Record Production | All About Blues Music

J D ‘Jay’ MILLER

Jay Miller was one of the finest producers of Swamp Blues and Cajun music Louisiana has ever heard. His Fais-Do-Do label made some pioneeering Zydeco records and later, working with the Excello label, he recorded big hits and influential tracks for Swamp legends Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester and Slim Harpo at his studio complex at…

LESTER MELROSE

Lester Melrose was undoubtedly the most important producer of urban Blues in Chicago from the mid-20s into the post-War years. He pioneered the use of a house-band to give a consistently high quality of accompaniment to his featured artists, and his skill as an A&R man uncovered a wealth of talent in the Windy City.…

MIKE VERNON

As a producer and label owner, Mike Vernon has probably contributed more than anyone to the recording of early British Blues and presenting American original Blues players to the British public. By combining the keen young talent he found in London with the wealth of experience he brought from America, he created a heady mixture…

WC HANDY

WC Handy was the ‘Father of the Blues’, at least that’s what it said in his autobiography. It is probably more true to say he was a talented composer who became a great collector and populariser of the Blues, who was also largely responsible for bringing this local folk music from the Mississippi Delta to…

BOOKER T JONES

Memphis was ‘Soulsville USA’ in the 60s, and the band behind that world-changing music was Booker T and the MGs. The MGs had big solo hits of their own in the Stax days, including their most famous track, ‘Green Onions’, and their ‘Soul Limbo’ is the unlikely theme tune for TV coverage of cricket all…

CHRIS ALBERTSON

Chris Albertson is a writer, broadcaster and record producer whose work in Jazz and Blues, especially in his interviews with leading figures, has opened a window on the character of the people that have made the music great. His knowledgeable and unsentimental approach allows real insight to emerge from the hype, and his biography of…

SAM CHARTERS

When Sam Charters was eight years old, he heard Bessie Smith‘s ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’: it opened his eyes and ears, starting his quest to spread the word about the Blues and black culture in general. Sam’s work as a musicologist, record producer and especially his Grammy winning book, ‘The Country…

COSIMO MATASSA

Cosimo Matassa was a pioneer of rocking New Orleans R&B, who produced the revolutionary sounds that made the everybody dance in the early 50s. Working from a tiny studio, Cosimo developed a bass and drum-heavy sound, with light horns and prominent vocals and piano, that propelled several local boys onto the world stage. Studio owners…

RY COODER

American popular music has its roots in dozens of diverse traditions, and most of them have been investigated by Ry Cooder as he played a wide selection of stringed instruments. A highly skilled guitar picker, his wise and amusing selection of songs on a long series of albums have broadened many horizons, and pricked many…

LEONARD CHESS

The Godfather of Chicago Blues, Leonard Chess made his Chess Record company the home of many legends of electrified urban Blues. Leonard and his brother Phil were Polish immigrants who came with their parents to New York in 1928, but soon relocated to Chicago. The brothers were fascinated by the music scene in the South-side…