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Long before RCAVictor inaugurated its Groove subsidiary
to penetrate the rhythm and blues market in February of 1954,
the parent label had established itself as a purveyor of blues
and other African-American musical genres. Victor established
its Bluebird subsidiary in 1932, and over the course of its lengthy existence (it petered
out after a brief 1949 resurgence), a lot of the greatest bluesmen of the pre-war era
appeared on the logo.
Bluebird was especially dominant in the blues field once Lester Melrose emerged
as its primary provider of downhome fare. Operating out of Chicago, Melrose (who
wasn’t exclusively pacted to Victor; he worked in an identical role for Columbia/
OKeh) brought the cream of the Windy City’s blues crop into RCA’s orbit: John Lee
‘Sonny Boy’Williamson, Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie, Dr. Clayton,
Lil Green, Jazz Gillum, Tommy McClennan, Arthur ‘Big Boy’Crudup, andWashboard
Sam all recorded for Bluebird under Melrose’s supervision. The bouncy small combo
sound he specialized in later came to be known as the ‘Bluebird Beat.’
But Lester’s day had come and gone by the dawn of the ’50s. Bluebird was history,
and what R&B product RCAdid release emerged on the parent label prior to Groove’s
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