Trumpet Records: Diamonds on Farish Street

University Press of Mississippi

“Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Milton, and James Waller -- all of these musical powerhouses spun vinyl recordings and furthered their recording careers from a little label on once-thriving Farish Street, the historic black district of Jackson, Mississippi. These blues, gospel, and R&B all-stars are featured in Trumpet Records: Diamonds on Farish Street, the detailed story of this successful recording label of the mid-1950s. …. The life of the studio was brief, and this book, in careful detail, covers its short history (1951-1956) and includes accounts of recording sessions with its roster of gospel groups, blues musicians, and R&B singers, almost all of them African American. The book also documents McMurry's attempts to fuse country and African American popular music into what would become rock 'n' roll."