Founded in New York City in 1942 by husband and
wife team Ike and Bess Berman and by Hy Siegel,
Apollo Records’ first releases ran the gamut from
jazz and calypso to country music and gospel. In
1945 another partner, Sam Schneider, was taken on
to oversee a new West Coast office, which was responsible for the recordings of Wynonie Harris, Duke
Henderson, Jack McVea, and Dinah Washington,
while back in New York the Bermans were recording
blues artists such as Champion Jack Dupree, Jerome
‘‘Doc’’ Pomus, and Louis ‘‘Jelly Belly’’ Hayes’s and
Alec Seward’s ‘‘The Back Porch Boys.’’ Following a
split with Ike in 1948, Bess Berman acquired the shares
of the other partners. Hy Siegel went on to launch
Timely Records in 1953 at the same time that Apollo
launched its own short-lived R&B subsidiary, Lloyds
Records. The company ceased business around 1962.
DAVID PENNY
Bibliography
McGrath
‘‘Apollo Label List’’ [part 1]. Soul Bag no. 118 (Winter
1989): 32–35; ‘‘Apollo Label List’’ [part 2]. Soul Bag
no. 119 (Spring 1990): 23–24.
Discography
West Coast Jive (1992, Delmark CD DD-657).
East Coast Jive (1994, Delmark CD DE-669).