Document Records is an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, founded in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Blues Alive Award. Document Records is the only UK-based recipient of the award in 2018.

History

Document was established in 1986 by Johnny Parth, the former owner of Roots Records, in Austria to make previously unreleased blues and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

records from before the 1942–44 musicians' strike available on a number of European labels. In 1990, Parth felt obliged to switch production from LP to CD. With this change, he consolidated the catalogue into complete reissues in chronological order, increasingly on the Document label as other label names were dropped. The new policy was to reissue as many as possible of the recordings listed in the book, ''Blues and Gospel Records: 1890–1943''. The scope was expanded to include bluegrass, spirituals,

, and other rural American

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other ...

s (collectively known as roots music), made between 1900 and 1945. Since 2000 it has been owned by Gary and Gillian Atkinson and is based in Newton Stewart, Scotland. Document has the exclusive rights to a great deal of unreleased music and other audio media produced by Edison Records between 1914 and 1929.

Artists

* Ora Alexander * Albert Ammons * Pink Anderson * Kokomo Arnold * Josephine Baker * Kid Bailey * Barbecue Bob * Blue Lu Barker * Ed Bell * Gladys Bentley * Big Maceo * Esther Bigeou *

Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers The Binkley Brothers' Dixie Clodhoppers were an American Old-time string band consisting of Amos Binkley (1888–1952) on banjo, his brother Gale Binkley (1893–1946) on fiddle, Tom Andrews on guitar, and Jack Jackson on guitar and vocals. T ...

* Black Ace * Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell * Blind Blake * Lucille Bogan * Ishmon Bracey * Big Bill Broonzy * Ada Brown * Bessie Brown * Cleo Patra Brown *

Gabriel Brown Gabriel Brown (1910–1972) was an American Piedmont blues singer and guitarist. Biography Brown was born in Florida, probably in Gadsden County, and graduated from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1934, he performed at the f ...

Kitty Brown Catherine Brown, known as Kitty Brown (October 1899 – after 1990), was an American classic female blues singer. She sometimes used the pseudonyms Bessie Williams (she was not the only performer to use this name), Jane White, Dixie Gray, Rosa Gr ...

* Rabbit Brown * Burnett & Rutherford * Butterbeans and Susie *

Gus Cannon Gustavus "Gus" Cannon (September 12, 1883 or 1884 – October 15, 1979) was an American blues musician who helped to popularize jug bands (such as his own Cannon's Jug Stompers) in the 1920s and 1930s. There is uncertainty about his birth year; ...

* Leroy Carr *

Fiddlin' John Carson "Fiddlin'" John Carson (March 23, 1868 – December 11, 1949) was an American old-time fiddler and singer who recorded what is widely considered to be the first country music song featuring vocals and lyrics. Early life Carson was born near Mc ...

Alice Leslie Carter Alice Leslie Carter was an American classic female blues singer, active as a recording artist in the early 1920s. Her best-known tracks are "Decatur Street Blues" and "Aunt Hagar's Children Blues". She was a contemporary of the better-known rec ...

* Bo Carter * Baby Doo Caston *

Doctor Clayton Doctor Clayton (born Peter Joe Clayton; April 19, 1898 – January 7, 1947) was an American blues singer and songwriter. Biography Clayton was born in Georgia (though he claimed he had been born in Africa) and moved to St. Louis as a child wi ...

* Sam Collins *

Martha Copeland Martha Copeland (c. 1891–1894; date of death unknown) was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded 34 songs between 1923 and 1928. She was promoted by Columbia Records as "Everybody's Mammy", but her records did not sell in the qu ...

* Floyd "Dipper Boy" Council * Ida Cox * Katie Crippen * Arthur Crudup * James Crutchfield *

Leroy Dallas Leroy Dallas (December 24, 1909 – September, 1967) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Amongst his more notable numbers were " Good Morning Blues" and "Jump Little Children, Jump" (both 1948). He performed with Brownie McG ...

* Cow Cow Davenport * Blind Gary Davis * Blind John Davis * Madlyn Davis * Walter Davis *

Georgia Tom Dorsey Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and Christian evangelist influential in the development of early blues and 20th-century gospel music. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them gospel, i ...

* Little Buddy Doyle * David "Honeyboy" Edwards * Sleepy John Estes * William Ezell * Ethel Finnie *

Fisk University Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American ''a cappella'' ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditiona ...

* Baby Face Leroy Foster * Miss Frankie * Blind Boy Fuller * Bill Gaither *

Lawrence Gellert Lawrence Gellert (1898-1979?), was a music collector, who in the 1920s and 1930s amassed a significant collection of field-recorded African-American blues and spirituals and also claimed to have documented black protest traditions in the South of th ...

* Jazz Gillum * Lillian Glinn * Lillian Goodner * Lil Green * Helen Gross * Harlem Hamfats * Kelly Harrell * Hattie Hart * Lucille Hegamin * Rosa Henderson * Edna Hicks * Bertha "Chippie" Hill *

King Solomon Hill King Solomon Hill is the name assigned to a blues singer and guitarist who recorded a handful of songs in 1932. His unique guitar and voice combine to create some of the most haunting blues ever recorded. After much speculation and dispute, he ...

