Hy-Tone was an influential independent record label in Chicago that issued rhythm and blues records between 1946 and 1948.
History It was originally set up in March 1946 as the Melody Lane label by guitarist, bandleader and record store owner Freddie Williams (1898-1955), but soon changed its name to Hy-Tone when Russian-born juke box operator Nathan Rothner (1912-2003) became involved. The label recorded musicians mainly from the South Side of Chicago, and issued early recordings by Memphis Slim, Crown Prince Waterford, Jo Jo Adams, Sunnyland Slim, guitarist Floyd Smith, gospel singer R. L. Knowles, Freddie Williams' own band, and others. Robert Pruter, "Hy-Tone", in Edward Komara (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Blues, Psychology Press, 2005, p.483
The label is credited with helping to establish Chicago as a recording venue for R&B music after the Second World War. It closed in 1948 after King Records in Cincinnati bought some of the Hi-Tone master recordings from Rothner. Robert Pruter, Robert L. Campbell, and Tom Kelly, "The Hy-Tone Label" . Retrieved 31 March 2014
Other labels The name Hy-Tone, Hytone, or Hi-Tone has been used for several other, unrelated, record labels. These include: Hytone, set up by the Indestructible Phonograph Company in 1921 Hi-Tone, set up in New York in 1949 as a subsidiary of Bob Thiele's Signature Records Hy-Tone, set up in New York in 1957 Hy-Tone, which issued gospel records in California in the 1960s.
References
External links Hy-Tone Records on the Internet Archive's Great 78 Project