Damon Records
Encyclopedia
Original
Damon was headquartered in Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. Damon used musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s and singers who were not members of the American Federation of Musicians
American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada is a labor union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada...
labor union to make recordings during the ban on Union recordings ordered by James Petrillo
James Petrillo
James Caesar Petrillo was the prominent leader of the American Federation of Musicians, a trade union of professional musicians in the United States and Canada.-Biography:Petrillo was born in Chicago, Illinois...
.
In May,1948, the singing duo of Jon and Sondra Steele released "My Happiness" on Damon Records, a fact that was acknowledged on sheet music promoting the song. One of the better known artists with Damon was big band bandleader Al Trace
Al Trace
Albert J. Trace was a prolific American songwriter and orchestra leader of the 1930s, 40s and 50s whose peak of popularity was reached in the Chicago area during the height of the Big Band era....
. The Al Trace Orchestra recorded for major labels in the 1940s in addition to Damon. Trace was a writer on several popular songs, including "If I'd Known You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake."
The label was still in existence up to at least 1960, when a rock 'n' roll group from Pittsburg, Kan., Conny and the Bellhops, had a regional hit with a 45 titled "Shot Rod," an instrumental on the Damon label.