Vee-Jay Records is an American

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded in the 1950s, located in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and specializing in blues,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

and

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

. The label was founded in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

in 1953 by

Vivian Carter Vivian Carter (March 25, 1921 – June 12, 1989) was an American record company executive who was a founder of Vee-Jay Records with her future husband, Jimmy Bracken. Carter was also a Gary, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois, radio disc jockey. V ...

and James C. Bracken, a husband-and-wife team who used their initials for the label's name.Thompson, Dave (2002). ''A Music Lover's Guide to Record Collecting'', pp. 286-89. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. . Vivian's brother, Calvin Carter, was the label's A&R man.

Ewart Abner Ewart Gladstone Abner, Jr. (May 11, 1923 – December 27, 1997) was a major American record company executive who was President of Motown Records from 1973 to 1975 and was personal and business manager for Stevie Wonder for 10 years. In his ex ...

, formerly of

Chance Records Chance Records was a Chicago-based label founded in 1950 by Art Sheridan. It specialized in blues, jazz, doo-wop, and gospel. Among the acts who recorded for Chance were The Flamingos, The Moonglows, Homesick James, J. B. Hutto, Brother Joh ...

, joined the label in 1955, first as manager, then as vice president, and ultimately as president. One of the earliest

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

-owned record companies, Vee-Jay quickly became a major R&B label, with the first song recorded,

the Spaniels The Spaniels were an American R&B and doo-wop group, best known for the hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite". They have been called the first successful Midwestern R&B group. Some historians of vocal groups consider Pookie Hudson to be the first ...

' "Baby It's You," making it to the top ten on the national R&B charts.

Notable artists

Major acts on the label in the 1950s included blues singers

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

, and John Lee Hooker, and rhythm and blues vocal groups

the Dells The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...

, and the

El Dorados The El Dorados were an American doo-wop group, who achieved their greatest success with the song "At My Front Door", a no. 1 hit on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1955. History The group formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1952, o ...

. The 1960s saw the label become a major soul label with

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame i ...

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful son ...

Dee Clark Dee Clark (November 7, 1938 – December 7, 1990) was an American soul singer best known for a string of R&B and pop hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the song " Raindrops", which became a million-seller in the United States in 1 ...

, and

Betty Everett Betty Jean Everett (November 23, 1939 – August 19, 2001) was an American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling " Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)", and her duet " Let It Be Me" with Jerry Butle ...

having hit singles on both the pop and R&B charts. Vee-Jay was also the first label to nationally issue a record by the Pips (through a master purchase from the tiny Huntom label of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

), who became

Gladys Knight and the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

in 1962 when they moved to

Fury Records Fury Records was set up by Bobby Robinson in 1957. In 1959 it had a Billboard No.1 hit with ''Kansas City'', sung by Wilbert Harrison. In the early 1970s, it helped launch Grandmaster Flash. See also * List of record labels File:Alvinor ...

. Vee-Jay had significant success with pop/rock and roll acts, such as the Four Seasons (their first non-black act) and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

. Vee-Jay acquired the rights to some of the early recordings by the Beatles through a licensing deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, as the American affiliate Capitol Records was initially uninterested in the group. The main attraction at the time, however, was another EMI performer,

Frank Ifield Francis Edward Ifield OAM (born 30 November 1937) is a British-Australian country music singer and guitarist who often incorporated yodelling into his music. After living in Australia, Ifield returned to the United Kingdom in November 1959 wher ...

. Calvin Carter later said, "There was a number one record over in England at the time—It was 'I Remember You' by Frank Ifield. We took the record, and as a throw in, they had a group and asked us if we would take them, too. The group turned out to be the Beatles and we got a five-year contract on the Beatles as a pickup on the Frank Ifield contract." In the mid-1960s, Vee-Jay signed the former successful child singer

Jimmy Boyd Jimmy Devon Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor known for his 1952 recording of the song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". Early years Jimmy Boyd was born in 1939 Mississippi into a musical fam ...

, known for the hit "

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by American singer Jimmy Boyd in 1952. The song has since been covered by many artists, with the Ronettes's 1963 ...

"; Boyd was then twenty-five years old. The company ventured into

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

with Hoyt Axton and New Wine Singers, and also picked up Little Richard who re-recorded his Specialty hits and recorded (1965) "I Don't Know What You've Got (But It's Got Me)", an R&B success, with Jimi Hendrix, Don Covay, Bernard Purdie, Ronny Miller, and Billy Preston (before Hendrix became successful on his own). Vee-Jay's

line accounted for a small portion of the company's releases, but recorded such artists as Eddie Harris,

Wynton Kelly Wynton Charles Kelly (December 2, 1931 – April 12, 1971) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He is known for his lively, blues-based playing and as one of the finest accompanists in jazz. He began playing professionally at the age of ...

Lee Morgan Edward Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 – February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. One of the key hard bop musicians of the 1960s, Morgan came to prominence in his late teens, recording on John Coltrane's '' Blue Train'' (1 ...

, and

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

.Pruter, Robert (1996). ''Doowop: The Chicago Scene'', p. 105. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. . The A&R for the label's jazz releases was Sid McCoy. The company also had a major

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

line, recording such acts as the

Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February ...

