King Joe Part I (Joe Louis Blues) / King Joe Part II (Joe Louis Blues): Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 78 rpm black vinyl record (a) with worn Okeh Records paper sleeve (b). The record has a purple label at the center with gold type. OKeh Logo at the top of the label, with title reading [KING JOE PART I / (Joe Louis Blues) Blues Fox Trot / -Wright-Basie- / PAUL ROBESON with / COUNT BASIE and his ORCH.] on side A, with [KING JOE PART II] on side B. Held in extremely worn Okeh paper sleeve.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1941
• Published by: Okeh Records, American, 1916 - 2000
• Recorded by: Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
• Recorded by: Count Basie, American, 1904 - 1984
• Subject of: Joe Louis, American, 1914 - 1981
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: vinyl
• Dimensions: Diameter (record): 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (paper sleeve): 10 × 10 in. (25.4 × 25.4 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Boxing
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2014.3.20.2ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Paxton and Rachel Baker
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.