HISTORY AND DISCOGRAPHY

Short-lived Los Angeles record company started by trumpet player Dootsie Williams in 1949, recording mostly small-time local talent along with off-color comedians, hence the label name, which were distributed only within the region.

It was a way for Williams to get his feet wet in the business side of the record industry however and with his band-leading experience the sessions had strong arrangements and always featured some of the best musicians in the area.

Williams was born in Alabama in 1911 and in the 1940’s was leading bands in Los Angeles, starting with The Harlem Dukes and later the regrettably named Four Chocolates, which featured future solo star Nellie Lutcher on piano. Though Williams never achieved national prominence as a musician, he was very active on the L.A. scene both in the studio and especially in the many clubs around town.

Sensing the need to expand his activities to weather any musical shifts he saw the need for record labels to cater to the more streetwise tastes of the black community which were ardent fans of racy comedians and less sophisticated music than the jazz he’d been brought up in.

Blue Records was started in May 1949 to fill those needs and he added a publishing firm a few years later. Though he closed the label in 1951 he immediately started Dootone, a company that enjoyed far greater national distribution and a stronger stable of artists which is where he’d go on to make his greatest mark in the business by mid-decade.
 

BLUE RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed To Date On Spontaneous Lunacy):

BOBBY NUNN: I Got A Country Gal (5) (Blue 105; July, 1949)
BUMPS MYERS (ft. BOBBY NUNN): I’m Clappin’ And Shoutin’ (8) (Blu 115; November, 1950)
BUMPS MYERS (ft. BOBBY NUNN): I’m Telling You Baby (5) (Blu 115; November, 1950)