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Recordings for Groove started to be made in late 1953 under the supervision
of Danny Kessler. This first short-lived series (only 38 discs issued) concentrated
on the pop side of R&B with artists like Milt Trenier and current ‘London favorite,
Bertice Reading, avoiding the then successful black artists on the parent RCA
label. But when Groove was relaunched on march 19, 1955, Bob Rolontz took
over as a label manager and peppered the release schedule with Piano Red
material. Piano Red had done very well for RCA Victor in 1951 with four hits,
the largest of which,
Rockin’ With Red
spent fifteen weeks on the ‘Billboard’
R&B chart, reaching the number four position; when reissued on Groove it
appeared in the 5000 series which consisted of only eight pre-war blues. Since
those heady days Red (Willie Perryman) had had less spectacular sales but
continued to record in RCA’s NewYork studios and inAtlanta. The multitude of
Groove issues (EPs as well as 78/45 rpms) helped his career and were much
appreciated at the white parties and fraternity houses where he played. But his
roots went way back - born in Hampton, Georgia, in 1911 he moved with his
family toAtlanta in 1920 and started to learn piano - his equally famous brother,
Speckled Red, was already a professional pianist. As an albino with weak sight
most jobs were impossible for him and he became a pianist at house parties, fish
fries and in honky tonks. He hung out with country blues legends Barbecue Bob
and Laughing Charlie, recording first in 1936 with BlindWillie McTell. A faulty
process made the sides unusable and his next chance came in 1950 when RCA’s
distributor in Atlanta called Steve Sholes down to record Red. He had eight
years of successful recording including making the very first “live” R&B LP in