Sunshine Records was a small

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

-based

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 ...

of the early 1920s, producing 6 double-sided

gramophone 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 ne ...

s of early

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 m ...

and blues. The labels of Sunshine Records say that they were "Manuf. by Spikes Bros. Phonograph Co. Inc. Los Angeles", but they were all actually manufactured by Nordskog Records, and also issued by Nordskog. Most Sunshine Records simply have the Sunshine label pasted over the Nordskog label. (It is believed that the labels were supposed to be pressed onto the records, but Arto Records, who pressed Nordskog's records, made this error.) The Spikes Brothers (

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Reb Spikes Benjamin Franklin "Reb" Spikes (October 31, 1888 – February 24, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist and entrepreneur. His composition with his brother John, "Someday Sweetheart", has become an often-recorded jazz standard. Biography Spikes w ...

) were the owner/operators of a

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

music store which catered to the city's

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

community. The Spikes Brothers also published sheet music both by themselves and other

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 ...

s, mostly, they later recalled, to help draw attention to numbers they hoped to sell to national music publishers. The Spikes Brothers arranged with Nordskog to sell copies of records by African-American artists in their store on their own label. It is believed that all copies of the rare Sunshine Records were sold only at the Spikes Brothers Music Store. All of the Sunshine Records feature

Kid Ory Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz. He was ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

band. Two sides are instrumentals by the band; on the rest Ory's group accompanies singers Roberta Dudley and

Ruth Lee Ruth Lee (September 14, 1895 – August 3, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Early life and career Lee was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and she graduated from a dramatic school there. Lee acted in stock theater with the Natio ...

."Roberta Dudley Accompanied by Ory's Orchestra."
''www.redhotjazz.com.'' Retrieved October 19, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunshine Records (Usa) Jazz record labels American record labels

See also

References