Free: Xavier to host roundtable with King Records musicians

Do you know:

1. What record company had the first integrated house band?
2. What was the second record company to hire an African American in an executive position?
3. What record company recorded the first live concert album?

Learn more about Cincinnati's path-breaking King Records at a roundtable with King Records musicians Philip Paul, Ed Conley & Otis Williams. This free event is open to the public and will be Monday, March 15 at 3:30 pm in the Schiff Conference Center of Xavier University’s Cintas Center.

In September, 1943 Syd Nathan of Cincinnati started King Records. In early 1956, King received a demo from a young Georgia singer named James Brown, and the rest is history. Brown recorded "Please, Please, Please" and “Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" while with King. Other noted King artists included the Stanley Brothers, Hank Ballard, Wynonie Haris, and Grandpa Jones. Its Evanston site was a one-stop shop where everything was done - recording, making masters, pressing, designing and printing album covers, warehousing and shipping. Nathan pressed just a few records at a time and drove them to area radio stations. If they were a hit, he made more. This is why many King records are so rare. Sixty-five years later, a local group of enthusiasts and dreamers is jumpstarting King Record’s rebirth. On November 23, 2009, King Records was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Answers to the questions above:

1. 1. King Records
2. 2. Henry Glover was A&R Director of King Records in 1949
3. 3. King Records recorded “The James Brown Show Live at the Apollo” in 1963

For more, see and hear this 4-part playlist of King Record’s artists from a WVXU Radio series.