Gennett Records/Starr Piano building

[jeffcrom]

This may not be the right forum for this, but it doesn't seem to quite fit anywhere.

So I'm in Oxford, Ohio for family stuff. While preparing for this trip, I noticed that Richmond, Indiana, home of Gennett Records, is only 25 miles from Oxford. So I ditched the relatives yesterday and drove over to see what was left of Gennett. Not much - and they don't make what's there easy to find. What's left is the shell of the Starr Piano factory (and Gennett pressing plant?) in "the gorge" west of downtown. This used to be an industrial/warehouse area, but the Gennett building is the only thing left there. There was construction going on, but the workers let me get close and take some pictures.

I was a little confused about what I was looking at until I got back to the hotel and checked some old pictures. Gennett's recording studio was not in this building - that structure no longer exists. But it was cool to visit Richmond and catch a glimpse of the early days of recorded jazz.

[paul secor]

Nice exploring, Jeff. Thanks!

[mjzee]

I enjoyed reading that.

[TedR]

Thanks Jeff. Because of your post I started reading a bit of Gennett history and tried (unsuccessfully) to find a picture of the outside of the studio. It was described as a wooden shed with no ventilation built between the manufacturing plant (your pic) and the train tracks. A number of pics from inside the studio room, one of the most famous being with The Wolverines. On the "riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu" website I found this and wondered if you saw it:

"The Starr-Gennett Foundation unveiled a permanent Starr-Gennett themed attraction in Richmond in 2007. The Gennett Walk Of Fame is located at the site of the Starr Piano Company and is a series of cast-bronze markers in the form of 78 rpm phonograph records embedded in the Whitewater Gorge Trail."

Edited August 15, 2015 by TedR

[jeffcrom]

Because of the construction, the Walk of Fame doesn't seem to be there now. Hopefully, they're making the area better, and will bring back the markers.

Here's a picture of the studio building from 1963. My iPad doesn't want to let me copy it directly.

http://www.tdblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gennettstudio63.jpg

 

[HutchFan]

Thanks for sharing, Jeff!!!

For any who haven't already read it, I'd definitely recommend this book about Gennett records:

[jazztrain]

Joslin's Jazz Journal ran many articles over the years about the Gennett facilities in RIchmond, Indiana.  They generally included pictures as well.  I think my copies were recycled during my last move.

[Chuck Nessa]

Went by there a few times in the '60s and '70s. Must look completely different now.

[johnblitweiler]

Re Gennett and its Ku Klux Klan connection - there was a Ku Klux Klan rally in Richmond on the same day the King Oliver band recorded there: https://books.google.com/books?id=H-Mrqo__kooC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=gennett+ku+klux+klan&source=bl&ots=-X1quzsyUs&sig=2YmqxUs3yIXwwSSZ6tPXN4NQv18&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFUQ6AEwCWoVChMIrJnnk66sxwIVk-mACh2NPQ7B#v=onepage&q=gennett ku klux klan&f=false

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

very interesting

- is that painted sign on thebrick original?

[jeffcrom]

very interesting

- is that painted sign on thebrick original?

As far as I can tell, yes.

[ghost of miles]

The abandoned Gennett studio building in 1963: