Kokomo Records

Kokomo Records was an American independent record label established in the 1960s by Ted Griffiths and Trevor Huyton. Its catalog focused on historical blues recordings, particularly material originally recorded before the Second World War. Rather than operating primarily as a contemporary artist-development label, Kokomo Records served as a reissue outlet that helped circulate archival recordings by important blues performers to later audiences and collectors. The label's repertoire included recordings associated with Texas Alexander, Kokomo Arnold, Barbecue Bob, Doctor Clayton, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Moss, and Tampa Red. These artists represent several major strands of early African American blues, including country blues, piano blues, guitar-based performance, and material connected with the pre-war recording industry. By bringing such recordings together under a dedicated label, Kokomo Records contributed to the preservation and distribution of historically significant blues material. The label's name and catalog are also closely associated with the collector and reissue culture that developed around archival blues recordings. Its work was part of a broader effort by independent labels to make older recordings available outside the original commercial context in which they had been issued. This activity was important because many pre-war blues performances had become difficult to locate through their original labels, while specialist reissues allowed listeners, researchers, and musicians to encounter them again. Publicly available reference material provides limited information about Kokomo Records' corporate structure, headquarters, detailed release chronology, present ownership, and current operating status. It identifies the label as an American independent operation and records its founding in the 1960s, but does not establish a precise founding year or provide sufficient evidence to classify it definitively as active or defunct. Its documented historical significance rests chiefly on its role in reissuing recordings by foundational blues artists.

Kokomo Records emerged in the 1960s as an American independent record label founded by Ted Griffiths and Trevor Huyton. Its documented purpose and catalog place it within the specialist reissue movement that sought to preserve and redistribute recordings made during the formative period of recorded blues. The label was not primarily identified with new mainstream releases; instead, it concentrated on historical material whose original commercial availability had often ended decades earlier. The label's reissue program drew on the work of major pre-war blues musicians, including Texas Alexander, Kokomo Arnold, Barbecue Bob, Doctor Clayton, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Moss, and Tampa Red. The range of artists suggests an emphasis on the breadth of early blues rather than on a single performer, region, or instrumental style. Its catalog encompassed performances linked to country blues, urban blues, piano traditions, and guitar-led recordings, reflecting the diversity of the pre-war blues field. Kokomo Records' historical role was therefore cultural as well as commercial. Specialist reissue labels helped make fragile or otherwise difficult-to-find recordings accessible to later generations. They also supported the development of blues collecting and scholarship by gathering recordings into identifiable catalogues and presenting them to audiences beyond the period in which they were first released. In this respect, Kokomo Records formed part of the wider archival infrastructure through which twentieth-century blues recordings continued to circulate. Available reference material does not provide a detailed chronology of the label's individual releases, its distribution arrangements, headquarters, ownership after its founding, or its current business status. It also does not establish a precise year within the 1960s for its creation. Consequently, the label is best documented as a historically significant American independent blues reissue label founded during that decade, while its later operational status remains unconfirmed.

• 1960

  Kokomo Records is founded

  [1]Kokomo Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  Ted Griffiths and Trevor Huyton establish Kokomo Records as an American independent record label.

• The label develops a pre-war blues reissue catalog

  [1]Kokomo Recordsen.wikipedia.org

  Kokomo Records reissues historical blues recordings by artists including Texas Alexander, Kokomo Arnold, Barbecue Bob, Doctor Clayton, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Moss, and Tampa Red.

A specialist independent label focused on preserving and reissuing historically important pre-war blues recordings for collectors, researchers, and listeners.

• Archival music releases

  Pre-war blues reissues

  Kokomo Records' principal documented product was its reissue catalog of blues recordings made before the Second World War. The releases brought historically important performances back into circulation and covered a broad group of musicians, including Robert Johnson, Texas Alexander, Kokomo Arnold, Blind Willie McTell, Buddy Moss, Tampa Red, Barbecue Bob, and Doctor Clayton. The catalog was oriented toward preservation, collecting, and historical listening rather than contemporary pop release cycles.

1. 1Kokomo Recordsen.wikipedia.org