Vee-Jay The Definitive Collection
Various Artists
# Audio CD (August 21, 2007)
# Original Release Date: August 21, 2007
# Number of Discs: 4
# Format: Box set
# Label: Shout Factory
Tracks:
Disc: 1
1. Jimmy Reed And His Trio - High And Lonesome
2. The Spaniels - Baby, It's You
3. The Spaniels - Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite
4. Floyd Jones And Band - Ain't Times Hard
5. Jimmy Reed And His Trio - You Don't Have To Go
6. L.C. Mckinley - Blue Evening
7. Billy Boy Arnold - I Wish You Would
8. The El Dorados - At My Front Door
9. Morris Pejoe - Hurt My Feelings
10. Eddie Taylor - Bad Boy
11. The Highway QC's - Somewhere To Lay My Head
12. Jay McShann's Orchestra, Vocalist Priscilla Bowman -Hands Off
13. The Five Echoes - Fool's Prayer
14. Earl Phillips - Oop De Oop
15. The El Dorados With Al Smith's Orchestra -I'll Be Forever Loving You
16. Jimmy Reed - Ain't That Lovin' You Baby
17. Al Smith's Combo - Fooling Around Slowly
18. The Magnificents - Up On The Mountain
19. Eddie Taylor - Big Town Playboy
20. Camille Howard - Rock `N Roll Mama
21. The Dells - Oh What A Nite
Disc: 2
1. John Lee Hooker - Dimples
2. Pee Wee Crayton - The Telephone Is Ringing
3. Snooky Pryor - Judgment Day
4. The Staple Singers - Uncloudy Day
5. Sonny Til's Orioles - For All We Know
6. The Delegates - Mother's Son
7. Billy Emerson - The Pleasure's All Mine
8. Jimmy Reed - Honest I Do
9. The Harmonizing Four - Farther Along
10. Gene Allison - You Can Make It If You Try
11. Elmore James - It Hurts Me Too
12. Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - The Twist
13. Priscilla Bowman With The Spaniels -A Rockin' Good Way
14. Lee Diamond And The Upsetters - Hattie Malatti
15. Bobby Parker - Blues Get Off My Shoulder
16. Jerry Butler & The Impressions - For Your Precious Love
17. Leonard Carbo - Pigtails And Blue Jeans
18. John Lee Hooker - I Love You Honey
19. The Original 5 Blind Boys Of Mississippi -Leave You In The Hands Of The Lord
20. Dee Clark - Nobody But You
21. Sheriff & The Ravels - Shombalor
22. Harold Burrage - Crying For My Baby
Disc: 3
1. The Swan Silvertones - Mary Don't You Weep
2. Memphis Slim - Steppin' Out
3. Rosco Gordon - Just A Little Bit
4. Jimmy Reed Baby - What You Want Me To Do
5. Donnie Elbert - Will You Ever Be Mine
6. The Staple Singers - Will The Circle Be Unbroken
7. Wade Flemons - Easy Lovin'
8. John Lee Hooker - No Shoes
9. J.B. Lenoir - Oh Baby
10. Jerry Butler - He Will Break Your Heart
11. Eddie Harris - Exodus
12. Jimmy Reed - Big Boss Man
13. Dee Clark - Raindrops
14. The Pips With Gladys Knight - Every Beat Of My Heart
15. The Sallie Martin Singers - Old Ship Of Zion
16. Jimmy Reed - Bright Lights, Big City
17. The Dukays - Nite Owl
18. Gene Chandler - Duke Of Earl
19. The Moonglows - Real Gone Mama
20. The "5" Royales - Help Me Somebody
21. John Lee Hooker - Boom Boom
Disc: 4
1. Christine Kittrell - I'm A Woman
2. Jerry Butler - Make It Easy On Yourself
3. The Four Seasons - Sherry
4. Gene Chandler - Rainbow
5. The Pyramids - Shakin' Fit
6. Birdlegs & Pauline And Their Versatility Birds - Spring
7. Aki Aleong & The Nobles - Body Surf
8. Betty Everett - You're No Good
9. The Original Blind Boys Of Alabama -I Can See Everybody's Mother
10. Betty Everett - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
11. Jimmy Hughes - Steal Away
12. The Honeycombs - Have I The Right
13. Jerry Butler & Betty Everett - Let It Be Me
14. Hoyt Axton - Bring Your Lovin'
15. Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded
16. The Caravans - Walk Around Heaven All Day
17. Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
18. Billy Preston - Billy's Bag
19. The Dells - Stay In My Corner
20. Fred Hughes - Oo Wee Baby, I Love You
21. Joe Simon - Let's Do It Over
22. Little Richard - I Don't Know What You've Got But It's Got Me
Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection is the flagship release in a new series of reissues drawn from the incredibly rich R&B, blues, soul, gospel, jazz and pop recordings originally released by Vee-Jay Records. The 86-track boxed set contains the cream of the Vee-Jay label’s run, from 1953 to 1966, including hits by Jimmy Reed, Jerry Butler & The Impressions, John Lee Hooker, The Four Seasons, Little Richard, The Staple Singers, The Dells, Betty Everett, The Swan Silvertones, Dee Clark, The El Dorados, Gene Chandler, The Spaniels, and many others, as well as amazing obscurities by less-well-known artists.
