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Recorded In Hollywood / Hollywood Records – An R & B Split Personality
Part One : Recorded In Hollywood Records
Recorded In Hollywood was begun in 1950 by record store owner and music personality John Dolphin. His record store Dolphin’s Of Hollywood was a prime factor in the emergence of rhythm & blues music on the West Coast by its sales of records and as being the location of landmark R &B radio broadcasts by Hunter Hancock and Dick “Huggie Boy” Hugg.
THE RECORDING OF “EARTH ANGEL”
“Earth Angel” by The Penguins
“Earth Angel” by The Penguins, recorded in September 1954, has sold in the millions over the last 45 years and is still one of the most popular records of all time. It is consistently near the top of New York radio station KCBS’s annual poll of favorite oldies. The song evolved through several Los Angeles groups and artists before The Penguins finally committed it to tape in Ted Brinson’s garage studio in the back of his house at 2190 W. 30th Street in South Los Angeles.
Dick “Huggy Boy” Hugg, DJ Introduced White L.A. Listeners to Rhythm & Blues
Huggy Boy and Dolphin’s of Hollywood Disc jockey Huggy Boy arrived in L.A. in about 1945, signed on the air over KRKD radio out of the window of the Dolphin’s of Hollywood Record Shop on Vernon Ave., “20 magic steps west of Central Ave” in late 1951 or early 1952.
Leon H. Washington Jr. (1907-1974)
Founding publisher of the Los Angeles based African-American newspaper, the Sentinel, Leon H. Washington Jr. was born in Kansas City, Kansas on April 15, 1907.
Jesse Belvin: The Most Gifted of All
By Norman (Otis) Richmon
The legendary Etta James was high on Jesse Belvin. She bluntly called Belvin, “The most gifted of all…even now I consider him the greatest singer of my generation. Rhythm and blues rock and roll, crooner, you name it. He was going to be bigger than Sam Cooke, bigger than Nat Cole.”
Sam Cooke: King of Soul
Songwriter and performer Sam Cooke was one of the most popular and influential black singers to emerge in the late ’50s, successfully to synthesize a blend of gospel music and secular themes and provided the early foundation of soul music. Cooke’s pure, clear vocals were widely imitated, and his suave, sophisticated image set the style of soul crooners for the next decade.
