Delmark Records Celebrates 70th Year With 2023 Events and Blues Anthology
To celebrate the 70th anniversary, Delmark raided the vaults for a new anthology, out July 21st!
Seventy years before the late Bob Koester founded Delmar (later Delmark) Records while a college student in St. Louis, Buffalo Bill’s traveling Wild West Show debuted, Chester A. Arthur was president, Thomas Edison brought electric light to Roselle, NJ for the first time, and “Black Bart” was in the news for another stagecoach robbery. When Koester released his first record in 1953, many of the now-iconic figures in blues and jazz were still everyday working musicians, Ike was in the White House, and the U.S. was fighting in Korea.
Now seventy years on, Delmark is the oldest independent jazz and blues record label in the world, boasting a catalog bulging with over twelve thousand recordings by a virtual who’s who of jazz and blues. Although Koester retired in 2018, under the leadership of President/CEO, Julia A. Miller, and Artistic Director Elbio Barilari, Delmark has released over 30 thirty albums in five years, has made digitally available over twelve thousand songs and continues its mission of seeking out and documenting new talent. To celebrate the 70th anniversary, Delmark raided the vaults for a new anthology, out July 21st on CD, LP and digital.
From Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Little Walter and Muddy Waters to Memphis Slim and Jimmy Johnson, the 70th Anniversary compilation is a perfect snapshot of the incredible vault of classic blues Delmark has released over the years.
Delmark celebrated the anniversary in glorious style this month, from a live WDCB Bluesday Tuesday at Fitzgeralds Club, hosted by blues DJ legend Tom Marker to a fantastic showing at the Chicago Blues Fest, which included premier performances from Demetria Taylor and Mud Morganfield (the children Chicago blues legends Eddie Taylor and Muddy Waters respectively) and a 70th Anniversary Celebration that included Dave Specter, Johnny Iquana, Johnny Burgin, Bob Stroger and a slew of other amazing performers. Blues Legend Billy Boy Arnold was honored with a mayoral proclamation before he headed to the Delmark tent to sign copies of his brand new book on University of Chicago Press. Mud Morganfield was interviewed by CBS News about the festival and his life in music. Watch here.
Labor Day weekend, Delmark will host their 3rd annual Rockwell Blues & Jazz stroll, with music, food and fun at the studios and area businesses.
Evanston’s SPACE will host another celebration on September 20th, in which Dave Specter leads an all-star band of Delmark Players. For tickets, head here.
Delmark Records To Release 70th Anniversary Blues Anthology
Seventy years is a long time. Seventy years before the late Bob Koester founded Delmar (later Delmark) Records while a college student in St. Louis, Buffalo Bill’s travelling Wild West Show debuted, Chester A. Arthur was president, Thomas Edison brought electric light to Roselle, NJ for the first time, and “Black Bart” was in the news for another stagecoach robbery. When Koester released his first record in 1953, many of the now-iconic figures in blues and jazz were still every day working musicians, Ike was in the White House, and the U.S. was fighting in Korea. Now seventy years on, Delmark is the oldest independent jazz and blues record label in the world, boasting a catalog bulging with over twelve thousand recordings by a virtual who’s who of jazz and blues. Although Koester retired in 2018, under the leadership of President/CEO, Julia A. Miller, and Artistic Director Elbio Barilari, Delmark has released over 30 thirty albums in five years, has made digitally available over twelve thousand songs and continues its mission of seeking out and documenting new talent. To celebrate the 70th anniversary, here are some of the finest tracks from the Delmark blues music vaults. (From the liner notes by Scott Dirks)
1) Junior Wells with Buddy Guy – Snatch It Back And Hold It
2) Magic Sam – All Of Your Love 3) Otis Rush – All Your Love (I Miss Loving)
4) Jimmy Dawkins with Otis Rush & Big Voice Odom – All For Business
5) Dinah Washington – Blues For A Day
6) T-Bone Walker – I Want A Little Girl
7) Big Time Sarah – Long Tall Daddy
8) Little Walter with Muddy Waters – I Just Keep Loving Her
9) Memphis Slim with Matt Guitar Murphy – Memphis Slim U.S.A.
10) Jimmy Johnson – Ashes In My Ashtray Anthology selected by Delmark’s Artistic Director Elbio Barilari.
