Everything about Vee-jay totally explained
Vee-Jay Records was a
record label founded in the 1950s, specializing in
blues,
jazz,
rhythm and blues and
rock and roll. It was owned and operated by
African Americans.
History
Vee-Jay was founded in
Gary,
Indiana, in
1953 by
Vivian Carter and
James C. Bracken, a husband-and-wife team who used their initials for the label’s name. Vivian's brother,
Calvin Carter, was the label's A&R man.
Ewart Abner, formerly of
Chance Records, joined the label in
1955, first as manager, then as vice president, and ultimately, as president.
Vee-Jay quickly became a major R&B label, with the first song recorded making it to the top ten on the national R&B charts. Vee-Jay Records filed for bankruptcy in August 1966. The assets were subsequently purchased by label executives Betty Chiapetta and
Randy Wood.
Major acts on the label in the 1950s included blues singers
Jimmy Reed,
Memphis Slim, and
John Lee Hooker, and rhythm and blues vocal groups the Spaniels, Dells, and
El Dorados. The 1960s saw the label became a major soul label with
Jerry Butler,
Gene Chandler,
Dee Clark, and
Betty Everett putting records on both the R&B and pop charts. Vee-Jay were also the first to record The Pips, who became
Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1962, when they moved to
Fury Records.
Vee-Jay had significant success with rock and roll acts, notably
The Four Seasons (their first non-
black act) and
The Beatles (Vee-Jay acquired the rights to some of the early Beatles recordings at the suggestion of
Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons). In the mid 1960's Vee-Jay signed former successful child singer
Jimmy Boyd of
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus fame). Boyd was then twenty five years old. The company even ventured into
folk music with
Hoyt Axton and New Wine Singers. The label also picked up
Little Richard (who re-recorded his
Specialty Records hits); and, before he became successful,
Billy Preston.
Vee-Jay's
jazz line accounted for a small portion of the company's releases, but recorded such artists as
Wynton Kelly,
Lee Morgan,
Eddie Harris, and
Wayne Shorter. The
A&R for the jazz releases was
Sid McCoy. The company also had a major
gospel line, recording such acts as the
Staple Singers, the Argo Singers,
Swan Silvertones, and Maceo Woods.
[ Vee-Jay even released comedy on LP, with Them Poems, Mason Williams's early nightclub act, recorded with a studio audience in 1964.]
Vee-Jay's biggest successes occurred in 1962-1964, with the ascendancy of the Four Seasons and the distribution of early Beatles material ("Please Please Me" and "From Me to You" via Vee-Jay[ and "Love Me Do", "Twist and Shout", and "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" via its subsidiary Tollie Records), because EMI's autonomous United States company Capitol initially refused to release Beatles records. Vee-Jay's releases were at first unsuccessful, but quickly became huge hits once the British Invasion took off in early 1964, selling 2.6 million Beatles singles in a single month. Cash flow problems caused by the leasing of the British act's records are generally given as an explanation of the company's demise, with a royalty dispute with The Four Seasons (and their subsequent departure from Vee-Jay) often mentioned as a contributory cause.]
Three other Vee-Jay subsidiary labels included Interphon (which yielded the Top 5 hit "Have I The Right" by another British group, The Honeycombs), Champion (featuring Gloria Jones' original version of "Tainted Love", a smash hit for Soft Cell in 1981), and Oldies 45 for reissues.
The post-bankruptcy Vee-Jay isn't active in producing new recordings, but continues to license the back catalog. The current primary distributors are P-Vine/Blues Interactions in Japan, and Rhino Records in North America. U.S. based record label Collectables Records, a Rhino sublicensee, has been remastering and reissuing Vee-Jay albums on audio CD since 2000. The latest sublicensee is Shout! Factory which released a Best of Vee-Jay box set as well as individual "Best of the Vee-Jay Years" CDs from such artists as Jerry Butler, The Dells, Jimmy Reed and The Staple Singers.(External Link
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