King of the Queen City is the first comprehensive history of King Records, one of the most influential independent record companies in the history of American music. Jon Hartley Fox tells the story of a small outsider record company in Cincinnati, Ohio, that attracted an extremely diverse roster of artists, including the Stanley Brothers, Grandpa Jones, Redd Foxx, Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett, Ike Turner, Roy Brown, Freddie King, Eddie Vinson, Johnny ''Guitar'' Watson, and even a young James Brown. While other record companies concentrated on one style of music, King was active in virtually all genres of vernacular American music, from blues and R & B to rockabilly, bluegrass, western swing, and country.Founded by businessman Sydney Nathan in the mid-1940s, King Records led the way for the hundreds of independent record companies of the 1940s and 1950s. A progressive company in a reactionary time, King was led by an interracial creative and executive staff that redefined the face and voice of American music as well as the way it was recorded and sold. Fox weaves together the elements of King's success, focusing on the dynamic personalities of the artists, producers, and key executives such as Nathan, Henry Glover, and Ralph Bass. Drawing on personal interviews, research in newspapers and periodicals, and deep access to the King archives, this book captures a sense of the inspired mayhem that permeated King Records in its glory days. The book includes a foreword by legendary guitarist, singer, and songwriter Dave Alvin.
