Vee-Jay Records was a record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African It was owned and operated by African Americans. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa
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History
Vee-Jay was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a husband-and-wife team who used their initials for the label’s name. The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union Events Arthur Bliss replaces Arnold Bax as Master of the Queen's Music. Vivian Carter ( March 25, 1921 &ndash June 12, 1989) was an African American Record company executive and radio Disc James C Bracken ( May 23 1909 - February 20 1972) was an African American songwriter and the co-founder and co-owner of Vee-Jay Records [1] Vivian's brother, Calvin Carter, was the label's A&R man. Ewart Abner, formerly of Chance Records, joined the label in 1955, first as manager, then as vice president, and ultimately, as president. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar)
Vee-Jay quickly became a major R&B label, with the first song recorded making it to the top ten on the national R&B charts. Vee-Jay Records filed for bankruptcy in August 1966. The assets were subsequently purchased by label executives Betty Chiapetta and Randy Wood.
Major acts on the label in the 1950s included blues singers Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim, and John Lee Hooker, and rhythm and blues vocal groups the Spaniels, Dells, and El Dorados. Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed ( September 6 1925 - August 29 1976) was an American Blues Singer notable John "Memphis Slim" Chatman (born September 3, 1915, Memphis, Tennessee; died February 24, 1988, in John Lee Hooker ( August 22, 1917 &ndash June 21, 2001) was an influential American Post-war Blues singer The El Dorados were an American Doo-wop group who achieved their greatest success with the song "At My Front Door" in 1955/56 The 1960s saw the label became a major soul label with Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, Dee Clark, and Betty Everett putting records on both the R&B and pop charts. Jerry Butler (born Jerry Butler Jr December 8, 1939, Sunflower, Mississippi) is an American soul Singer Gene Chandler (born Eugene Dixon, July 6 1937, Chicago, Illinois) is an American Singer. Dee Clark ( 7 November 1938 —- 7 December 1990) was an African-American soul Singer best known for a string Betty Everett ( November 23 1939, Greenwood Mississippi – August 19 2001, Beloit Wisconsin) was an African-American Vee-Jay were also the first to record The Pips, who became Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1962, when they moved to Fury Records. "The Pips" redirects here For the BBC pips, see Greenwich Time Signal. Fury Records was set up by Bobby Robinson in 1957. In 1959 it had a Billboard No
Vee-Jay had significant success with rock and roll acts, notably The Four Seasons (their first non-black act) and The Beatles (Vee-Jay acquired the rights to some of the early Beatles recordings at the suggestion of Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons). The Four Seasons (known off and on since 1967 as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - although not shown that way on any of their hit records is an American African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Frankie Valli (born May 3, 1934 as Francis Stephen Castelluccio) is an American musician most famous as frontman of The 4 Seasons. In the mid 1960's Vee-Jay signed former successful child singer Jimmy Boyd of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus fame). For the actor from The Electric Company, see Jim Boyd (actor. " I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus " is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by Tommie Connor Boyd was then twenty five years old. The company even ventured into folk music with Hoyt Axton and New Wine Singers. Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous Hoyt Wayne Axton ( March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American Country music Singer - Songwriter, The label also picked up Little Richard (who re-recorded his Specialty Records hits); and, before he became successful, Billy Preston. Rev Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5 1932 better known by the Stage name Little Richard, is an American Singer, Songwriter Specialty Records was an American Record label based in Los Angeles William Everett Preston ( September 2 1946 – June 6 2006) was an American Soul musician from Houston Texas,
Vee-Jay's jazz line accounted for a small portion of the company's releases, but recorded such artists as Wynton Kelly, Lee Morgan, Eddie Harris, and Wayne Shorter. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Wynton Kelly ( December 2, 1931 in Jamaica &mdash April 12 1971 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a Jazz pianist Lee Morgan ( 10 July, 1938 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania &ndash 19 February, 1972 in New York City) was an American Eddie Harris (b Chicago, October 20 1934; died November 5, 1996) was best known for playing Tenor saxophone, though Wayne Shorter (born August 25 1933) is an American Jazz Composer and Saxophonist, commonly regarded as one of the [2] The A&R for the jazz releases was Sid McCoy. Artists and Repertoire ( A&R) is the division of a Record label that is responsible for talent scouting and artist development The company also had a major gospel line, recording such acts as the Staple Singers, the Argo Singers, Swan Silvertones, and Maceo Woods. Gospel music is Music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life as well as (in terms of the varying music styles to The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group The Swan Silvertones was a Gospel music group that achieved great popularity in the 1940s and 1950s while led by Claude Jeter, who formed the group in 1938 as the [2] Vee-Jay even released comedy on LP, with Them Poems, Mason Williams's early nightclub act, recorded with a studio audience in 1964. Mason Douglas Williams (b August 24, 1938) is an American Guitarist and Composer, best known for his popular guitar instrumental
