Argo Records

Argo Records was started in December of 1955 to accommodate some of the rapidly growing recording activity at Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint was renamed Argo. Argo become well known for its jazz offerings and jazz performers affiliated with the label included Ahmad Jamal, James Moody, King Fleming, Sonny Stitt and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Argo offered a variety of music, including pop, blues, and even calypso. Argo's first big hit was by New Orleans performer Clarence "Frogman" Henry, whose classic "Ain't Got No Home" came out in 1956. By 1960, major rhythm and blues performers on the label included Etta James and the Dells.

Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet Records when the company discovered that an Argo Records already existed in the UK. (See the Cadet article for a list of some of the Argo/Cadet recording artists.)

Argo Records discography

Jazz Series (1956-1965)

Argo Records (UK)

Argo Records was a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill and musicologist Cyril Clarke with £500 capital, initially as a company specialising in "British music played by British artists", but it quickly became a company primarily specialising in spoken-word recordings and other esoteric (or commercially marginal) material.

Independent label, 1951

Argo's first issue was Music from Bali, dedicated to the Indonesian Gamelan, recorded at the Winter Garden Theatre, London. The catalogue eventually ran to 1,000 items.

In 1953, Usill was introduced to the Indian music specialist Deben Bhattacharya, who was responsible for field recordings of traditional music in India. Bhattacharya had been frustrated by the absence of recordings he could use for his BBC Radio broadcasts. Around the same time Walter Harris recorded an amateur Brazilian choir in Rio de Janeiro. Such recordings as these appeared in the labels "Living Traditions" series.

Taking advantage of the capacity of the longer playing time of LP records Argo embarked on recording the complete works of William Shakespeare. Cambridge University's Marlowe Players participated in the series, which was the responsibility of George "Dadie" Rylands, a fellow at King's College. Recording began in 1957 and was completed by 1964. Initially professional actors had been reluctant to work for the project, but in time Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Prunella Scales participated.