Historical Overview

508 Park contains a multifaceted story of intersecting histories of the film and music business. Opening in 1930 as the Warner Brothers Building, this structure served as a distribution point for films and sound track records. The building housed the regional offices of Vitagraph, the distribution subsidiary of Warner Brothers. It distributed Vitaphone (short subjects and cartoons), First National Pictures (contemporary comedies, dramas and crimes) and Warner Brother Pictures (prestige motion pictures, costume dramas and musicals).

In the 1930s, Brunswick Records was located on the 3rd floor and in the late 1930s, producer Don Law built a makeshift recording studio for field recording sessions with legendary musicians such as: Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, The Light Crust Doughboys, The Chuck Wagon Gang, Lolo Cavazos and many others. In 2004, Eric Clapton visited 508 Park to film for a tribute to those special recordings and Johnson’s lasting impact on music.

While the recordings of Robert Johnson are extraordinary, what is truly remarkable is the diversity of the music that was produced at 508 Park and around the region by fellow Englishmen Art Satherley and Don Law who were producers for the American Record Corporation.

Musical styles in the region included Mexican-American, Czech, Hillbilly/Country, Hot String Band/Western Swing, Cowboy, Blues, Gospel, Cajun and other traditional forms.

ARC’s regional manager, Don Law, produced 843 recordings at 508 Park between 1935 and 1939. The recording equipment was not permanent but moved around the country. These sessions were known as “field recordings.” The recording engineers came to 508 Park five times, staying from three to four weeks and then packing up the equipment to move to the next location.

The history contained in this building is unique and a significant puzzle piece in the story of American music. There is world-wide recognition of the history that was made at 508 Park in the Brunswick Records warehouse on the third floor.

Don Law helped pioneer the recording and release of this region’s ethnic music to the rest of the United States in the 1930’s through efforts to market and sell records to the middle class. This forever changed how music continued to develop. It was now possible for musicians to hear ethnic music from regions they had never lived or worked in.