JUNIOR WELLS featuring BUDDY GUY • SNATCH IT BACK AND HOLD IT (2:53) Amos Blakemore/Buddy Guy, Dimension Music, Mic Shau Music Company, BMI Junior Wells: VOCALS & HARP • Buddy Guy: GUITAR • Jack Myers: BASS • Billy Warren: DRUMS
FROM HOODOO MAN BLUES (D 612)
Recorded September 22–23, 1965 Sound Studios, Chicago by Stu Black produced by Bob Koester
MAGIC SAM • ALL OF YOUR LOVE (3:62) Samuel Maghett, Conrad Music/Leric Music Inc, BMI Magic Sam: VOCALS & GUITAR • Mighty Joe Young: GUITAR Earnest Johnson: BASS • Odie Payne: DRUMS
FROM WEST SIDE SOUL (D 615)
Recorded – July 12 and October 25, 1967 Album production and supervision – Robert G. Koester
Recording – Stu Black, Sound Studios, Chicago
OTIS RUSH • ALL YOUR LOVE ( I MISS LOVING ) (6:39) Otis Rush, Otis Rush Publishing, BMI Otis Rush: VOCALS & GUITAR • Bob Levis: GUITAR • James Green: BASS • Jesse Green: DRUMS Big Moose Walker: ORGAN • Abb Locke: TENOR SAX • Chuck Smith: BARITONE SAX
FROM COLD DAY IN HELL (D 638)
Recorded April 29 & May 29, 1975 by Stu Black Sound Studios, Chicago Steve Tomashefsky, producer
JIMMY DAWKINS with BIG VOICE ODOM and OTIS RUSH ALL FOR BUSINESS (4:40) James Henry Dawkins, Embassy Music Corporation, BMI Big Voice Odom: VOCALS • Jimmy Dawkins & Otis Rush: GUITARS Sonny Thompson: PIANO • Jim Conley: TENOR SAX • Ernest Gatewood: BASS Robert Crowder: DRUMS
FROM ALL FOR BUSINESS (D 634)
Recorded in Chicago, October 27, 1971 Sound Studios, Chicago Producer, Supervised By – Robert G. Koester Recorded By – Stu Black
DINAH WASHINGTON with LUCKY THOMPSON and HIS ALL STARS BLUES FOR A DAY (2:54) John Willie Henry, Henry Heritage Music, BMI Dinah Washington: VOCALS • Karl George: TRUMPET • Jewell Grant: ALTO SAX Lucky Thompson: TENOR SAX • Gene Porter: CLARINET, ALTO, BARITONE SAXES Milt Jackson: VIBE Wilbert Baranco: PIANO • Charles Mingus: BASS • Lee Young: DRUMS
FROM MELLOW MAMA (D 451 – APOLLO SERIES)
Recorded December 13, 1945 in Los Angeles, originally issued on Apollo Records and re-issued on Delmark in 1992
T-BONE WALKER • I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (5:07)
Billy Moll & Murray Mencher, Shapiro Bernstein & Co. Inc, ASCAP T-Bone Walker: VOCALS & GUITAR • George Arvanitas: PIANO • Hal Singer: TENOR SAX Jackie Samson: BASS • S.P. Leary: DRUMS
FROM I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (D 633)
Recorded in Paris, November 13, 1968 Originally released on LP T-Bone Walker – I Want A Little Girl (1973) Album supervision: J.M. Monestier, Black & Blues Records
BIG TIME SARAH • LONG TALL DADDY (4:56) Sarah Lee Streeter, Leric Music, BMI Big Time Sarah: VOCALS • Emery Williams: GUITAR • Rodney Brown: SAXES Tony Llorens: PIANO • Bill Hargrave: BASS • Ricky Nelson: DRUMS
FROM BLUES IN THE YEAR ONE-D-ONE (D 692)
Recorded September 26,27, 1995 by Paul Serrano, Riverside Studios, Chicago
Album production and supervision, Robert Koester
LITTLE WALTER with MUDDY WATERS • I JUST KEEP LOVING HER (2:56) Walter Jacobs, Boot House of Tunes, BMI Little Walter: VOCALS & HARP • Muddy Waters: GUITAR Baby Face Leroy Foster: SECOND GUITAR & BASS DRUM
FROM THE BLUES WORLD OF LITTLE WALTER (D 648)
Recorded January, 1950: Take 4 of 4, Parkway/Herald
Compilation Producer [Album Production] – Robert G. Koester
MEMPHIS SLIM with MATT “GUITAR” MURPHY • MEMPHIS SLIM U.S.A. (2:58) Peter Chatman, Embassy Music Corporation, BMI Memphis Slim: VOCALS & PIANO • Matt “Guitar” Murphy: GUITAR Jim Conley, Neil Green: TENOR SAXES • Henry Taylor: BASS • Otho Allen: DRUMS
FROM MEMPHIS SLIM U.S.A. (D 710 – UNITED SERIES)
Recorded March 16 and September 29, 1954 by Bill Putnam
