HISTORY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

A small short-lived label out of Dallas, Texas specializing in regional performers in both country and rock ā€˜nā€™ roll including the first recordings of some long-lasting names in the latter field.

Begun by Jesse Erickson and his wife Louise in 1949 who owned a record store, the couple – like many others on the fringe of the music industry – dreamed of branching out into more creative endeavors and started the ambitiously named Star Talent in the hopes of breaking into the big time. Being centrally located in the South provided them with their biggest advantage as they were easily accessible to aspiring artists from the Delta region who’d presumably feel less intimated walking in off the street to try out for a small company than they would in making a longer journey to see a more established label that would quite possibly slam the door in their face.

Star Talent’s open door policy brought them such future luminaries as Professor Longhair from Louisiana and Rufus Thomas from Memphis along with more mysterious figures like Cha Cha Hogan, all of whom recorded their first sides for the company. Longhair’s records actually became hits in New Orleans but since he’d signed contracts with both Atlantic and Mercury at the same time, re-recording the best of his initial cuts, their superior promotion and distribution won out and the Star Talent label went out of business soon after.
 

STAR TALENT DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):

RUFUS THOMAS: I’ll Be A Good Boy (5) (Star Talent 807; February, 1950)
RUFUS THOMAS: I’m So Worried (4) (Star Talent 807; February, 1950)
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Professor Longhair’s Boogie (4) (Star Talent 808; February, 1950)
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Mardi Gras In New Orleans (5) (Star Talent 808; February, 1950)
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: She Ain’t Got No Hair (8) (Star Talent 809; February, 1950)
PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: Bye Bye Baby (3) (Star Talent 809; February, 1950)
CHA CHA HOGAN: My Baby Loves Me (2) (Star Talent 810; February, 1950)
CHA CHA HOGAN: My Walking Baby (7) (Star Talent 810; February, 1950)