, The Famous Boyer Brothers, the Argo Singers,

Swan Silvertones The Swan Silvertones are an American gospel music group that first achieved popularity in the 1940s and 1950s under the leadership of Claude Jeter. Jeter formed the group in 1938 as the "Four Harmony Kings" while he was working as a coal miner in ...

the Caravans The Caravans were an American gospel music group that was started in 1947 by Robert Anderson. It reached its peak popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, launching the careers of a number of artists, including: Delores Washington, Albertina Wa ...

Dorothy Love Coates Dorothy Love Coates (January 30, 1928 – April 9, 2002) was an American gospel singer.

and the Gospel Harmonettes, and Maceo Woods. Vee-Jay even released comedy on LP, with records by

Dick Gregory Richard Claxton Gregory (October 12, 1932 – August 19, 2017) was an American comedian, civil rights leader, business owner and entrepreneur, and vegetarian activist. His writings were best sellers. Gregory became popular among the Afric ...

, and ''Them Poems'',

Mason Williams Mason Douglas Williams (born August 24, 1938) is an American classical guitarist, composer, singer, writer, comedian, and poet, best known for his 1968 instrumental "Classical Gas" and for his work as a comedy writer on ''The Smothers Brothers ...

' early nightclub act, recorded with a studio audience in 1964.

Early history

Calvin Carter set up Vee-Jay's first rehearsal space in a garage at 47th Street and King's Drive in 1953, then discovered and signed Jimmy Reed. Carter also established a regular studio use arrangement with

Universal Recording Corporation Universal Recording Corporation was a recording studio in Chicago founded by Bill Putnam, Sr. for the purpose of investigating new recording techniques and the development of specialized recording equipment. Universal Recording was seminal ...

, one of the largest independent recording studios in the U.S..

Success

Vee-Jay's biggest successes occurred from 1962 to 1964, with the ascendancy of the Four Seasons and the distribution of early Beatles material ("

From Me to You "From Me to You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in April 1963 as their third single. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The song was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on what became the official U ...

" b/w " Thank You Girl," "

Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two s ...

" b/w "

," and "

Do You Want to Know a Secret "Do You Want to Know a Secret" is a song by English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 album '' Please Please Me'', sung by George Harrison. In the United States, it was the first top ten song to feature Harrison as a lead singer, reaching N ...

" b/w "Thank You Girl" via Vee-Jay; and "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the Unite ...

" b/w " P.S. I Love You" and "

Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brothers ...

" b/w "

There's a Place "There's a Place" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their debut album, '' Please Please Me'', released in March 1963. It was written primarily by John Lennon and credited to McCartney–Lennon. In the United States, the so ...

" via its subsidiary Tollie Records), because

's autonomous

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

company

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

initially refused to release Beatles records. Vee-Jay's releases were at first unsuccessful, but quickly became huge hits once the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

took off in early 1964, selling 2.6 million Beatles singles in a single month. Cash flow problems caused by Ewart Abner's tapping the company treasury to cover personal gambling debts led to the company's active demise; Vee-Jay had been forced to temporarily cease operations in the second half of 1963, leading to royalty disputes with the Four Seasons and EMI. The Four Seasons then left Vee-Jay for

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

, and EMI's Capitol Records picked up the U.S. rights for both the Beatles and Frank Ifield. Other Vee-Jay subsidiary labels included

Interphon Interphon Records was a sub-label from Vee-Jay Records to distribute its European-leased masters in the US. It was active from 1964 until 1965. The U.S. release of The Honeycombs 1964 hit "Have I the Right?" was released on Interphon. Referenc ...

(which yielded the Top 5 hit "

Have I the Right? "Have I the Right?" was the debut single and biggest hit of British band The Honeycombs. It was composed by Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, who had made contact with The Honeycombs, a London-based group, then playing under the name of The Sheratons ...

" by another British group,

the Honeycombs The Honeycombs were an English beat group, founded in 1963 in North London, best known for their chart-topping 1964 hit, the million selling "Have I the Right?" The band featured Honey Lantree on drums, one of the few female drummers in band ...

), and Oldies 45 for reissues along with Tollie and Abner Records, which was an early subsidiary label formed in 1958. Vee-Jay also did distribution for Champion Records (notable for producing the original version of

Tainted Love "Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group the Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It attained worldwide fame after being covered and reworked by British synthpop duo Soft Cell in 1 ...

) as well as

Rick Hall Roe Erister "Rick" Hall (January 31, 1932 – January 2, 2018) was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who became known as the owner of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. As the "Father of Muscle Shoals Music", he was in ...

's Fame Records and, for a time, the Memphis label Goldwax Records and

Johnny Vincent John Vincent Imbragulio (October 3, 1927 – February 4, 2000), known as Johnny Vincent, was an American record producer for Art Rupe at Specialty Records. He founded Ace Records in 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi, 165 miles away from New Orlea ...

's Ace Records. Vee-Jay moved back to Chicago in 1965 after a year in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Liens were placed on Vee-Jay assets still in Los Angeles after legal action by

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

due to non-payment of royalties.

