Little labels--big sound

From the 1920s through the 1960s, scores of small, independent record companies nurtured distinctly American music: jazz, blues, gospel, country, rhythm and blues, and the 1950s off-spring of R&B, rock 'n' roll. Operated by families or individuals, often on the fringe of mainstream culture, these labels fostered America's musical voice by discovering original artists who would become giants of popular culture.