This Week on BU - Imperial Records Down Home Blues (Hour 2)

“The Amazing Secret History of Elmore James” is STILL the #1 New Release at the Amazon Kindle Store for Blues Books. On sale now at https://tinyurl.com/yy6vlsv3 (Amazon) and at https://tinyurl.com/y4ql53s2 (Apple Books) The Imperial Record label, founded in 1948 in Los Angeles, is well known as the home of Fats Domino and other great New Orleans artists, as well as Texas guitar hero T-Bone Walker. On this episode of Blues Unlimited, however, we focus on some of the fantastic Country and Down Home Blues that Imperial held in their catalog over the years, from Lightnin' Hopkins, Clifton Chenier, Papa Lightfoot, Lil' Son Jackson, BooZoo Chavis, Snooks Eaglin, and many more. Partly inspired by a series of three LPs that came out more than 50 years ago, simply entitled "Rural Blues," we'll hear lots of rarities and classic sides from Imperial, as well as associated labels (such as Aladdin, which Imperial bought in 1961) and a few other operations that were on Imperial's radar as well. The three LPs -- the material for which was notably selected by Bob "The Bear" Hite and Henry Vestine of Canned Heat fame -- were originally subtitled "Goin' Up The Country" (Volume 1); "Saturday Night Function" (Volume 2); and "Down Home Stomp," and have long been considered to be classics of the genre. Pictured: The distinctive cover art for "Rural Blues, Vol. 1." Are you looking for ways to promote your band’s latest release, product, business, or service? Advertise on the podcast that’s been downloaded over one million times, and reach a global audience of blues lovers! Contact us at bluesunlimited at gmail dot com for more details! This episode is available commercial free and in its original full-fidelity high quality audio exclusively to our subscribers at Bandcamp. Your annual subscription of $27 a year will go directly to support this radio show, and you’ll gain INSTANT DOWNLOAD ACCESS to this and more than 170 other episodes from our extensive archive as well. More info is at http://bluesunlimited.bandcamp.com/subscribe