![]() ![]() ![]() The older the tape, the longer it has been exposed to warping elements. “There are not a whole lot of folks that even remember how to splice tape or know how to deal with if it is jammed up.” “I feel like I’m one part of a museum,” Stephenson said while standing in the studio’s vault that features well over 10,000 master reels. The process of digitizing master tapes is something that was in its nascent stages before the tornado, but it is one that is both labor intensive and critical to the company’s business plans into the future. There stands a room the size converted closest space where Stephenson works in a race against time to preserve Malaco’s vast catalog. On the opposite end of a long hallway from the studio, the walls are lined with photos of many of the studios’ artists, including Denise LaSalle, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton and Bobby Bland. “One of the silver linings in the tornado was that we were able to step back and re-lay everything out,” Couch said, adding that the decision to isolate the studio away from the executive offices came with it being opened for public use.Ĭouch said the decision was made to help increase the studios’ revenue stream but also to help find new talent in the same space where Paul Simon recorded “Learn How to Fall” and Lucinda Williams recorded “Ramblin.” "It was like the hand of God came down and protected them." “You looked at the aftermath and thought, ‘There are going to be dead bodies in there,’ but everyone came out without a scratch,” remembered current Malaco president Tommy Couch Jr., who took over operations from his father in 2013. Malaco Records On The Web: Ook op Blues Magazine. “While the music business has undergone tremendous changes in the past 50 years, great music, an independent spirit and independent distribution still remain Malaco’s top priorities.” “Throughout the years there have been a few constants at Malaco: the music, independent spirit and independent distribution,” says Malaco’s Tommy Couch Jr. Hill and we were on our way to become a real record company. We were building content years before we ever heard ‘Content is King’.” “We kept making records and releasing them on our own labels and soon we had a Gold album on Z. “Just in case we weren’t going to be a successful record company, as a pharmacy graduate, I kept my license current for a few more years, as a fallback insurance policy.” says Malaco co-founder Tommy Couch Sr. Today, having marked its 50th anniversary, Malaco proudly stands as the oldest continuously run independent record label in America, and the biggest and most important gospel label in the world.Īnd the label remains vital: Not only does it continue to be a major player in the Black gospel world, but when Kanye West, Drake, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Solange, Snoop Dogg or 2Chainz are digging for soulful, powerful samples to undergird some of the 21st century’s biggest hip-hop albums, time and time again they turn to Malaco’s incredible catalog. After releasing a string of era-defining soul hits in the 1960s and 70s, the Jackson, Mississippi-based label expanded into the worlds of gospel and blues, and outlasted Motown, Atlantic, Chess, Stax, Sun, Ace and every other indie label releasing African-American music in the process. “Malaco’s story, by all rights, should never have happened,” says the collection’s author Rob Bowman. That story is one of the greatest, and certainly most improbable, of any independent record company in the history of American music. Presenting Malaco’s story in almost 200 full-color pages filled with exclusive stories, dozens of never-before-seen photographs, and other ephemera from the label’s illustrious history - and featuring a foreword from legendary music author Peter Guralnick - The Last Soul Company is an invaluable documentation of a unique and essential American music institution. Hill, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton, James Cleveland, and many more. Malaco Records announces the March 23 publication of The Last Soul Company: The Malaco Records Story, a gorgeous new retrospective book from Grammy Award-winning author Rob Bowman ( Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records) that weaves together the tale of a half century of Malaco productions, exploring the careers and catalog of such seminal Malaco artists as Mississippi Fred McDowell, Bobby Blue Bland, Z.Z. WRITTEN BY GRAMMY-WINNING AUTHOR ROB BOWMAN (SOULSVILLE, USA: THE STORY OF STAX RECORDS) New Book The Last Soul Company: The Malaco Records Story, Out March 23, Celebrates America’s Oldest Independent Record Label Collects Stories, Photos + Ephemera From Over 50 Years Of The Gospel, Soul + Blues Juggernaut ![]()
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