Supervised By [Original], Producer [Original] – Leonard Allen, United Records
producer, Robert Koester
JIMMY JOHNSON • ASHES IN MY ASHTRAY (4:33) James Earl Thompson, Granite City Music, BMI Jimmy Johnson: VOCALS & GUITAR • Rico McFarland: GUITAR Carl Snyder: PIANO • Ike Anderson: BASS • Dino Alavarez: DRUMS
FROM JOHNSON’S WHACKS (D 644)
Original recording dates: 10/12/78 and 2/13/79, Sound Studios, Chicago
producer, Steve Tomashefsky TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 41:35 PRODUCTION Julia A. Miller AND Elbio Barilari GRAPHIC DESIGN BY Al Brandtner AT Brandtner Design ALL COVER PHOTOGRAPHS FROM DELMARK ARCHIVES: JUNIOR WELLS: Eric Fuhan • MAGIC SAM: Diane Allmen OTIS RUSH: UNKNOWN • JIMMY DAWKINS: Nick Allen • DINAH WASHINGTON: Frank Driggs Collection T-BONE WALKER: Val Wilmer • BIG TIME SARAH: Peter Amft • LITTLE WALTER: Val Wilmer MEMPHIS SLIM: John Alderson • BUDDY GUY: UNKNOWN/FROM PUBLICITY PHOTO OF BUDDY AND JUNIOR 0 3 8153 08781 4 www.delmark.com C P 2023 DELMARK RECORDS Junior Wells’ debut album, featuring Buddy Guy, originally billed as Friendly Chap due to his commitments with Chess Records, is widely recognized as one of the first albums of a working Chicago blues band (as opposed to a studio-only lineup), and the crisp and funky proof of many nights together on the bandstand have made the Hoodoo Man Blues LP a desert-island disk for blues fans worldwide. “Snatch It Back and Hold It” was the first track recorded at these sessions, and features Junior and the band roaring out of the gate at their soulful best. Samuel “Magic Sam” Maghett began his recording career in the late 1950s with a series of ground-breaking releases on the small Cobra label; by the mid 1960s his recordings were more sporadic, though he remained a popular attraction in local clubs. This changed when Delmark recorded West Side Soul in 1967, reinvigorating Sam’s career until his tragic passing in 1969. That album is now considered by many to be his masterpiece; as above, “All Your Love” was the first track recorded, and captures the pent-up intensity and power of Sam and his band. Like Magic Sam, Otis Rush had early success in the 1950s with Cobra, and is now recognized as the embodiment of the ‘West Side’ blues style. Here Rush revisits one of his Cobra classics, stretching out on guitar in a way that wasn’t possible on the original 1950s release of “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)” from Cold Day In Hell. Jimmy “Fast Fingers” Dawkins was another exponent of Chica-go’s West Side blues sound. An aggressive and fiery guitarist, he’d been active both as a leader and a sideman from the late 1950s. For his sec-ond Delmark album, 1971’s All For Business, Dawkins recruited an amazing lineup including frequent collaborator Andrew “Big Voice” Odom on vocals and Otis Rush on second guitar. Dinah Washington was one of the most popular singers of the 1940s and ‘50s, dubbing herself “Queen of The Blues”. Her 1945 L.A. recording sessions for Apollo Records with Lucky Thompson and His All Stars featuring jazz greats Milt Jackson and Charlie Mingus are among her bluesiest; these were released by Delmark on Mellow Mama. “Blues For A Day” showcases her at her sultry best. To say that T-Bone Walker may be the most important blues guitarist of the 20th century is hardly an exaggeration. His influence can be heard in almost every electric blues guitar player who came along after him. The 1968 recordings for the I Want A Little Girl album find him at his tasteful and elegant best, proving that