Most race record labels faded away after radio became the primary medium for music in the 1940s. Holmes passed away nine years later at age 67. Holmes folded Meritt Records, and by 1935 he and his wife closed their music shop and operated business from home. National record labels started hiring black musicians and paid more than independent labels. At the peak of business, race record revenue reached upwards of $500 daily.īy 1929, signs of The Great Depression, technical limitations, and lack of national distribution stunted Holmes’ business. Since music production was costly, recordings by Meritt Records were made in limited quantities, but they sold well alongside other albums in Holmes’ shop. In 1925 Meritt Records debuted its first record: City Of The Dead / Cabbage Head Blues, by Lena and Sylvester Kimbrough and the Paul Banks Kansas Trio. Label of City of Dead, Holmes' first production for Meritt Records. * Meritt Records is the only known race record company to have existed in Kansas City. He and his wife moved their music shop to a larger space, purchased recording equipment, and founded Meritt Records. Holmes saw an opportunity to increase his impact by creating a recording studio for local African American artists, who had been forced to travel long distances to record in other cities. Holmes became a local champion for Kansas City jazz, spreading its reach to a national audience. His contacts in the music industry connected Kansas City blues and jazz musicians to national race record companies. From 1922 to 1923, Holmes helped close record deals for Lottie Beaman and Bennie Moten & His Orchestra in Chicago for OKeh Records. Holmes’ local business success garnered national attention. In 1920, Holmes and his wife, Addie, opened the Winston Holmes Music Company, which sold records, phonographs, and pianos, and also provided services including piano tuning and repair.Īd in The Kansas City Call for Meritt Records Jan 2nd, 1925. He started a new career tuning pianos, and he saved enough money to invest in a new business venture. When he was young, his parents, William and Lucinda, moved the family to Kansas City.Holmes attended grade school at Lincoln Elementary, which later became Lincoln College Preparatory Academy.Īfter a temporary career touring the United States as a semi-professional boxer and entertainer, Holmes returned to KC and married. Winston Holmes was born in Liberty, Missouri, Aug. Recording companies were entirelyowned by white people, but “race” media - music, films, and publications - was created by and for African Americans. Hall in 1917 Arthur Bryant’s in 1940 Ewing Marion Kauffman’s Marion Laboratories in 1950 Cerner Corporation in 1979 Garmin in 1989 and many more.īut an entrepreneur you don’t hear about is Winston Holmes, an innovator and businessman who launched Kansas City’s only race record label in 1925, right here on 18th & Vine.ĭuring the Jim Crow era, discrimination and income inequality meant that nearly no black artists were recorded, despite their presence in an array of musical genres.

Later followed Hallmark Cards, founded by Joyce C. The legacy of local entrepreneurs in Kansas City goes as far back as Francois Chouteau, who established a trading post at present-day Kansas City in 1821.

Photo courtesy of The Black Archives of Mid-America.

Portrait of Winston Holmes and his wife Addie.

Kansas city jazz musicians