George Khoury (record producer)

Khoury produced his last record in 1965. He died in 1998.

In 1958, Huey Thierry and Cookie and the Cupcakes recorded "Mathilda", the unofficial anthem of swamp pop music, which Khoury co-composed. That song would be later recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis and Freddy Fender. In 1959, Khoury co-wrote and composed the hit song for Phil Phillips called "Sea of Love". The recording was later released by Khoury's Records Shop. Due to the demand, Khoury leased the recording to Mercury Records on which label it entered the charts at No. 2 in June 1959.

In 1949, after his success with the Oklahoma Tornado Label investment, Khoury created the Lyric label and Khoury's label. He recorded more Cajun songs such as Lawrence Walker's "Evangeline Waltz" and "Reno Waltz" however, he ventured into swamp pop and other genres as well. George Khoury opened up his own record shop, Khoury's Record Shop in downtown Lake Charles, Louisiana, which was co-owned with his brother, Isaac Khoury.

Khoury's birthplace is unknown; however, he was of Lebanese ancestry. In 1947, as an owner of a record shop, he noticed a lack of Cajun music being recorded in south Louisiana and decided to open a business to compete with Ed Shuler's Goldband Records and J. D. "Jay" Miller's Fais-Do-Do and Feature labels. His base of operations was just around the corner from Shuler's, on Railroad Avenue in Lake Charles.

A longhorn salesman named Virgil Bozman had travelled to Lake Charles and noticed the music being recorded in the region. In the 1940s, Virgel Bozman created a string band that became the studio band for Bill Quinn's Opera label and Gold Star Records label out of Houston, Texas. The band would be called the "Oklahoma Tornados" and sometimes feature fiddler Floyd Leblanc.

George Khoury (July 17, 1909 – January 8, 1998, Lake Charles, Louisiana) was an American pioneer swamp pop and cajun record producer known for co-writing and composing the No. 1 hit song "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips as well as "Mathilda" by Cookie and the Cupcakes.