he hadn’t lost a step since his groundbreaking days in the 1940s and ‘50s. Those sessions took place in Paris, France, for Jean-Marie Monestier’s Black & Blues label. “Big Time Sarah” Streeter was a singer who could rock the house with the best of them. She could often be found tending bar at B.L.U.E.S in Chicago, taking in live blues every night, coming out from behind the bar to join the band onstage for a number or two when the spirit moved her. She was mentored by the great pianist Sunnyland Slim, whom she name-checks in “Long Tall Daddy” from her second Delmark release Blues In The Year One-D-One. Little Walter Jacobs is widely revered as the most influential harmonica player in blues history. His earliest records reveal both a strong debt to his idol John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, and his own restless and adventurous nature, as he forged a new language for blues harmonica. His January 1950 session featuring Muddy Waters and Baby Face Leroy Foster find him with one eye on the past and the other looking forward, as he revs up the band with a charging remake of his very first recording from 1947, “Just Keep Loving Her”, featured on the Delmark collection The Blues World Of Little Walter. The sessions were recorded for Chord, a subsidiary of Parkway Records. The production notes on file at Delmark archives say that “the sessions took place in a church or a warehouse in the South Side of Chicago”. Pianist and singer Memphis Slim made dozens of seminal blues recordings before settling in France in the 1960s and becoming a de facto blues ambassador. Among his very best are the records he made in the 1950s featuring the fleet-fingered Matt “Guitar” Murphy (later of Blues Brothers fame); “Memphis Slim, U.S.A.” from 1954 is from his Delmark release of the same name. Jimmy Johnson wraps up this collection with his original tune “Ashes in My Ashtray” from his 1979 Delmark release Johnson’s Whacks. Johnson was active on the Chicago music scene for a number of years before this, his debut LP, and the impressive stack of original and well-polished songs he brought to the session have made the album a modern blues classic. Jimmy, who passed in 2021, left this world on a high note with his highly praised last album for Delmark: Every Day of Your Life. Stay tuned for more amazing music from the label’s vaults as they enter the next seventy years!
https://www.thesoundcafe.com/post/delmark-records-to-release-70th-anniversary-blues-anthology
DELMARK RECORDS 70 YEARS
WHERE WERE YOU THEN ?
A CHICAGO TREASURE
DELMARK RECORDS
CELEBRATING SEVENTY YEARS OF GIVING THE BLUES TO THE WORLD
BACK TO THE ORIGINS
70th ANNIVERSARY
DELMARK RECORDS
BLUES ANTHOLOGY
DELMARK RECORDS 878-2 / 2023
RELEASE DATE
JULY 21, 2023
(USA)
CREDITS:
Track 01
JUNIOR WELLS featuring BUDDY GUY
“SNATCH IT BACK AND HOLD IT” (2:53)
Junior Wells: VOCALS & HARP
Buddy Guy: GUITAR – Jack Myers: BASS – Billy Warren: DRUMS
FROM HOODOO MAN BLUES (D 612)
Recorded September 22–23, 1965
Sound Studios, Chicago by Stu Black
produced by Bob Koester
Track 02
MAGIC SAM
“ALL OF YOUR LOVE” (3:62)
Magic Sam: VOCALS & GUITAR – Mighty Joe Young: GUITAR Earnest Johnson: BASS – Odie Payne: DRUMS
FROM WEST SIDE SOUL (D 615)
Recorded – July 12 and October 25, 1967
Album production and supervision Bob Koester
Recording – Stu Black, Sound Studios, Chicago
Track 03
OTIS RUSH
“ALL YOUR LOVE ( I MISS LOVING )” (6:39)
Otis Rush: VOCALS & GUITAR – Bob Levis: GUITAR – James Green: BASS – Jesse Green: DRUMS – Big Moose Walker: ORGAN – Abb Locke: TENOR SAX – Chuck Smith: SAX
