| Takoma Records | |||
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| Parent company | Concord Music Group | ||
| Founded | 1959 | ||
| Founder(s) | John Fahey, ED Denson, Norman Pierce | ||
| Distributing label | Concord Records (In the US), Universal Music Group | ||
| Genre(s) | Folk music | ||
| Country | US | ||
| Web address | |||
Takoma Records was a small but influential record label founded by John Fahey in the late 1950s. Concord Music Group is a record company formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. John Fahey (February 28 1939 – February 22 2001 was an American Fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string guitar as a solo Eugene "ED" Denson (the capitalization of both letters in his "first name" is his own spelling that evolved from constantly using his initials is an American Concord Records is a US Record label now based in Beverly Hills California. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Universal Music Group (UMG is the largest Business group and family of Record labels in the Recording industry. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music John Fahey (February 28 1939 – February 22 2001 was an American Fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string guitar as a solo It was named after Fahey's hometown, the Washington, D.C. suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Takoma Park is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland. The population was 17299 at the 2000 census
Takoma Records began with a custom pressing of 100 copies of John Fahey/Blind Joe Death, an album of his own guitar playing released by John Fahey around 1958. He had no distribution and sold the pressing mainly to friends, and at music parties. A copy of this record recently sold on eBay for several thousand dollars. eBay Inc is an American Internet company that manages eBaycom an Online auction and shopping Website in which people and businesses buy and
John moved to Berkeley, California, and the label was really launched when John rediscovered the country bluesman, Bukka White. Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. Bukka White ( November 12 1909 – February 26 1977) was a Delta blues Guitarist and Singer. With Eugene "ED" Denson, John drove to Memphis and the pair produced Bukka's first recording in 23 years. Eugene "ED" Denson (the capitalization of both letters in his "first name" is his own spelling that evolved from constantly using his initials is an American Memphis is a City in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the County seat of Shelby County. Later in 1963 they released it, as well as John's second album of his own music.
Independent labels were a novelty at that period in American musical history, but gradually in the next several years word spread about the music. At the same time independent "folk music" labels like Rounder were springing up, and establishing distribution systems. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge Massachusetts but now based in Burlington, is an Independent record label founded in 1970 by The content of the Takoma label expanded to include other guitarists, such as Robbie Basho, and other types of folk music. At the same time the label ventured into the avant-garde with "The Psychedelic Saxophone of Charlie Nothing". Avant-garde (avɑ̃gaʁd in French) means "advance guard" or "vanguard Acoustic guitar music, especially that of John Fahey, remained the mainstay of the label. See also Acoustic Guitar (magazine An acoustic guitar is a Guitar that uses only acoustic methods to project the sound produced by its strings
Around 1967, Denson moved to full-time management of the rock band Country Joe and the Fish and John became the sole owner of Takoma. Country Joe and the Fish was a rock band most widely known for musical protests against the Vietnam War, from 1966 to 1971. He moved the label and himself to Los Angeles, where he was studying for his Masters degree at UCLA under D. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United K. Wilgus. Leo Kottke's 6 and 12 String Guitar became a surprise hit and the profits funded an expansion of the label which now had a staff. Leo Kottke (born 11 September 1945, Athens, Georgia, US) is an acoustic guitarist.
Fahey had started a new genre of guitar music, known later as American Primitivism, which comprised traditional fingerpicking steel string guitar techniques applied to neo-classical compositions. American Primitivism, also known as American Primitive Guitar, is the Guitar music genre started by John Fahey in the late 1950s Fahey composed A steel-string acoustic guitar, is a modern form of Guitar descended from the Classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter louder sound The Takoma label showcased such music; its roster included Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, Robbie Basho and already famous Mississippi bluesman Bukka White. For the publisher see Peter Lang AG ---- Peter Lang (born 1948 is an accomplished acoustic guitarist, from the same genre Robbie Basho ( August 31, 1940 - February 27, 1986) was a composer guitarist and pianist and one of the pioneers of the acoustic Steel Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States George Winston released his first album on Takoma and Mike Bloomfield released several solo albums on the label. George Winston (born 1949) is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up in Miles City Montana, and Mississippi For the astronaut see Michael J Bloomfield. Michael Bernard Bloomfield ( July 28 1943, Chicago, Illinois American composer and electronic music pioneer Joseph Byrd released three records in 1975-76 on Takoma, which were co-produced by Jon Monday. Joseph Byrd (almost no one except Columbia Records ever called him "Joe" (born December 19 1937 in Louisville Kentucky, raised Tucson Arizona
In 1979, Fahey sold Takoma to Chrysalis Records, owned by Terry Ellis and Chris Wright, which had artists such as Blondie, Pat Benatar, and Huey Lewis. Chrysalis Records was a British Record label that was created in 1969 This article refers to the En Vogue singer For the co-founder of Chrysalis Records see Terry Ellis (manager. Chris Wright may refer to Chris Wright (cricketer, plays for Middlesex County Cricket Club Chris Wright (footballer, plays for Boston Blondie is an American rock band that first gained fame in the late 1970s and has so far sold over 60 million records Pat Benatar (born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on 10 January 1953) is an influential four-time Grammy Award -winning American Huey Lewis (born Hugh Anthony Cregg III; July 5 1950 is an American Musician, Songwriter and occasional Actor. Jon Monday was General Manager of the label from 1970 until 1982 when Chrysalis sold the Takoma catalog. The catalog was purchased in 1995 by Fantasy Records, which in 2004 was taken over by the Concord Music Group. Recording artists David Axelrod The Blackbyrds Dave Brubeck Lenny Bruce Concord Records is a US Record label now based in Beverly Hills California. Fantasy has a handful of the Takoma recordings on the market as CDs as of this writing in 2007.
The label's best selling release was Kottke's 6 and 12-String Guitar (often called The Armadillo Album because of the cover art). 6- and 12-String Guitar is the second album by Leo Kottke, a solo instrumental Steel-string acoustic guitar album originally released by John Another influential album on Takoma was the 1974 eponymous compilation LP featuring Fahey, Kottke and Lang.
ED Denson went on to co-found and manage Kicking Mule Records, which similarly featured acoustic guitarists. Kicking Mule Records was a Record label founded in 1972 by Stefan Grossman and Eugene "ED" Denson, who had previously been a co-founder In 1995, he left the music business and became a criminal defense lawyer. By the early 21st century, the news about the label seems limited to death notices. Robbie Basho died in 1986, John Fahey in 2001, and Charlie Nothing died of cancer October 23, 2007.
See also
External links
- Illustrated Takoma Records discography
- John Fahey official web site
- John FaheyTribute site
- ED Denson homepage
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