Constructed in 1923 and renamed the King Edward Hotel in 1954, the Edwards Hotel in Jackson became an important temporary recording site for blues, gospel, string band, and country performers. Earlier buildings on the site included the Confederate House, built in 1861, destroyed by General Sherman’s forces in 1863, and rebuilt in 1867 as the Edwards House. Because major recording companies were based in the North before World War II, Southern artists often had to travel long distances to record, so temporary hotel studios offered an occasional solution. In December 1930, H. C. Speir, working with Polk Brockman of OKeh, arranged the first recording sessions in Mississippi at the hotel, where artists included the Mississippi Sheiks, Bo Carter, Walter Jacobs, Charlie McCoy, Caldwell Bracey and Virginia Bracey, Slim Duckett, Pig Norwood, Elder Charlie Beck, Elder Curry, the Newton County Hill Billies, Freeny’s Barn Dance Band, and Uncle Dave Macon. The Mississippi Sheiks also performed at the hotel. In 1935 Speir organized a second series of sessions there for the American Record Corporation, whose labels included Vocalion; artists recorded then included Robert Wilkins, Harry Chatmon, Sarah and Her Milk Bull, the Delta Twins, Kid Stormy Weather, Blind Mack, and Isaiah Nettles, also known as the Mississippi Moaner. Houston Stackhouse later recalled playing there with Robert Nighthawk and Jimmie Rodgers.
