Various Artists

Delmark 60 Years Of Blues

Delmark 

By Bill Dahl

          Every five years, Chicago’s venerable Delmark Records celebrates its storied existence by assembling another collection of blues treasures from its voluminous vaults. Blending vintage gems with tracks from its latest releases, these anthologies remind us anew of what a treasure Bob Koester’s label has been for so long and continues to be. Upstart record companies may come and go, but Delmark proudly maintains its existence decade after decade.

          It’s been 60 years since Koester launched his logo in St. Louis as Delmar Records. One of his first blues artists was cantankerous acoustic guitarist Big Joe Williams, represented here by a previously unissued solo “‘44’ Blues” from a 1960 private tape (Joe only has seven strings on his box here instead of the usual nine). Collectors will be positively thrilled by the alternate take of Little Walter’s “Just Keep Lovin’ Her” from Delmark’s stash of Parkway masters (the young harp genius was backed by Muddy Waters and Baby Face Leroy Foster that day). Also new to the world is harpist Junior Wells’ tasty after-hours rendition of “Rock Me Baby” from the ’69 Delmark sessions that gave us Southside Blues Jam (Otis Spann rolls the ivories).  

          No other local company documents as many local blues artists as Delmark does (having an in-house recording studio doesn’t hurt in that regard). Guitarist Eddie C. Campbell’s driving “Big World,” Lurrie Bell’s sizzling cover of Otis Rush’s “She’s A Good ‘Un” (from his 2013 set Blues In My Soul), and Mississippi Heat’s “Let’s Live It Up!” (featuring vocalist Inetta Visor and harpist/bandleader Pierre Lacocque) rate with the set’s highlights, and ebullient pianist Detroit Jr.’s 2004 treatment of the pre-war chestnut “Key To The Highway” goes down mighty easy too. Quintus McCormick, Linsey Alexander, and Sharon Lewis, members of Delmark’s new generation, are aboard as well.

          Naturally, there’s a track from Delmark’s recent celebrated release of a cache of live 1968 Magic Sam tapes from a previously untraced Milwaukee gig; he’s typically on fire tearing into Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “I Don’t Want No Woman,” and as noted far and wide, the sound quality is terrific. There’s also a cozy live performance from 1974 by pre-war stalwart Sleepy John Estes and the guitarist’s longtime sidekick, harpist Hammie Nixon; “Stop That Thing” will see 2014 issue on the pair’s own album, Live In Japan (most of the duo’s postwar output appeared on Delmark).

          It is rather unsettling to encounter thundering blues-rock by Toronzo Cannon and Giles Corey’s Stoned Soul (the latter band’s disc is slated for release later this year) on a Delmark retrospective, but such is today’s market—clavinet and frenetic guitar aren’t off limits. It’s clear Koester and Delmark’s second-in-command Steve Wagner aren’t averse to changing with the times, which bodes well for the company’s future even if traditionalists may shudder a bit.

          Congratulations are in order for Koester, Wagner, and Delmark. Here’s to celebrating the firm’s 65^th anniversary in a similarly musical manner.

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