King of the Queen City: The Story of King Records (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780252034688)

King of the Queen City is the first comprehensive history of King Records, one of the most influential independent record companies in the history of American music. Founded by businessman Sydney Nathan in the mid-1940s, this small outsider record company in Cincinnati, Ohio, attracted a diverse roster of artists, including James Brown, the Stanley Brothers, Grandpa Jones, Redd Foxx, Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett, Ike Turner, Roy Brown, Freddie King, Eddie Vinson, and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. While other record companies concentrated on one style of music, King was active in virtually all genres of vernacular American music, from blues and R & B to rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing, and country.

A progressive company in a reactionary time, King was led by an interracial creative and executive staff that redefined the face and voice of American music as well as the way it was recorded and sold. Drawing on personal interviews, research in newspapers and periodicals, and deep access to the King archives, Jon Hartley Fox weaves together the elements of King's success, focusing on the dynamic personalities of the artists, producers, and key executives such as Syd Nathan, Henry Glover, and Ralph Bass. The book also includes a foreword by legendary guitarist, singer, and songwriter Dave Alvin.

Author: Jon Hartley Fox
ISBN-10: 0252034686
ISBN-13: 9780252034688
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2009
Pages: 280
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.34lbs
Size: 9.42h x 6.42w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/06/2009 pg. 44
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2009
Booklist 10/01/2009 pg. 9
Chronicle of Higher Education 12/04/2009 pg. 17
Choice 02/01/2010
Multicultural Review 05/01/2010 pg. 52
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2010 pg. 232

About the Author
Jon Hartley Fox is a resident of Grass Valley, California and has written about music and the arts for forty years. He has won two writing awards for album annotation from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).