Vee-Jay Records was the first nationally successful African-American-owned record company. At one point it was bigger than even such powerhouses as Motown Records and Chess Records. Though Vee-Jay is now best known as the first American label to release records by The Beatles, it is classic singles like The Spaniels’ “Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite,” John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City,” Betty Everett’s “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss),” Jerry Butler’s “Make It Easy On Yourself,” Gene Chandler’s “Duke Of Earl,” and Little Richard’s “I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me” that remain the label’s enduring legacy.
Reviews:
Vee-Jay Records was the most successful black-owned independent record label in the pre-Motown era (Berry Gordy actually used Vee-Jay as a template in many ways when he set up Motown), placing records in the charts in an amazing diversity of styles, from blues and urban R&B to doo wop, straight pop, jazz, and gospel. Formed in Gary, IN, in 1953 (the label moved its base to Chicago soon after) by the husband-and-wife team of Vivian Carter and James Bracken (the company name was an extension of the pair's first initials), and blessed with the assistance of Vivian's brother, Calvin Carter, a gifted and visionary A&R man, Vee-Jay had an aggressive recording, licensing, and marketing approach that saw them selling records to black and white audiences alike, and it worked so well that the label frequently had difficulty meeting the demands of its distributors, which meant that Vee-Jay was often facing cash-flow problems. Still, when the label finally closed its doors in 1966, it had outlasted most of the other black-owned record companies of the era, a list that included Exclusive, Excelsior, Duke-Peacock, and JVB. This four-disc, 85-track box set chronologically reveals the Vee-Jay story, and it is an astounding mix of genres and styles. One of the label's first big finds was the laconic blues songwriter Jimmy Reed, and several of his biggest hits are here, including "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" from 1955, "Baby What You Want Me to Do" from 1959, "Big Boss Man" from 1960, and "Bright Lights, Big City" from 1961. Also here are tracks by the Staple Singers ( "Uncloudy Day" from 1956 and "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" from 1960), Gene Chandler (the timeless "Duke of Earl" from 1961), John Lee Hooker ( "Boom Boom," also from 1961), the Four Seasons ( "Sherry" from 1962), and the Honeycombs' "Have I the Right," which was recorded and produced by the eccentric Joe Meek in his home studio in 1964. There's even an early cut from a young Billy Preston, the hard charging instrumental "Billy's Bag" from 1964. What isn't here, unfortunately, no doubt due to licensing restrictions, are the two Beatles singles, "Please, Please Me" and "From Me to You," that Vee-Jay released in 1963, thus introducing Beatlemania to the U.S. at a time when even Capitol Records, EMI's American arm and thus first in line for the Beatles, failed to recognize the group's potential. Vee-Jay took risks and chances with its catalog, and that fearlessness in the face of the music marketplace kept the company constantly overextended financially and contributed mightily to the label's eventual demise, but the music that resulted was wonderfully diverse and vital, a central part of the sound of pop music in the 1950s and early '60s. After all, this is a label that gave the world (at least the U.S. part of it) both Jimmy Reed and the Beatles (not to mention the immortal "Duke of Earl" ), and paved the way for Motown Records. That's not a bad legacy. Not bad at all. And it's only the tip of the iceberg. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Before Motown and Sam Cooke's SAR Records, Chicago's Vee-Jay Records defined the artistic and commercial possibilities for an African American-owned record label. Founded in 1953 in Gary, Indiana by spouses Vivian Carter ( "Vee" ) and James Bracken ( "Jay" ), Vee-Jay soon moved to Chicago and, over the next 13 years, released some of the most influential music of the 20th century.
Shout! Factory's new box set, Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection, is the first-ever comprehensive look at the label's history, with 86 songs spread out over four CDs. What's most impressive is not just the quality, but also the diverse range of music they released. While they specialized in the Chicago blues of artists like Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker, they also had hits with doo-wop (The Moonglows and Gene Chandler), gospel (The Staple Singers), soul (The Impressions), and even surf (Aki Aleong & The Nobles' instrumental rewrite of Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" ).
Another reason to get The Definitive Collection is for the original versions of songs made famous in later years by other artists, including Elvis Presley (Reed's "Big Boss Man" ), Linda Ronstadt (Betty Everett's "You're No Good" ), The Yardbirds (Billy Boy Arnold's "I Wish You Would" ), and Cher ( "The Shoop Shoop Song," also by Everett).
With a lot of R&B box sets, part of the joy is in finding obscurities that are every bit as good as the hits. Unfortunately, that's not the case on The Definitive Collection. There's little unknown here that can match classics like "Bright Lights, Big City" or "Boom Boom." The closest was a gorgeous duet by Jerry Butler and Betty Everett on The Everly Brothers' "Let It Be Me." I hadn't heard it before, but given the singers and song, there was also no way it could disappoint.
But at the same time, there aren't too many clunkers, which is very rare in a box set, especially given the diversity of the artists represented here. Because of this consistency, Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection will make a great gift for the vintage R&B lover in your family.
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