Leroy Hurte

Leroy Hurte was a baritone vocalist, guitarist and producer. He played guitar with the Four Blackbirds and was a vocalist with the Jones Boys Sing Band. Leroy was also the first to produce two of the most important R&B songs of the 1940's, Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" and Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper", both released on small independent labels in Los Angeles that broke through the music monopoly dominated by three major record corporations, topped the rhythm 'n' blues charts, crossed over into the pop mainstream and sold over a million copies. While these records were attributed to Gilt-Edge and Exclusive labels, many years later, research was found to suggest that the songs were originally recorded for Records by Leroy Hurte. He is also credited with having the first R&B operation with an almost fully self-contained manufacturing facility.