As Vee-Jay International

Vee-Jay Records filed for bankruptcy in August 1966. The assets were subsequently purchased by label executives Betty Chiappetta and Randy Wood (not the

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

founder), who changed its name to Vee-Jay International. From 1967 to 1972, Vee-Jay was limited to selling some of the inventory on hand when the company went under, and leasing or licensing the Vee Jay masters to

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foun ...

, who came out with "The First Generation" series, and Springboard International, who issued dozens of albums featuring Vee Jay material on their subsidiary label, Upfront. In the 1970s, Vee Jay International itself re-released a number of titles on LPs and 8-track tapes. In 1978, Vee Jay issued a Silver Anniversary catalog to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the label.

1980s–present

The label was revived under new management in 1982 as a dance and R&B label, but closed down in 1986. In the mid-late 1980s, a one-hour independent documentary film was made called "Cradle of Rock and Roll" aired on PBS soon after the film's completion. It covered the history of Vee-Jay and Chess Records in Chicago, which helped to begin a revival of some interest in Vee-Jay's history and catalog. In 1986 Motown licensed 26 of Vee Jay's soul, blues and R&B hits for a CD compilation, "Hits from the Legendary Vee Jay Records." In 1993, the Vee Jay Limited Partnership released a 3-CD boxed set, "The Vee Jay Story (Celebrating 40 Years of Classic Hits)," again drawn from the label's R&B, soul, and blues catalog. The package includes a red-vinyl facsimile 45 of the Spaniels' "Goodnite Sweetheart Goodnite." Under the management of Michele Tayler, the company was reactivated in 1998 as The Vee-Jay Limited Partnership. Its main office is located in

Redding, Connecticut Redding is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 census. History Early settlement and establishment At the time colonials began receiving grants for land within the boundaries of present- ...

Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

has been remastering and reissuing Vee-Jay albums on audio CD since 2000. A compilation which contains a Best of Vee-Jay box set as well as individual "Best of the Vee-Jay Years" CDs is released by Shout! Factory. In July 2014 its catalogue was acquired by Concord Music Group. The sale was facilitated by Minneapolis film producer, Scott McLain. The Vee-Jay Records story is featured on the documentary series ''

Profiles of African-American Success ''Profiles of African-American Success'' is an American documentary web series produced by Frances Presley-Rice and filmmaker Bayer Mack for their production company Block Starz Music Television. The documentary series features short biographi ...

''.

Subsidiaries

Abner Records was a subsidiary of Vee-Jay Records. It was originally named Falcon Records, but the name was changed in 1958 since there already existed a Falcon Records. The label was named after

who was general manager at Vee-Jay, 1955–1961. Falcon Records Scotland (2011–present) is a sub-label of Jilted Generation Inc. Falcon Records launched October 2011 in partnership with "Music Media Management" owned by Diania Elliott Tomlin Perkins & Eric Bryce, "In Hoodz We Trust (IHWT)" owned by Jay Supa & "Make Noise Fife" owned by Alex Herbert.

Discography

Vee-Jay LP/SR-1000 Main Series

The Vee-Jay LP/SR 1000 Series of 12 inch LPs were released between 1958 and 1963 with a catalog prefix of LP for mono releases and SR for stereo.

Vee-Jay LP/SR-3000 Jazz Series

In 1960 Vee-Jay began issuing jazz records with separate catalog numbers as the LP/SR 3000 Series of 12 inch LPs with a catalog prefix of LP for mono releases and SR for stereo.Both Sides Now: Vee-Jay Album Discography, Part 3: Jazz Series (1959-1978)
accessed July 23, 2019

Vee-Jay LP/SR-5000 Gospel Series

Between 1959 and 1965 the Vee-Jay LP/SR-5000 Gospel Series released seventy-eight 12 inch LPs.
accessed July 30, 2019

Vee-Jay VJLP/VJS-1000 Main Series

From 1963 the Vee-Jay 1000 Series of 12 inch LPs were released with a catalog prefix of VJLP for mono releases and VJS for stereo.
accessed July 23, 2019

Vee-Jay LP/SR-2500 Jazz Series

From 1964 to 1965 the Vee-Jay 2500 Series of 12 inch Jazz LPs were released with a catalog prefix of LP for mono releases and SR for stereo.

Vee-Jay International World of Jazz VJS-3000 Jazz Series

Between 1974 and 1978 the Vee-Jay International World of Jazz 3000 Series released twenty-three 12 inch stereo LPs. Many of these were previously unreleased sessions or live recordings, compilations of previously released material or re-releases of albums from other labels.

Vee-Jay International VJS-18000 Gospel Series

In 1975 Vee-Jay International VJS-18000 Gospel Series released eleven 12 inch LPs.

References

External links

Discography for Vee-Jay Records

Vee-Jay Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1953 Record labels disestablished in 1966 Record labels established in 1982 Record labels disestablished in 1986 Record labels established in 1998 Re-established companies History of Gary, Indiana Jazz record labels Blues record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Rock and roll record labels Concord Music Group 1953 establishments in Indiana