QRS Records
QRS is an American company which makes piano rolls. During the 1920s and early 1930s, it also produced three short-lived record series.History
QRS was founded by Melville Clark to make piano rolls. It recorded early ragtime and jazz musicians, such as Fats Waller and James P. Johnson, and cut eleven million rolls in 1926. A record label was begun in the 1920s with three series of discs.
The first edition of discs were reissues of music from Gennett Records which Gennett catalog numbers and label color-scheme. One of these rare and short lived QRS records is identical to Gennett 5271.
The second edition included music overseen by Art Satherley, who had worked in the A&R department at Paramount Records. This was the longest-lived edition with a series devoted to jazz and blues and a second series devoted to country music. Among the artists who recorded for QRS were Ed Bell, Clarence Williams, Katherine Henderson, Clifford Gibson, South Street Ramblers, Earl Hines, James "Stump" Johnson, Sara Martin, Anna Bell, Edith North Johnson, and Missionary Josephine Miles.
A third edition began in 1930 by the Cova Record Corporation and was strictly commercial dance bands and vocals specially recorded for QRS, pressed on inferior shellac material. It was most certainly a budget priced label and based on its rarity, was probably never sold throughout the country. It's doubtful the label survived into 1931. Only 57 numbers have been traced.
