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The Paramount Records Story

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Paramount Records

As far as historical preservation is concerned, Paramount Records may be one of the most important recording labels to have ever existed. Paramount made studio and field recordings of some of the most notable early delta blues musicians in history, including Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Tommy Johnson.

The label itself was formed, oddly enough, by a company that specialized in creating wooden chairs, The Wisconsin Chair Company. When they began manufacturing wooden cabinets for phonographs in the early nineteen-teens, they ventured into recording their own music to promote their phonograph cabinets. After several years of unimpressive sales, they began recording and marketing "Race Records" in the 1920s, a controversial decision at the time, since race-relations were still deeply divided. They quickly found success in race records after distributing Blind Lemon Jefferson's Got The Blues. Another key to Paramount's early success was a lucrative mail-order business, coupled with heavy advertising. Many of Paramount's magazine & newspaper advertisements have survived and can easily be found in archives and across the internet. Through various contacts in Mississippi, where many popular bluesmen could be found, as well as other places in the country, Paramount was able to capture records by Skip James, Son House, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Ma Rainey, Blind Blake, and Charley Patton. Currently, Paramount records by these masterful blues artists are considered extremely valuable from a historic standpoint, despite their notoriously poor recording quality. Without Paramount, the world might have never heard Charley Patton, the true "father of the delta blues", and arguably one of Robert Johnson's biggest influences. Paramount paid Charley a considerable sum of money for a black man at the time to come to Wisconsin to record his music. In mid-June, 1929, he recorded 14 tracks, many of which are considered staples of both early and current Delta Blues.

Like many record labels of the time, Paramount Records succumbed to The Great Depression in the 1930s. In 1935, Paramount Records was shuttered. The vast majority of the masters were reportedly either melted down for scrap or discarded into the nearby river. The rights to the recordings were purchased years later and can still be found in production to this day.

Amazingly enough, the unlikely Paramount story was revived in the mid-2000s by the very town that Paramount had long ago called home. The village of Grafton, Wisconsin, intrigued by the vast musical history that their town possessed, set about creating an homage to the long defunct company and it's place in history. From their ambitions, the Paramount Blues Walk of Fame was born. Located a mere 20 minutes north of Milwaukee, the blues walk of fame is a bustling mix of art and honor for long-deceased but still influential blues artists. It's influential history has even garnered enough attention to give it it's own place on the Mississippi Blues Trail and a beautiful blues-themed restaurant.

Notable Websites on Paramount Records
Grafton Blues

Notable artists under Paramount Records
Charley Patton
Ma Rainey
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Skip James
Ma Rainey
Louis Armstrong
Tommy Johnson

Notable Books on Paramount Records
Paramount's Rise and Fall by Alex van der Tuuk

Notable Articles on Paramount Records
Embracing the Legacy of the Blues / From the South to the North