Johnny Parth of Document Records

Johnny Parth, founder of Document Records, died May 18, 2025, in Vienna, Austria, at 95. His label rescued pre-1943 jazz, blues, and gospel from obscurity, shaping our understanding of music history and making mountains of previously inaccessible material widely available long before YouTube. It harnessed the new CD format to full advantage, and Document’s CDs now fill library shelves the way Smithsonian Folkways LPs had previously.

Born in Vienna in 1930, Parth caught jazz fever during WWII, playing cornet in the Blue Danube Jass Band and hosting Hot Club de Vienne nights. His 1950s Jazz Perspective label reissued rare 78s, and his 1970s Roots label revived Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1986, Parth launched Document, with a mission to reissue every pre-war blues, gospel, and jazz record in chronological order. By the year 2000 he had released nearly 700 CDs. Parth’s relentless pace, sometimes a CD every three days, singlehandedly caused Blues & Rhythm magazine to add album reviewers. One of the recruits, Gary Atkinson, would purchase Document Records in 2000; he still runs it today, with a similar mission to document blues, gospel, jazz, and pre-country music. The catalog has grown to over 25,000 tracks. Johnny Parth earned the Blues Foundation’s Keeping the Blues Alive Award in 2001. Vienna honored him with a Golden Merit Award in 2003.