established in 1964 Rhythm and blues record labels Soul music record labels Record labels based in Tennessee {{US-record-label-stub

History

Notable artists

See also

References

External links