Alligator Records: 50 лет чикагского блюза

American blues record label

Alligator Records is an American, Chicago based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the Living Blues magazine in Chicago in 1970.

Iglauer started the label using his savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record. Nine months after the release of the first album, he stopped working at Delmark Records to concentrate fully on the band and his label. Only 1,000 copies of the Taylor's debut album were made, while Iglauer took over managing the group. Other early releases for the fledgling label included recordings by Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell and Fenton Robinson. In 1976, Koko Taylor's I Got What It Takes was nominated for a Grammy Award, and Albert Collins soon signed to the label. Iglauer mainly worked as executive producer. In 1982, the label won its first Grammy Award for the album, I'm Here, by Clifton Chenier. The second Grammy came in 1985 for Showdown! by Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray. In 1991, a 20th anniversary compilation album was issued. In January 2021, Exceleration Records invested in Alligator, becoming a financial and administrative partner with Iglauer. In 2021, Alligator celebrated its 50th anniversary, in observance of which Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared June 18, 2021 as “Alligator Records Day” in Chicago,

Alligator Records commenced releasing LPs in 1971 continuing through to the present with a focus on Chicago blues artists.

Catalog No. Album Artist Details8302Rasta FestivalBlack Slate8303IndestructibleMighty Diamonds8304Youthman Penitentiary and the Roots Radics Band8305Forward8306Check It!Mutabaruka8307King David's Melody8308In the Future8309Scattered Lights8310Rockers All Star ExplosionVarious Artists8311Tension8312High Times All Star ExplosionVarious Artists8313Triumph!