Label Guide: Okeh

Okeh Records was founded in 1918 by German immigrant Otto K. E. Heinemann (OKEH), at the time manager for the U.S. branch of German Odeon Records. Heinemann incorporated the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation in 1916, set up his own recording studio and gramophone record pressing plant in New York and started the record label in September 1918. In 1919, the parent company of Okeh was reorganized as "General Phonograph Corporation."

In 1926, the General Phonograph Corporation was sold Columbia and its subsequent parent companies (ARC, CBS and Sony Music) have controlled Okeh ever since. The Okeh label was one of the first to score a smash hit with a blues recording, Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" in 1920. And even though its artists roster covered all musical genres, recordings by Louis Armstrong or Lonnie Johnson established the label as a black music specialist. Many classic jazz performances by the likes of King Oliver, Lucille Bogan, Sidney Bechet, Hattie McDaniel, and Duke Ellington were recorded by Okeh.

The Okeh label was discontinued in 1935, but after Columbia lost the rights to the Vocalion name it was revived to replace it in 1940. The label was again discontinued in 1946 and revived yet again in 1951. In 1953, Okeh's pop music acts were transferred to the newly formed Epic Records making Okeh an exclusive rhythm and blues label. Memorable recordings of that age include "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, released in 1956.

The final stage of Okeh Records began in 1962 when producer Carl Davis was hired, who brought in Curtis Mayfield. They transformed Okeh into a major soul label (Chicago Soul) with Mayfield writing and Davis producing many hits for artists such as Major Lance, Walter Jackson or Billy Butler. After Davis and Mayfield left in the late 1960s, Okeh Records was closed down in 1970.

Okeh Records was a singles-only label from 1918 to 1962. Long-play albums accompanying the chart hits for Okeh artists were usually released on other labels within the Columbia family, as Epic Records, until the first Okeh album (Sons Of Glory) appeared in 1962. The global rights to the Okeh back catalogue are now owned by Sony Music, who relaunched the Okeh imprint twice in the last twenty years; first 1994 as a new-age blues label, the in 2013 as a jazz line under Sony Masterworks.