* Mattie Hite * Smokey Hogg *

Lightnin Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...

* Son House *

Rosetta Howard Rosetta Howard (August 30, 1913 – October 8, 1974) was an American blues singer who recorded in the 1930s and 1940s. Little is known of her life. She was born in Woodruff County, Arkansas, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she be ...

Peg Leg Howell Joshua Barnes Howell, known as Peg Leg Howell (March 5, 1888 – August 11, 1966), was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist, who connected early country blues and the later Twelve bar blues, 12-bar style.Alberta Hunter * Mississippi John Hurt *

Bertha Idaho Bertha Idaho (born c. 1895; date of death unknown) was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded four songs in 1928 and 1929. Little is known of her life outside music. Idaho's work might have remained obscure but for two factors: ...

* Jim Jackson *

New Orleans Willie Jackson New Orleans Willie Jackson (1896 or 1897 - after 1930) was an American blues and jazz singer, active in New Orleans, Louisiana and New York City in the 1920s. He sang blues, jazz, and comic numbers. He frequently performed with pianist Steve Le ...

* Skip James * Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon * Blind Lemon Jefferson *

Monkey Joe Jesse "Monkey Joe" Coleman (January 26, 1906 - November 16, 1967) was an American country blues pianist and singer, who recorded sporadically from the 1930s into the 1970s. Coleman was born in Shelby County, Tennessee. He worked locally in Jacks ...

* Bunk Johnson *

Lil Johnson Lil Johnson ( fl. 1920s–1930s, born 1900, date of death and places of birth and death unknown) was an American singer who recorded dirty blues and hokum songs in the 1920s and 1930s. Career Her origins and early life are not known. She first ...

* Lonnie Johnson * Margaret Johnson * Mary Johnson * Merline Johnson *

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generat ...

* Tommy Johnson *

Blind Willie Johnson Blind Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American gospel blues singer, guitarist and evangelist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930—thirty songs in total—display a combination of powerful " ...

Curtis Jones Curtis Jones may refer to: * Curtis Jones (pianist) (1906–1971), American blues pianist * Curtis Jones (singer) or Green Velvet (born 1968), American singer, record producer, and DJ * Curtis Jones (minister) (born 1986), American minister conv ...

* Maggie Jones *

Charley Jordan Charley Jordan (July 11, 1890 – November 15, 1954) was an American St. Louis blues (music), St. Louis blues singing, singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a talent scout, originally from Mabelvale, Arkansas, Mabelvale, Arkansas, United ...

* Lottie Kimbrough *

* Rube Lacey *

Lead Belly Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

* Meade "Lux" Lewis *

Charley Lincoln Charley Lincoln (born Charlie Hicks, Jr., March 11, 1900 – September 28, 1963), also known as Laughing Charley, was an early American country blues musician. He often recorded with his brother Robert Hicks, who was billed as Barbecue Bob. L ...

* Virginia Liston * Robert Lockwood, Jr. * Cripple Clarence Lofton *

Eddie Mapp Eddie Mapp (c. 1910 – November 14, 1931) was an American country blues harmonicist. He is best known for his accompaniment on records by Barbecue Bob and Curley Weaver. Biography Mapp was born in Social Circle, Walton County, Georgia ...

Daisy Martin Daisy Martin ( c. 1914 – c. 1925) was an American actress and blues singer in the classic female blues style. She toured the eastern and midwestern United States in black vaudeville in the 1910s and early 1920s. In 1914 she appeared in the ...

* Sara Martin * Tommy McClennan * Charlie McCoy * Kansas Joe McCoy *

Viola McCoy Viola McCoy (c. 1900 – c. 1956) was an American blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style during a career that lasted from the early 1920s to the late 1930s. Life and career Her birth name may have been Amanda Brown (a nam ...

* Hattie McDaniel *

Charlie "Specks" McFadden Charles Pertum, known professionally as Charlie "Specks" McFadden (April 24, 1895 – November 15, 1966), was an American country blues singer and songwriter. On his few recordings, released from 1929 to 1937, he was accompanied by Roosevelt S ...

Barrelhouse Buck McFarland Thomas F. McFarland (September 16, 1903 – April 8, 1962), known professionally as Barrelhouse Buck McFarland was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, singer and composer. He first recorded material in the early 1930s, but had to wait u ...

* Brownie McGhee * Blind Willie McTell * Memphis Minnie *

Hazel Meyers Hazel Meyers was an American classic female blues and country blues singer. She spent most of her career in black vaudeville and on recordings she was billed as a blues artist. Her more famous numbers included "Heartbreaking Blues" and "Blackvill ...

Josie Miles Josie Miles (c. 1900 – c. 1953–65) was an American vaudeville and blues singer. She was one of the classic female blues singers popular in the 1920s. Miles was born in Summerville, South Carolina. Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' ( ...

* Lizzie Miles *

Mississippi Sheiks The Mississippi Sheiks were a popular and influential American guitar and fiddle group of the 1930s. They were notable mostly for playing country blues but were adept at many styles of popular music of the time. They recorded around 70 tracks, ...

