Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death. The label released recordings by mostly African American artists and groups. Checker's releases cover a wide range of genres including

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

( Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson II), rhythm and blues (Sax Mallard, Jimmy McCracklin),

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

( The Flamingos, The Moonglows), gospel (

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Five Blind Boys of Mississippi The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi was an American post-war gospel quartet. They started with lead singer Archie Brownlee, their single "Our Father" reached number ten on the Billboard R&B charts in early 1951. Then the screams of their new lead ...

), rock and roll ( Bo Diddley, Dale Hawkins), and soul ( Gene Chandler). The label was discontinued in 1971 following GRT's consolidation of the Chess catalogs. As with Cadet and Chess, the label's catalog is now owned by Universal Music Group and releases from the Checker catalog are released by Geffen Records and Chess.

History

Due to the recent expansion of Chess Records, as well as to achieve greater airplay for singles, the Chess brothers opened up a subsidiary label named Checker. The first 45/78 rpm single released by the label was "Slow Caboose" b/w "Darling, Let's Give Love a Chance" by Sax Mallard and his Orchestra, which was released as Checker 750 in April 1952. The label's most popular artist, in the label's early years, was Little Walter, who had ten songs released by Checker that made the Top Ten of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's Top Rhythm & Blues Records charts. Among those ten was "

Juke Juke may refer to: * Juke (football move), a deceptive move in American football * "Juke" (song), a harmonica instrumental recorded by Little Walter Jacobs * Juke joint, an informal establishment featuring blues music, dancing, and alcoholic ...

" which topped the charts and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Checker released several singles by well-established blues artists such as Elmore James,

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Gla ...

(credited as Perry Lee Crudup), and Memphis Minnie, none of which sold well. One well-established blues artist that did manage to make a hit on Checker was Sonny Boy Williamson II, who charted with "

Don't Start Me Talkin' "Don't Start Me Talkin'" (also called "Don't Start Me to Talkin'") is a blues song written and performed by Sonny Boy Williamson II. It was Williamson's first single recorded for Checker Records, and reached number three in the US ''Billboard'' ...

" (number 3) in 1955, "Keep It to Yourself" (number 14) in 1956, and "

Help Me Help Me may refer to: *Mayday (distress signal), the English pronunciation of the French phrase "" ("Come help me") * "Help Me" (''House''), the sixth-season finale of ''House'' Songs * "Help Me" (Sonny Boy Williamson II song), a 1963 blues sta ...

" (number 24) in 1963. On March 2, 1955, the Chess brothers recorded their first rock and roll artist, Bo Diddley. From this session came Bo's self-titled debut single on Checker, which topped the R&B charts and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. Another one of Bo Diddley's Checker singles, " Who Do You Love?", was inducted in 2010. In 1957, Checker cracked into the rockabilly market with Dale Hawkins, who had a crossover hit with " Susie Q", although he could not repeat the single's success. In 1958, Checker released its first 12" 33⅓ rpm

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

, ''

The Best of Little Walter ''The Best of Little Walter'' is the first LP record by American blues performer Little Walter. First released in 1958, the compilation album contains ten Little Walter songs that appeared in the Top 10 of the Billboard R&B chart from 1952 to 1955 ...

'', which was released as Checker LP-1428.Past Hall of Fame Inductees
. Blues Foundation. Go under ''1991 Hall of Fame Inductees'' and click on ''The Best of Little Walter--Little Walter (Checker, 1958)'' to view the album review.

Discography

The original Checker LP series started with six albums released as part of the Chess 1425 album series before switching to the 2970 series in 1959 and continued until 1970.Both Sides Now: Chess Album Discography, Part 1: LP-1425 to LPS-1553 and CHV-400 Vintage Series
accessed August 27, 2019.
accessed August 27, 2019.

References

External links

Checker Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1952 Record labels disestablished in 1971 Pop record labels 1969 mergers and acquisitions 1952 establishments in Illinois

History

Discography

See also

References

External links