1963
OH MA OH PA * MELODY ENCHANTERS * BLACK SWAN 408 * UK
The inclination for the music makers in Jamaica and England to borrow from, reference and often pay homage to the American model extends across all fields. The original Black Swan label was begun in New York, May 1921, by Harry Pace, in a small basement room with a staff of one. Issued under the parent name of the Pace Phonograph Corporation, he had established four months earlier in January, Black Swan was to be the first label to feature only colored artists and be produced by a company all of whose shareholders and employees would also be colored. According to Dixon & Godrich, in Recording The Blues the name was (possibly) derived from a colored singer called Elizabeth Taylor Greenfeild, who was known as the 'Black Swan'.
Alberta Hunter, 'The Idol of Dreamland' recorded for the original Black Swan label.