MEL LONDON
Mel London is perhaps best known as a record producer and record label owner, but he was also a talented songwriter whose work was often in the R&B charts when he was still in his early 20s. His Chief Records became one of the most progressive independent labels in Chicago in the 50s, during the ‘Golden Age’ of electric Blues.
Melvin R London was born in Mississippi in 1932, and little is known of his early life, until he turned up in Chicago with a song, ‘Poison Ivy’, which Willie Mabon took to No.7 in the R&B chart on the Chess label. Leonard Chess was impressed with Mel’s writing and both Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf were soon having hits with his songs. ‘Manish Boy’ is co-credited to Mel, Muddy and Bo Diddley, as it was a ‘response’ to Bo’s hit ‘I’m a Man’, also on Chess.
The original 1955 version of ‘Manish Boy’;

Great performance by Muddy over Earl Hooker’s solo track;
Chief’s subsidiary labels Profile, Age and Mel-Lon released records by AC Reed, Johnny ‘Big Moose’ Walker and Jackie Brenston in the 60s, but the business was getting into financial trouble, and they went bust in 1964. Mel was still young enough to start again with labels like All-Points, Bright Star and Starville, but they didn’t repeat his former success and Mel passed away in Chicago in 1975 at the age of 43.