Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Dorothy Moore, Little Milton, Shirley Brown, Tyrone Davis, Marvin Sease, and the Mississippi Mass Choir.

[2] A tornado on April 15, 2011, destroyed much of the company's main building and studio at 3023 West Northside Drive in Jackson, Mississippi, which have since been re-built.

[3] Malaco (/ˈmæləkoʊ/ MAL-ə-koh) Inc. was founded in 1962 by Tommy Couch and Mitchell Malouf,[1] initially as a booking agency.

Between 1968 and 1970, Capitol Records released six singles and a Grammy Award-nominated album by Mississippi Fred McDowell.

Revenue from record releases was minimal, however, and Malaco survived doing jingles, booking bands, promoting concerts, and renting the studio for custom projects.

Wardell Quezergue made his mark with New Orleans stalwarts Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, among others.

[4] Quezergue brought five artists to Jackson in a borrowed school bus for a marathon session that yielded two hits – King Floyd's "Groove Me" and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff."

When "Groove Me" started radio play and sales, Atlantic picked the record up for distribution after all, giving Malaco a label deal for future Chimneyville product.

Drummer James Stroud, bassist Vernie Robbins and guitarist Jerry Puckett were the nucleus of the Malaco Rhythm Section, later joined by keyboardist Carson Whitsett.

[4] When Dorothy Moore recorded "Misty Blue" in 1973, Malaco got rejection slips trying to shop the master to other labels.

Other signings to the label included funk bands such as Freedom, Natural High, Power, and Sho-Nuff.

By 1977, songwriters, artists, and producers from the defunct Stax Records were knocking on Malaco's doors, including Eddie Floyd, Frederick Knight, The Fiestas, and David Porter.

[7] On April 15, 2011, the company's Jackson studio and offices were hit by a tornado that caused major damage and destruction.

Thousands of master tapes from recording sessions survived intact in a separate concrete vault.

The company decided to re-build the damaged offices and recording studio on the same site and the new buildings were opened in the fall of 2012.

Clearly the dominant contemporary southern blues label, Malaco purchased the gospel division of Savoy Records in 1986.

The Savoy acquisition brought a vast catalog of recordings, including albums by Shirley Caesar, Rev.