Okeh

US label Label Code: LC 0288 / LC 00288 For Unofficial / Bootlegs of Okeh please use Okeh (3) Launched by the Otto Heineman Phonograph Supply Co. in 1918, Okeh records were initially produced as 10" vertical-cut discs bearing dark blue labels with an Indian head trademark. On October 1, 1919, the Heineman Corporation reorganized as the General Phonograph Corporation and vertical-cut discs were replaced with standard lateral-cut records. The Indian head label was replaced with a script trademark in 1920. Okeh released the first authentic vocal blues recording in November 1920 (Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues", on Okeh 4169), and became a leading producer of blues and rural American music during the 1920s. The Okeh label was sold to Columbia Phonograph Company, Inc. in 1926, and came under control of the newly formed Okeh Phonograph Corporation. It operated more-or-less independently into the 1930s, maintaining its own studios, master numbering system, and artist and repertoire departments. Discontinued in 1935, it was revived in 1940 and discontinued again in 1946. In 1951 it was officially relaunched. Epic Records took over management of Okeh in 1965. Today, the label is owned by Sony Music Entertainment.