peterh wrote:
William, I've never heard of Elgin Hychew, did he own the Invicta label?
Short story: Yes.
Longer story, based on research I did a few years ago: Invicta Records Corporation began November 14th, 1962. It was a legal partnership between Elgin J. Hychew and his lawyer, Alvin B. Jones. Hychew lived at 2004 Humanity St, and Jones lived (and/or worked) at 503 1/2 S Rampart. Invicta's studio and mailing address was 710 S. Rampart. Robert Booker later joined Hychew, but had to carry his own water when Invicta went bankrupt and Hychew skipped town. Invicta, though it had been shuttered unofficially for nearly 20 years, officially closed its doors in 1985, as Hychew sank into dementia and turned his estate and business dealings over to an attorney. He passed 11 years later. Booker pressed on for years after his partner left.
Deeper into the weeds, from Lynn Abbott, c/o Adam Lore: "Here's a passage from an article Lynn Abbott had published in 1986: 'Rev. Booker came from Mississippi, born in Jackson in 1927. He surfaced in the New Orleans gospel community in 1952 when he organized the Booker Gospel Singers, a Harmonettes-style female group. In 1963 he launched his Booker label as a subsidiary of Elgin Hychew's one year-old Invicta Recording Company. Hychew had gravitated to the recording business while penning the popular music-entertainment column "Dig Me" for The Louisiana Weekly. But Invicta went bankrupt after just a few releases and Rev. Booker had to make his way alone.'"
I'm in the middle of a research project on Mr. Hychew. Connections run deep with him, but I can't talk about much more for now.