Vee-Jay's biggest successes occurred in 1962-1964, with the ascendancy of the Four Seasons and the distribution of early Beatles material ("Please Please Me" and "From Me to You" via Vee-Jay[1] and "Love Me Do", "Twist and Shout", and "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" via its subsidiary Tollie Records), because EMI's autonomous United States company Capitol initially refused to release Beatles records. The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Please Please Me is the first album recorded by The Beatles, rush-released on March 22, 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise " From Me to You " is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles as a single in 1963. " Love Me Do " is an early Lennon/McCartney song principally written by Paul McCartney in 1958&ndash59 while playing truant from school " Twist and Shout " is a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Russell. " Do You Want to Know a Secret " is a song by The Beatles from the 1963 album Please Please Me, sung by George Harrison. Tollie Records was a Record label formed in February 1964, as a subsidiary label of Vee-Jay Records. The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as Vee-Jay's releases were at first unsuccessful, but quickly became huge hits once the British Invasion took off in early 1964, selling 2. The British Invasion was the term applied by the news media — and subsequently by consumers — to the influx of Rock and roll, beat and pop performers Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. 6 million Beatles singles in a single month. Cash flow problems caused by the leasing of the British act's records are generally given as an explanation of the company's demise, with a royalty dispute with The Four Seasons (and their subsequent departure from Vee-Jay) often mentioned as a contributory cause.
Three other Vee-Jay subsidiary labels included Interphon (which yielded the Top 5 hit "Have I The Right" by another British group, The Honeycombs), Champion (featuring Gloria Jones' original version of "Tainted Love", a smash hit for Soft Cell in 1981), and Oldies 45 for reissues. Interphon Records was a sub-label from Vee-Jay Records to distribute its European leased masters in the US. The Honeycombs were an English Beat / pop group of the 1960s Their most distinguishing mark was their female Drummer, Honey Lantree A champion (identical to the French from the late Latin campio) is one who has repeatedly come out first among contestants in challenges (especially the winner of a tournament Soft Cell are an English Synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s Oldies-45 was a sub-label of Vee-Jay Records. It was started in 1963 to distribute their old 45 rpm records
The post-bankruptcy Vee-Jay is not active in producing new recordings, but continues to license the back catalog. The current primary distributors are P-Vine/Blues Interactions in Japan, and Rhino Records in North America. P-Vine Records is a record label started by Blues Interactions Inc For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty Record label and production company owned by Warner Music Group. U. S. based record label Collectables Records, a Rhino sublicensee, has been remastering and reissuing Vee-Jay albums on audio CD since 2000. Collectables recording artists The following artists have had at least one Recording re-issued on the Collectables label The latest sublicensee is Shout! Factory which released a Best of Vee-Jay box set as well as individual "Best of the Vee-Jay Years" CDs from such artists as Jerry Butler, The Dells, Jimmy Reed and The Staple Singers. Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2002 that was started by Richard Foos (co-founder of Rhino Records) Bob Emmer (former Warner Music Group Jerry Butler (born Jerry Butler Jr December 8, 1939, Sunflower, Mississippi) is an American soul Singer The Dells are an influential R&B musical group who was one of the few groups to span music genres resulting in successful recordings surpassing more than four decades Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed ( September 6 1925 - August 29 1976) was an American Blues Singer notable The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group [1]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Thompson, Dave (2002). This is a list of notable Record labels Due to the large number of entries the list has been divided by the first character of the label's name See also A Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting, pp. 286-89. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307137.
- ^ a b Pruter, Robert (1996). Doowop: The Chicago Scene, p. 105. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252065069.
External links
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