"The Very Best of Blues" - Volume 3 (Vee Jay)

Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
...Vee-Jay was even the Beatles' first American label. Yet three years later, the company folded, leaving behind $3 million in debt, a slew of hits and a rich legacy of black American music captured on the four-disc Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection box set compiled by Michael Ribas, a longtime fan of the label.
The story of Vee-Jay is littered with irony. The Brackens spent the entire $500 on their first recordings — including "High and Lonesome" by Jimmy Reed — but had no cash to actually distribute those records.
Catering to the big blues and gospel market in nearby Chicago was a wise choice. Reed was Vee-Jay's first star and helped the label take on local blues giant Chess Records.
A year later, Vee-Jay released "Uncloudy Day" by the Staple Singers, with a 12-year-old Mavis on lead vocals. The Staples went on to international fame with Stax Records. Vee-Jay was doing well with regional hits but had yet to crack the mainstream. That changed in 1958 with "For Your Precious Love" by Jerry Butler & the Impressions. Jerry Butler & the Impressions soared on the charts, selling nearly a million copies. But the Impressions, including Butler's childhood friend Curtis Mayfield, took umbrage at the billing, and they soon disbanded, only to surface big-time later at Motown Records.
Vee-Jay's records were crossing over into the pop charts, but the label could not seem to capitalize on its success. Vee-Jay had recorded a novelty song by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, "The Twist," but never released it. A missed opportunity perhaps, but then, that same year, label-hopping John Lee Hooker had a big hit with "I Love You Honey."
Despite growing success and trend-setting artists, Vee-Jay was having money problems. Even in the era of payola, the label was known in the industry as being very generous. According to the box set's compiler, Ribas, business manager Ewart Abner in particular had some unusual practices...to be continued... - npr

trax:
1 It Hurts Me Too - Elmore James You've Got Me Dizzy - Jimmy Reed 3 Crawlin' Black Spider - John Lee Hooker 4 Here's My Picture - Billy Boy Arnold 5 You'll Always Have a Home - Eddie Taylor 6 Every Woman I know - Billy "The Kid" Emerson 7 Going Back Home - Big Joe Williams Trio 8 I'm So Worried - John Lee Hooker 9 Honey Don't Let Me Go - Jimmy Reed 10 Judgment Day - Snooky Prior 11 Coming Home - Elmore James 12 You've Got Me Wrong - Billy Boy Arnold 13 I Love You Baby - Jimmy Reed 14 Rosie Mae - John Lee Hooker 15 The Twelve Year Old Boy - Elmore James 16 Baby Left Town - Big Joe Williams Trio 17 Tie It Down - Pee Wee Crayton 18 You Tried to Ruin Me - Snooky Prior 19 My Heart Is Crying - Billy Boy Arnold 20 Honey Where You Going - Jimmy Reed
…served by Gyro1966...