![]() ![]() “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. Read more about the new book at Rolling Stone: 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. Today, 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) 21 (90): 77.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 ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings.^ a b MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide.Hill | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via "Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings". "BLACK, 'POP' STILL SEPARATE, AND UNEQUAL". University of Illinois Press – via Google Books. "Waiting for Buddy Guy: Chicago Blues at the Crossroads". "Whose Blues?: Facing Up to Race and the Future of the Music". Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing. ^ " 'Last Soul Company' Details The Story Of Malaco Records".MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide called Down Home "maybe the realization of life's work." AllMusic deemed it "one of the very few classic blues albums of the 1980s." Track listing Hill's 'Down Home Blues' is the most influential single blues recording of the '80s, and perhaps is the modern day blues anthem." ![]() Living Blues wrote: "With all due respect to Robert Cray's greater success on the pop charts, Z. MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores "Down Home Blues" was written by George Jackson. Production ĭown Home was produced by Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson, and was recorded in Jackson, Mississippi. To celebrate their 30 years in the soul and blues business, the Jackson, MS-based Malaco label released a six-disc box set covering the years 1969-1999. It has sold more than 500,000 copies for a time, it was Malaco Records' biggest seller. The song is said to be the best selling blues single of the 20th century. "Down Home Blues", the album's first track, was a crossover hit, and is regarded as a blues standard. Down Home is an album by the American blues musician Z. ![]()
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