Argo Records was started in December of
1956-Events:*January 1 - Blue Suede Shoes is released by Carl Perkins on the Sun Records label.*Cameo-Parkway Records formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Kal Mann & Bernie Lowe.*Foundation of the Korean piano brand Young Chang....
as primarily a jazz subsidiary of
Chess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and the imprint was quickly renamed Argo. Jazz performers on the label included
Ahmad JamalAhmad Jamal is a noted American jazz pianist.Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and was a key influence on the trumpeter's "First Great Quintet"...
,
King FlemingWalter "King" Fleming is a jazz pianist and bandleader.A classmate of Sonny Cohn, after playing trombone in the McKinley High School band, Fleming went on to study at the Midwest College of Music. He had already led several informal bands before King Fleming and His Swing Band first performed in...
, and
Ramsey LewisRamsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and...
Trio. Major rhythm and blues performers on the label were
Etta JamesEtta James is an American blues, soul, R&B, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both...
and the Dells. Argo's first big hit by New Orleans performer Clarence "Frogman" Henry, whose classic "Ain't Got No Home" came out in 1956.
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Argo Records was started in December of
1956-Events:*January 1 - Blue Suede Shoes is released by Carl Perkins on the Sun Records label.*Cameo-Parkway Records formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Kal Mann & Bernie Lowe.*Foundation of the Korean piano brand Young Chang....
as primarily a jazz subsidiary of
Chess RecordsChess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and the imprint was quickly renamed Argo. Jazz performers on the label included
Ahmad JamalAhmad Jamal is a noted American jazz pianist.Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and was a key influence on the trumpeter's "First Great Quintet"...
,
King FlemingWalter "King" Fleming is a jazz pianist and bandleader.A classmate of Sonny Cohn, after playing trombone in the McKinley High School band, Fleming went on to study at the Midwest College of Music. He had already led several informal bands before King Fleming and His Swing Band first performed in...
, and
Ramsey LewisRamsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. He has been referred to as "the great performer", a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and...
Trio. Major rhythm and blues performers on the label were
Etta JamesEtta James is an American blues, soul, R&B, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Grammy Hall of Fame in both...
and the Dells. Argo's first big hit by New Orleans performer Clarence "Frogman" Henry, whose classic "Ain't Got No Home" came out in 1956. Argo changed its name in 1965 to
Cadet RecordsCadet Records was started as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK...
when the company discovered that an
Argo RecordsArgo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill , and musicologist Cyril Clarke with £500 capital, initially as a company specialising in "British music played by British artists" , but it quickly became a company primarily specialising in spoken word recordings and other esoteric ...
already existed in the UK. (See the Cadet article for a list of some of the Argo/Cadet recording artists.)