MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2008
By: Representatives Coleman (65th), Bailey, To: Rules Broomfield, Calhoun, Campbell (72nd), Clark, Clarke, Coleman (29th), Espy, Evans (70th), Evans (91st), Gardner, Harrison, Holloway, Huddleston (30th), Middleton, Robinson, Scott, Smith (27th), Straughter, Thomas, Watson, Wooten, Brown
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 102
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING MALACO 2 RECORDS ON RECEIVING A MARKER ON THE MISSISSIPPI BLUES TRAIL. 3 WHEREAS, Malaco Records, which is based in Jackson, 4 Mississippi, was honored on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, with a marker 5 on the Mississippi Blues Trail; and 6 WHEREAS, The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the 7 Mississippi Blues Commission under the leadership of Governor 8 Haley Barbour and is designed to preserve the state's musical
9 heritage through historical markers and interpretive sites; and 10 WHEREAS, the roots of Malaco Records originated with 11 Cofounder Tommy Couch, Sr., who began booking R&B bands at the 12 University of Mississippi as Social Chairman of Pi Kappa Alpha 13 Fraternity; and 14 WHEREAS, after Mr. Couch graduated from college, he came to 15 Jackson to work as a pharmacist and formed a booking agency called 16 Malaco Productions with his brother-in-law, Mitchell Malouf; and
17 WHEREAS, in 1966, Malaco moved into recording and Couch's 18 fraternity brother, Gerald "Wolf" Stephenson, joined as a partner, 19 and in Malaco's initial years, it focused on leasing masters to
20 labels such as I Do Not Play No Rock 'N Roll by down-home 21 bluesman, Mississippi Fred McDowell; and 22 WHEREAS, Malaco found its niche in the early 1980s when it 23 signed Texan Z.Z. Hill who released Down Homes Blues, which tapped 24 Malaco into the mostly untapped southern market of "soul/blues";
25 and 26 WHEREAS, in the 1980s, Malaco's eventual conquest of the 27 "soul/blues" market can be attributed to the following factors: H. C. R. No. 102 *HR07/R2111* N1/2 08/HR07/R2111 PAGE 1 (OM\HS) 28 the hiring of veteran record promotion man, Dave Clark; the 29 development of a distinctive studio "sound," aided by Malaco's 30 purchase of Muscle Shoals Sound; and a pool of talented 31 songwriters, including George Jackson, Larry Addison, Rich Cason 32 and Frederick Knight; and 33 WHEREAS, Malaco built an impressive roster by adding artists
34 such as Denise LaSalle, Little Milton, Johnnie Taylor, Latimore 35 and Bobby "Blue" Bland, and in the 1990s, the company added 36 veterans, Shirley Brown and Tyrone Davis; and 37 WHEREAS, during the 1990s, the son of Tommy Couch, Tommy 38 Couch, Jr., who is also a University of Mississippi graduate, 39 started Waldoxy subsidiary, which brought on artists including, 40 Artie "Blues Boy" White, Carl Sims, Mel Waiters, Bobby Rush and 41 blues comedian, Poonanny; and
42 WHEREAS, today, Malaco continues to maintain a large presence 43 in the southern soul market with releases by artists including 44 Marvin Sease, Mel Waiters, Billy "Soul" Bonds and Willie Clayton; 45 and 46 WHEREAS, Malaco also has had a strong presence in the gospel 47 field, since it released the first of many albums by the Jackson 48 Southernaires since 1975 and has recorded many gospel artists such 49 as the Mississippi Mass Choir, Dorothy Norwood, Willie Neal
50 Johnson, the Soul Stirrers, the Highway QCs and Maurette Brown 51 Clark; and 52 WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize 53 outstanding companies such as Malaco Records which has a long 54 history of representing blues and gospel artists which are richly 55 intertwined with the Mississippi Blues: 56 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF 57 REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING 58 THEREIN, That we do hereby commend Malaco Records on receiving a
59 blues marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail, and extend best
H. C. R. No. 102 *HR07/R2111* 08/HR07/R2111 PAGE 2 (OM\HS) 60 wishes to Malaco Records for continued success in all of its 61 endeavors. 62 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be 63 furnished to Malaco Records and to the members of the Capitol 64 Press Corps.
H. C. R. No. 102 *HR07/R2111* 08/HR07/R2111 ST: Malaco Records; commend on being honored PAGE 3 (OM\HS) with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.