THE VOCAL GROUP HARMONY WEB SITE

#782 (3/2/13 - 3/15/13)

SPOTLIGHT ON THE (EARLY) DELUXE LABEL

"Study War No Mo'"/"Noah And The Ark"
by The Four Blues
on DeLuxe 1005-A/B
released in 1945

Clipping

Above: January 12, 1946 advertisement for The Four Blues' sixth (and last) record on the DeLuxe label. They sang both secular and spiritual songs. This self-contained singing and instrumental group was on the first six DeLuxe 1000 series releases (eleven sides total).
From The Billboard 3/20/43:
PROGRAM REVIEW: Victory Caravan (Philadelphia) ....For the jump and jive singing, also adding much to the show's peppery pace, are The Four Blues, sepia combo culled from the musical bars. Held fast to the Harlem tradition for their singing of "Ride, Red, Ride" and "Amen," sprucing up the selections with their instrumental licks on guitar, vibes and string bass....
Click HERE for an article about The Four Blues by Marv Goldberg.
(Will open in a separate window)

The Four Blues
(Circa 1945)

Above Right: This 5/12/45 Afro-American newspaper clipping gives the names of The Four Blues' members while recording for DeLuxe. Also, that they probably were from Baltimore.
(NOTE: The DeLuxe labels show these four names in the composer credits, except that "Stokes" is shown as "Starkes.")
Additional Reference Links: Baby I Need A Whole Lot Of Everything/Chittlin's And Pigs Feet.

Above: DeLuxe advertisements for The Four Blues from The Billboard dated (Left) 9/22/45 and (Right) 10/27/45.
Additional Reference Links: The Things You Want The Most Of All/Oh Daddy, Please Bring That Suitcase In.

Above: Another DeLuxe advertisement for The Four Blues, this time from The Billboard dated 11/24/45.
Additional Reference Links: The Blues Can Jump.

(The Billboard dated 2/9/46)

Above: DeLuxe clipping from The Billboard dated 6/19/48. Label owners were David and Jules Braun (until acquired by King Records in 1951). Joe Leibowitz was Musical Director. Miss Mike Waldman joined the label as Publicity Director in April 1948. DeLuxe, located in Linden, NJ, started life basically as a country and western label with their 2000 and 5000 series in 1944.

The Brauns, along with Fred Mendelsohn, later owned the Regal label (also located in Linden, NJ). Leibowitz later owned the Monarch and Premium labels, both located in Linden, NJ.

From The Billboard 2/9/46:
DeLuxe Signs 2d Negro Ork NEW YORK, Feb. 2—DeLuxe Records, which recently released its first Benny Carter ride, signed another Negro Ork this week when John Kirby put his seal to a paper with the Linden, N.J. waxery.

Clipping
(The Billboard dated 11/29/47)

Above: Label image of DeLuxe 1005 released in December 1945. This same record was also released showing "Golden Echo Quartet" in place of "The Four Blues" on the label. Both sides credit "Arranged by Joe Leib"... who was Joe Leibowitz, Musical Director for DeLuxe.
The Four Blues had six releases on DeLuxe (#1000-1005) from May to December 1945. They also had two releases on Decca (1941-42) and three on Apollo (1948-50).

Listen to this week's selections by The Four Blues on DeLuxe 1005-A/B from 1945:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

     A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...

          1. Study War No Mo'
          2. Noah And The Ark

          BOTH played in sequence
     B. Download RealAudio...

          1. Study War No Mo'
          2. Noah And The Ark
     C. Stream/Download Media Player...

          1. Study War No Mo'
          2. Noah And The Ark

(Review from The Billboard dated 1/12/46)

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]

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