Vee-Jay Records

Vivian Carter

It was Calvin who drew in a number of the artists who established Vee-Jay's early reputation - seminal talent such as John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, the Spaniels, the Dells, Betty Everett and Jerry Butler.

The company was initially put together in 1953 and, unusually for a new and not particularly well funded small label, it scored an immediate R&B hit with its very first recording (The Spaniels 'Baby Its You'). They had the good sense to defray distribution and promotion costs that often proved prohibitive to start up labels by placing the initial releases with the better distributed Chance label. They were further rewarded with the follow-up hit 'Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite' (the Spaniels again), destined to become a doo-wop classic. The doo-wop sound remained a staple of the Vee-Jay sound for many years, the Spaniels joined at the label by groups of the quality of the Dells, El Dorados, Magnificents and Dukays.

Jerry Butler

The label's net grew ever wider - the Four Seasons joined and provided a string of pure pop classics, most of which found their way into the upper reaches of the Billboard pop charts. By 1962, the label had a particularly strong roster and, seemimgly effortlessly, released material to both critical and commercial success in the blues, R&B, soul and gospel genres. Jerry Butler scored in both the pop and R&B charts with a series of smooth but soulful ballads. Gene Chandler managed a number one success in both the pop and R&B charts with 'Duke of Earl' and there are many other examples of crossover successes. These include John Lee Hooker ('Boom Boom'), Jerry Butler ('Make It Easy On Yourself', 'Moon River'), Betty Everett ('You're No Good', 'The Shoop Shoop Song'), the Dells ('Stay In My Corner') and Jimmy Reed ('Big Boss Man').

The Dells

Despite the messy and unfortunate demise, Vee-Jay label is still a pivotal and important one in both R&B and the development of black music generally. The breadth and depth of the output was extraordinary, and it reached out to the white record buying public without ever abandoning its natural demographic market. Perhaps a little undervalued now in historical terms, its output could well be considered as important as that from Stax and Chess. First rate examples of blues, uptown soul, straight ahead R&B - the best of Afro-American music of the era and a perfect soundtrack for an R&B primer. Catch a review of the 2CD selection of "America's Premier Black Music Label" here.