FROM COLD DAY IN HELL (D 638)
Recorded April 29 & May 29, 1975
Sound Studios, Chicago
Steve Tomashefsky, producer
Track 04
JIMMY DAWKINS with BIG VOICE ODOM and OTIS RUSH
“ALL FOR BUSINESS” (4:40)
Big Voice Odom: VOCALS – Jimmy Dawkins & Otis Rush: GUITARS
Sonny Thompson: PIANO – Jim Conley: TENOR SAX – Ernest Gatewood: BASS – Robert Crowder: DRUMS
FROM ALL FOR BUSINESS (D 634)
Recorded in Chicago, October 27, 1971 Sound Studios, Chicago
Producer, Supervised By – Bob Koester
Recorded By – Stu Black
Track 05
DINAH WASHINGTON with LUCKY THOMPSON and HIS ALL STARS
“BLUES FOR A DAY” (2:54)
Dinah Washington: VOCALS – Karl George: TRUMPET – Jewell Grant: ALTO SAX – Lucky Thompson: TENOR SAX – Gene Porter: CLARINET, ALTO, BARITONE SAXES – Milt Jackson: VIBE – Wilbert Baranco: PIANO – Charles Mingus: BASS – Lee Young: DRUMS
FROM MELLOW MAMA (D 451 – APOLLO SERIES)
Recorded December 13, 1945 in Los Angeles, originally issued on Apollo Records and re-issued on Delmark in 1992
Track 06
T-BONE WALKER
“I WANT A LITTLE GIRL” (5:07)
T-Bone Walker: VOCALS & GUITAR – George Arvanitas: PIANO – Hal Singer: TENOR SAX – Jackie Samson: BASS – S.P. Leary: DRUMS
FROM I WANT A LITTLE GIRL (D 633)
Recorded in Paris, November 13, 1968
Originally released on LP T-Bone Walker – I Want A Little Girl (1973)
Album supervision: J.M. Monestier, Black & Blues Records
Track 07
BIG TIME SARAH
“LONG TALL DADDY” (4:56)
Big Time Sarah: VOCALS – Emery Williams: GUITAR – Rodney Brown: SAXES – Tony Llorens: PIANO – Bill Hargrave: BASS – Ricky Nelson: DRUMS
FROM BLUES IN THE YEAR ONE-D-ONE (D 692)
Recorded September 26,27, 1995
by Paul Serrano, Riverside Studios, Chicago
Album production and supervision, Bob Koester
Track 08
LITTLE WALTER with MUDDY WATERS
“I JUST KEEP LOVING HER” (2:56)
Little Walter: VOCALS & HARP – Muddy Waters: GUITAR
Baby Face Leroy Foster: SECOND GUITAR & BASS DRUM
FROM THE BLUES WORLD OF LITTLE WALTER (D 648)
Recorded January, 1950: Take 4 of 4, Parkway/Herald
Compilation Producer [Album Production] – Bob Koester
Track 09
MEMPHIS SLIM with MATT “GUITAR” MURPHY
“MEMPHIS SLIM U.S.A.” (2:58)
Memphis Slim: VOCALS & PIANO – Matt “Guitar” Murphy: GUITAR
Jim Conley, Neil Green: TENOR SAXES – Henry Taylor: BASS – Otho Allen: DRUMS
FROM MEMPHIS SLIM U.S.A. (D 710 – UNITED SERIES)
Recorded March 16 and September 29, 1954 by Bill Putnam
Supervised By [Original], Producer [Original] – Leonard Allen, United Records, producer, Bob Koester
Track 10
JIMMY JOHNSON
“ASHES IN MY ASHTRAY” (4:33)
Jimmy Johnson: VOCALS & GUITAR – Rico McFarland: GUITAR
Carl Snyder: PIANO – Ike Anderson: BASS – Dino Alavarez: DRUMS
FROM JOHNSON’S WHACKS (D 644)
Original recording dates: 10/12/78 and 2/13/79, Sound Studios, Chicago
producer, Steve Tomashefsky
https://www.blues21.com/various-artists-delmark-70th-anniversa
DELMARK RECORDS is one of Blues Music’s most iconic labels. It was founded in 1953 by the late Bob Koester when it was actually called Delmar. Delmar or Delmark, it doesn’t really matter, the venerable old label is now 70 years old and boasts something like 12,000 songs in its catalogue.
To celebrate the imprint’s 70th birthday, current label chiefs Julia A. Miller and Elbio Barilari have cherry picked just 10 songs for a vinyl compilation that celebrates the label’s achievements and the breadth of its repertoire.
The set offers tracks from blues and jazz legends like Junior Wells, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Little Walter, Memphis Slim, Jimmy Johnson, Big Time Sarah and Jimmy Dawkins – a perfect representation of what Delmark has achieved .