* Little Brother Montgomery * Monette Moore * Buddy Moss * Muddy Waters * Romeo Nelson *

Reverend A. W. Nix Reverend A. W. Nix (1880 – 1949) was an American preacher who recorded 54 sermons and gospel songs in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He is best remembered for his commercially successful sermon, "Black Diamond Express to Hell." Nix's recordings w ...

Paul Oliver Paul Hereford Oliver MBE (25 May 1927 – 15 August 2017) was an English architectural historian and writer on the blues and other forms of African-American music. He was equally distinguished in both fields, although it is likely that aficiona ...

* Kid Ory * Pace Jubilee Singers * Charlie Patton * Robert Petway * Joe Pullum * Ma Rainey *

Fiddlin' Doc Roberts Fiddlin' Doc Roberts (April 26, 1897 - August 4, 1978) was an American Kentucky-style old-time fiddler. Biography Dock Roberts was born and raised on a farm in Madison County, KentuckyKleber 1992, p. 775. and learned to play the fiddle at ...

Banjo Ikey Robinson Isaac L. "Banjo Ikey" Robinson (July 28, 1904 – October 25, 1990) was an American banjoist and vocalist. Born in Dublin, Virginia, United States, Robinson moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1926, playing and recording with Jelly Roll Morton, Cla ...

* Elzadie Robinson * Walter Roland * Bayless Rose * Dan Sane * Irene Scruggs * Ollie Shepard * Johnny Shines *

J.D. Short J. D. Short (December 26, 1902 – October 21, 1962) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, and harmonicist with a distinctive vibrato-laden singing voice. Early in his career, he recorded under a number of pseudonyms, including Jelly Jaw ...

Henry "Son" Sims Henry "Son" Sims (August 22, 1890 – December 23, 1958) was an American Delta blues fiddler and songwriter. He is best known as an accompanist for Charley Patton and the young Muddy Waters. Life and career Sims was born in Anguilla, Mississip ...

* Bessie Smith * Clara Smith * Laura Smith * Mamie Smith *

Ruby Smith Ruby Smith (August 24, 1903 – March 24, 1977) was an American classic female blues singer. She was a niece, by marriage, of the better-known Bessie Smith, who discouraged Ruby from pursuing a recording career. Nevertheless, following Bess ...

* Trixie Smith *

Charlie Spand Charlie Spand (born May 8, 1893; died after 1958) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer, noted for his barrelhouse style. He was deemed one of the most influential piano players of the 1920s. Little is known of his life o ...

* Pinetop Sparks * Victoria Spivey * Mary Stafford * Sunnyland Slim * Roosevelt Sykes *

Hannah Sylvester Hannah Sylvester (January 19, 1903 – October 15, 1973) was an American blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style, which was popular during the 1920s. She was billed as "Harlem's Mae West".Harris 1994, p. 492. Biography Sylve ...

* Blind Joe Taggart * Tampa Red *

Eva Taylor Eva Taylor (January 22, 1895 — October 31, 1977) was an American blues singer and stage actress. Life and career Born Irene Joy Gibbons in St. Louis, Missouri, as one of twelve children. On stage from the age of three, Taylor toured New Z ...

* Montana Taylor * Johnny Temple * Sonny Terry * Sister Rosetta Tharpe *

Elvie Thomas L.V. Thomas (''née'' L.V. Grant, August 7, 1891 – May 20, 1979), better known as Elvie Thomas, was an American country blues singer and guitarist from Houston, Texas. Name Thomas's now most well-known designation "Elvie" is a corruptio ...

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Glob ...

* Hociel Thomas * Jesse Thomas *

Ramblin' Thomas Willard "Ramblin'" Thomas (1901 or 1902 – 1944 or 1945) was an American country blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best remembered for his slide guitar playing and for several recordings he made in the late 1920s and early 1930s. B ...

* Henry Townsend * Bessie Tucker * Blind Willie Walker *

Sippie Wallace Sippie Wallace (born Beulah Belle Thomas, November 1, 1898 – November 1, 1986) was an American blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her early career in tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recor ...

* Wesley Wallace * Washboard Sam * Curley Weaver *

Casey Bill Weldon William "Casey Bill" Weldon (February 2, 1901 or December 10, 1909 – September 28, 1972) was an American country blues musician. Some details of Weldon's life are unconfirmed. According to some sources, he was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, ...

* Peetie Wheatstraw * Bukka White * Georgia White * Josh White * Bert Williams * Big Joe Williams * Sonny Boy Williamson I * Sonny Boy Williamson II * Ralph Willis * Edith Wilson *

Lena Wilson Lena Wilson (c. 1898 – c. 1939) was an American blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style. An African-American, Wilson performed in vaudeville with her brother Danny and his wife, Edith Wilson (singer), Edith Wilson in th ...

* Bill Wyman * Jimmy Yancey * Mama Yancey

References

External links

Official site

Document Records Store
{{Authority control Austrian record labels British record labels Blues record labels Jazz record labels Folk record labels Reissue record labels Gospel music record labels Record labels established in 1990 Record labels established in 2000

History

Artists

See also

References

External links