DEVIL’S JUMP: INDIE LABEL BLUES 1946-1957.

dereksmusicblog ♦ March 15, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

DEVIL’S JUMP: INDIE LABEL BLUES 1946-1957.

The latest box set from British reissue label JSP is Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957. Compiled by Neil Slaven, and released on 11th March 2013, Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1597 is a four-CD box set which focuses on the blues music released by King Records, and its sister label Queen, during the eleven year period between 1946 and 1957. Now, when King Records was founded, it wasn’t a label most people would associate with blues music.

When Syd Nathan founded King Records in Cincinnati, Ohio 1943, it was to release rockabilly, western swing, bluegrass and country music. Then in 1945, Syd Nathan founded Queen Records. After that, King and Queen Records started releasing R&B and blues music. This included releases by John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, Lee Brown, Jimmie Gordon and Johnny Temple. While these releases were commercially successful, an artist Syd Nathan signed to his newly formed Federal Records in 1950, would prove to be a game-changer.

Syd Nathan and Ralph Bass launched Federal Records in 1950. Their first signing was James Brown. He would prove to be their most successful signing. Little did Syd or Ralph realize just how influential and successful James Brown would be. Indeed, the success James Brown would enjoy, would secure King and Queen Records’ futures. It would also allow Syd Nathan to expand his burgeoning musical empire.

With James Brown’s career on the rise, Syd Nathan decided to launch further labels.   So, in 1960, Syd and Henry Glover, who was then a veteran of King Records, launched two new labels. They were Deluxe Records and Bethlehem Records. For the next eight years, Deluxe and Bethlehem Records roster grew. Like Syd Nathan’s other labels, they continued to enjoy commercial success throughout the sixties. Sadly, in 1968 Syd Nathan passed away and Syd’s musical empire was sold. However, during the previous twenty-five years, since Syd founded King Records, he’d played an important part in music.

Syd Nathan was a musical pioneer, who championed many different musical genres, including rockabilly, western swing, bluegrass and country music. Another musical genre Syd Nathan was passionate about, was blues music. On Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957, this four-CD box set features over 100 tracks released on King and Queen Records. Twenty of these tracks have never previously been released before. So for blues’ completists, Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 is a must-have compilation. For anyone looking for an introduction to blues music, then Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 is a good starting point. After all, there’s tracks from everyone from John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim, Lee Brown, Jimmie Gordon, Johnny Temple and many, many more, which I’ll tell you about.

Disc One of Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 features twenty-five tracks. This includes a combination of familiar faces and some lesser known artists. Similarly, the music ranges from deep blues right through to country blues. Among the bigger names on Disc One are John Lee Hooker, Memphis Slim and the country blues of Jimmie Gordon, Smokey Hogg, Country Paul and Eddie Kirkham. Many of these artists feature several times. For example Lee Brown features twice and Smokey Hogg three times.

Now given the age of the recordings, many of the tracks have a raw, almost primitive sound. That just adds to the emotion and potency of the music. A proof in point is several of the John Lee Hooker tracks on Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957. They were recorded in the back of a record shop. While there’s a rawness to the music, care has been taken with the sources. As a result, the sound quality is much better than many other blues compilations I’ve come across.

A number of the artists that featured on Disc One of Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957, feature heavily on Disc Two. Compiler Neil Slaven seems a huge fan of John Lee Hooker, including a further four tracks on Disc Two. So too does Memphis Slim. There’s also welcome returns from Jimmie Gordon, Eddie Kirkland, Smokey Hogg and Country Paul. New names include Robert Henry, Eddie Burns and Ralph Willis. Like Disc One, Disc Two is representative of King and Queen’s roster during the eleven year period between 1946 and 1957. Whether you’re a veteran of blues compilations, or a relative newcomer, there’s plenty of familiar and names on Disc Two of Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957. Similarly, different sub-genres are covered, resulting in an eclectic selection of twenty-five tracks.

Just like the two previous discs, many of the same artists feature on Disc Three of Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957. This includes unsurprisingly, John Lee Hooker, plus two of my personal favorites Memphis Slim and the country blues’ sound of Jimmy Gordon. For fans of country blues music, some of the best cuts on Disc Three come courtesy of Smokey Hogg and Country Paul. A welcome addition is more music from Ralph Willis, plus newcomers Johnny Wright, Walter Mitchell and Robert Henry. On Disc Three, compiler Neil Slaven has managed to combine a selection of familiar faces and less well-known names. This results in twenty-five further compelling, captivating and potent blues cuts from King and Queen Records.

Taking Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 up to the magic figure of 100 tracks in Disc Four. Again, we follow a familiar pattern of combining familiar faces and newcomers. Big-hitters included are John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim. For fans of country blues, then there’s Jimmie Gordon, Eddie Kirkland, Smokey Hogg and Country Paul. Newcomers include three tracks by Kid Thomas and Johnny Temple. Detroit Count and Johnny Wright both make welcome returns, as this trip through the back-catalogue of King and Queen Records draws to a close.

Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 is a musical journey that’s four discs and 100 tracks long. Lasting an eleven year period between 1946 and 1957, there are contributions from some giants of blues music and some less familiar faces. This means that Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 will appeal to veterans of many a blues compilation, plus relative newcomers to blues music. For blues veterans, Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957’s U.S.P. is the twenty unreleased tracks. For completists, this makes Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 an essential purchase.

What makes Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 an essential purchase is emotion and potency of the music. That many of the tracks have a raw, almost primitive sound just adds to this. It makes Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 one of the most captivating and compelling box sets of 2013 so far. In many ways, Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 is just a tantalizing taster of the hidden delights of King and Queen Records’ rich and illustrious back-catalogue.  Given how good Devil’s Jump: Indie Label Blues 1947-1957 is, I just hope that JSP are currently working on Volume 2. We can but hope and dream.

DEVIL’S JUMP: INDIE LABEL BLUES 1946-1957.