Meritt Records was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

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 ...

record company and label that existed from 1925 to 1929. It was founded in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

by Winston Holmes, the owner of a music store. Records were made in his studio and sold only in his store. Holmes produced about 20 double-sided acoustically recorded

phonograph record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

s in the mid and late 1920s. Most of the sides are of locally based

and

performers, plus some

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is com ...

and

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

Partial Discography

1925 2201 ''City Of The Dead / Cabbage Head Blues'' Lena Kimbrough / Sylvester & Lena Kimbrough 1926 2203 ''I've Even Heard Of Thee / The Downfall Of Nebuchadnezzer'' Rev. J.C. Burnett 2204 ''The Well Of Salvation'' Rev. H.C. Gatewood 1927 2206 ''Down Home Syncopated Blues / Meritt Stomp'' George E. Lee And His Novelty Singing Orchestra George E. Lee, ts, v, dir: Sam Utterbach, t / Thurston Maupins, tb / Clarence Taylor, ss, as / Jesse Stone, p, a / George Rousseau, bj / Clint Weaver, bb / Abe Price, d / Julia Lee, v.

References

{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United States Jazz record labels Blues record labels Early black-owned record labels

Partial Discography

See also

References