Volume One contains the following:

- 6 x 180-gram vinyl LPs pressed on burled chestnut colored vinyl with hand-engraved, blind-embossed gold-leaf labels housed in a laser-etched white birch LP folio

- 800 newly-remastered digital tracks, representing 172 artists and accessible via a first-of-its-kind music and image player app that allows user management of all tracks and ads, housed on a custom-designed USB drive

- 250-page large-format, clothbound hardcover art book

- 360-page encyclopedia-style softcover field guide containing artist portraits and full Paramount discography

- 200+ fully-restored original 1920s ads and images

- Handcrafted quarter-sawn oak cabinet with sage velvet upholstery and custom-forged metal hardware

How did a Wisconsin chair company, producing records on the cheap and run by men with little knowledge of their audience or the music business, build one of the greatest musical rosters ever assembled under one roof? The answer lies in The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records: 1917-1932, an epic, two-volume omnibus of art, words, and music housed in limited-edition, hand-sculpted “Cabinets of Wonder,” jointly released by Jack White’s Third Man Records and John Fahey’s Revenant Records. Volume One covers the label’s improbable rise from 1917-1927.

Paramount Records was founded on a modest proposition: produce records as cheaply as possible, recording whatever talent was available. Over its lifetime, the label would become a “race records” powerhouse, its sound and fortunes directly linked to the Great Migration. By the time Paramount ceased operations in 1932, it had compiled a dizzying array of performers still unrivaled to this day, spanning early jazz titans (Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller), blues masters (Charley Patton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Skip James), American divas (Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters), gospel (Norfolk Jubilee Quartette), vaudeville (Papa Charlie Jackson), and the indefinable “other” (Geeshie Wiley, Elvie Thomas). Paramount would also directly influence the style of Robert Crumb and countless other 20th century artists and illustrators through a series of hand-drawn ads promoting its releases in the pages of the Chicago Defender.

The 'Rise and Fall’ wonder-cabinet gives equal status to page-turning narrative and new scholarship, original and newly created graphic art, industrial design, and compelling analog and digital music experiences.

Dimensions: Length - 18.5", Width - 16", Height - 5.75”

Note: This item does not qualify for free shipping and can not be rush shipped.