Black Top Records was an American,

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

-based independent record label, founded in 1981 by brothers Nauman S. Scott, III and Hammond Scott. The label specialized in blues and R&B music. The first release was "Talk To You By Hand" by Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets. The artist roster included

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guit ...

Snooks Eaglin Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was sometimes credited under other names, including Blind Snooks Eaglin, ...

Lee Rocker Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961) is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker, the late former principal clarinetist of the New Yo ...

, Guitar Shorty, and Robert Ward, among others.

History

The label started out primarily as a blues label, and soon stretched out to New Orleans R&B and American roots music. Black Top especially excelled in discovering obscure talents. Many of the label's artists such as Robert Ward,

Carol Fran Carol Fran (born Carol Augustus Anthony; October 23, 1933 – September 1, 2021) was an American soul blues singer, pianist, and songwriter, best known for her string of single releases in the 1950s and 1960s, and her later musical association w ...

, Clarence Hollimon, and W. C. Clark were either relatively unknown, or had been away from record contracts and/or the music industry for many years. The label used a variety of musicians on its recordings, including many from the New Orleans music community. Examples include George Porter Jr., David Torkanowsky, Herman V. Ernest III, and Sammy Berfect; Black Top also often hired the members of the Antone's house band from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, including Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff on saxophone. Pianist and organist Nick Connolly, also based in Austin, was another musician who recorded several sessions. Although Black Top concentrated on recording new material for the most part, it also handled some vintage reissues from artists such as

Earl Hooker Earl Zebedee Hooker (January 15, 1930 – April 21, 1970) was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a "musician's musician", he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and ...

and

Hollywood Fats Michael Leonard Mann (March 17, 1954 – December 8, 1986),Liner notes from Al Blake's album ''Dr. Blakes Magic Soul Elixir'' by Eric LeBlanc known as Hollywood Fats, was an American blues guitarist, active in Los Angeles, California. Biogr ...

. Initially, its catalog was distributed by Rounder Records. When the contract ended in the mid-nineties, Passport Music took over distribution for a brief period of time;

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

label

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

distributed the Black Top catalog after that. After releasing well over 100 albums, the label closed in 1999. Nauman Scott died in 2002. Hammond Scott sold the rights of the catalog, and some releases were reissued on labels such as

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

Fuel 2000 Fuel 2000 is an independent record label, formed in 1994 as part of the Fuel Label Group. One of the biggest independent record labels, it has amassed a catalog with over 20,000 master recordings. Since its inception, the company has released ove ...

, and Shout! Factory. In 2006, P-Vine Records in Japan acquired the worldwide rights to them.

Artists

* Solomon Burke *

Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guit ...

* Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets (featuring Sam Myers) * Mike Morgan and the Crawl * Maria Muldaur *

James Harman James Gary Harman (June 8, 1946 – May 23, 2021) was an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter. The music journalist Tony Russell described Harman as an "amusing songwriter and an excellent, unfussy blues harp player". Biogra ...

Band * Guitar Shorty *

Band * Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers * Nappy Brown * James "Thunderbird" Davis * W. C. Clark * Gary Primich *

Omar & the Howlers Omar And The Howlers is a Texas based electric blues and blues rock band, The original Howlers was formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1973. Three years later they moved to Austin, Texas. The band has regularly toured European countries.

's Big Blue * Lynn August * Joe "Guitar" Hughes *

Bill Kirchen William Knight Kirchen (born June 29, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid-1970s and later worked with Nick Lowe. ''Guitar Player'' magazine desc ...

Johnny Dyer Johnny Dyer (December 7, 1938 – November 11, 2014) was an American electric blues harmonica, harmonicist and singer. He made numerous sound recording and reproduction, recordings, both as a solo performer and with other musicians. He was nomin ...

Rick Holmstrom Rick Holmstrom (born May 30, 1965) is an American electric blues and rhythm and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Holmstrom has previously worked with William Clarke, Johnny Dyer, and Rod Piazza. He is currently the bandleader for Mavis ...

* The Cold Cuts * Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters * Bobby Radcliff *

Al Copley Al Copley (born Almon LeGrande Copley, 1952, Buffalo, New York, United States) is an American blues pianist and singer, plus arranger and co-founder of Roomful of Blues. After 16 years with Roomful, Copley relocated to Europe in 1984, and back ...

Grady Gaines Grady Gaines (May 14, 1934 – January 29, 2021) was an American electric blues, Texas blues and jazz blues tenor saxophonist, who performed and recorded with Little Richard in the 1950s. He backed other musicians such as Dee Clark, Little Wil ...

* Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom * Bobby Parker *

The Neville Brothers The Neville Brothers were an American R&B/soul/funk group, formed in 1976 in New Orleans, Louisiana. History The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art (1937–2019), Charles (1938–2018), Aaron (b. 1 ...

Earl Gaines Earl Gaines, Jr. (August 19, 1935 – December 31, 2009) was an American soul blues and electric blues singer. Born in Decatur, Alabama, he sang lead vocals on the hit single " It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", credited to Louis Brooks an ...

Robert Ealey Robert Daniel Ealey (December 6, 1925 – March 8, 2001) was an American electric blues singing, singer, who performed Texas blues. Among other releases, he recorded a couple of albums for Black Top Records in the 1990s, having earlier forme ...

* Big Joe and the Dynaflows *

& Clarence Hollimon * Robert Ward *

Tommy Ridgley Thomas Herman Ridgley (October 30, 1925 – August 11, 1999)Tony Rounce, Tommy Ridgley 'In The Same Old Way': The Complete Ric, Ron and Sho-Biz recordings, Ace records UK (2015). was an American R&B singer, pianist, songwriter and bandleader in ...

References

{{Authority control Blues record labels Defunct record labels of the United States American independent record labels Record labels based in Louisiana Record labels established in 1981 Record labels disestablished in 1999 Soul music record labels

History

Artists

See also

References