Battle Records (record label)
Encyclopedia
Battle Records was a record label founded as J.V.B. Records in Detroit, Michigan
by record shop owner Joe Von Battle in 1948. The label specialized in gospel music
, jazz
and rhythm and blues
.
In 1962, the J.V.B. label was replaced by the Battle label which was taken over by Bill Grauer Productions which also owned Riverside Records
.
Among the artists who recorded for J.V.B./Battle were Rev. C. L. Franklin, his daughter Aretha Franklin
, John Lee Hooker
, Memphis Slim
, Willie Dixon
and Mongo Santamaria
who recorded the label's biggest hit, Watermelon Man.
The label operated into 1966.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
by record shop owner Joe Von Battle in 1948. The label specialized in gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
.
In 1962, the J.V.B. label was replaced by the Battle label which was taken over by Bill Grauer Productions which also owned Riverside Records
Riverside Records
Riverside Records was a United States record label specializing in jazz. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer under his firm Bill Grauer Productions, Inc. in 1953, the label was a major presence in the jazz record industry for a decade...
.
Among the artists who recorded for J.V.B./Battle were Rev. C. L. Franklin, his daughter Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...
, Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
and Mongo Santamaria
Mongo Santamaría
Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez was an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist. He is most famous for being the composer of the jazz standard "Afro Blue," recorded by John Coltrane among others. In 1950 he moved to New York where he played with Perez Prado, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader, Fania All...
who recorded the label's biggest hit, Watermelon Man.
The label operated into 1966.
Discography
- 6101 - John's Vision of a New Heaven - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962] Reissue of J.V.B. 101.
- 6102 - Except I Shall See in His Hands the Print of the Nails - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6103 - All Things Work Together for the Good to Them That Love God - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6104 - Rock My Soul - Loftonaires [1962]
- 6105 - Spirituals - Various Artists [1962] ] Reissue of J.V.B. 100, the cover graphics are the same as the J.V.B. album. Recorded During Service at New Bethel Baptist Church, Detroit Michigan. There is a Fountain Filled With Blood - Aretha Franklin/Precious Lord, Parts 1 & 2 - Aretha Franklin/You Grow Closer - Aretha Franklin/Never Grow Old - Aretha Franklin/The Angels Keep Watching Over Me - Sammie Bryant/The Last Mile - Sammie Bryant/The Lord Will Make A Way, Parts 1 & 2 - Rev. C.L. Franklin/Trying To Get Home, Parts 1 & 2 - Rev. C.L. Franklin
- 6106 - I Hear the Voice - J. Robert Bradley & Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6107 - Highest Ground - Loftonaires [1962]
- 6108 - Why Are Ye Afraid, O Ye of So Little Faith - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6109 - I Will Trust In The Lord - Rev. C.L. Franklin, Aretha Franklin, and Sammie Bryant [1962]
- 6110 - Did Not Our Hearts Burn While He Talked By the Wayside - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6111 - How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6112 - Hannah the Ideal Mother - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962] Reissue of J.V.B. 105.
- 6113 - Blues Man - John Lee Hooker [1963]
- 6114 - How Long Blues - John Lee Hooker [1963] Black Snake/How Long Blues/Wobblin' Baby/She's Long, She's Tall, She Weeps Like A Willow Tree/Pea Vine Special/Tupelo Blues/I'm PrisonBound//I Rowed A Little Boat/Water Boy/Church Bell Tone/Bundle Up And Go/Good Mornin', Lil' School Girl/Behind The Plow
- 6115 - Paul's Meditation on Immorality - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1962]
- 6116 - Grace Made a Change - Rev. Cleophus Robinson [1962]
- 6117 - Eternity of the Church - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1963]
- 6118/BS 96118 - Along with My Friends - Memphis Slim [1963] Rockin' Chair/I Feel So Good/Plowhand Blues/7 others
- 6119 - Jesus Met a Woman at the Well - Rev. C.L. Franklin [1963] Reissue of J.V.B. 106.
- 6120/BS 96120 - Watermelon Man - Mongo Santamaria & His Orchestra [1963] (5- 63, #42) Recorded at Plaza Sound Studios, New York; produced by Bill Grauer Productions. Watermelon Man (S)/Funny Money (S)/Cut That Cane (S)/Get The Money (S)/The Boogie Cha Cha Blues (S)/Don't Bother Me No More (S)//Love Oh Love (S)/Yeh-Yeh (S)/The Peanut Vendor (S)/Go Git It (S)/Bayou Roots (S)/Suavito (S)
- 6121/BS 96121 - April in Paris - Don Byas [1963]
- 6122/BS 96122 - Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon in Paris - Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon [1963] Rock And Rolling The House/Baby Please Come Home/How Come You Do Me Like You Do/The Way She Loves A Man/New Way To Love/African Hunch With A Boogie Beat//Shame Pretty Girls/Baby, Baby, Baby/Do De Do/Cool Blooded/Just You And I/Pigalle Love/All By Myself
- 6123/BS 96123 - Cool Samba - Joao Meirelles & His Bossa Kings [1963] 13 Selections.
- 6124/BS 96124 - You've Got to Love Everybody! - Rev. Cleophus Robinson [1963]
- 6125/BS 96125 - Everybody Wants Freedom - Carolina Freedom Fighters [1963] Everybody Wants Freedom/We Shall Not Be Moved/Woke Up This Morning/others
- 6126/BS 96126 - Teenage Hootenanny - Millburnaires '63 [1963] Blowing In The Wind/What Have They Done To The Rain?/The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy/Plaisir d'Amour/Take Her Out Of Pity/Passin' Through//Shenandoah/500 Miles/Our Hands Were Strong/Dona Dona/Joan, Joan/When She Cries
- 6127/BS 96127 - One Step Closer - Duncanaires [1964]
- 6128/BS 96128 - Bluegrass Hootenanny - Lonesome River Boys [1964]
- 6129/BS 96129 - Mongo at the Village Gate - Mongo Santamaria [1963]
- 6130/BS 96130 - Hot Rod Caravan - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6131/BS 96131 - Hot Rods U.S.A - Sound Effects . [1964]
- 6132/BS 96132 - Cement Roaster - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6133/BS 96133 - Hot Stuff on Asphalt - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6134/BS 96134 - Rods and Drags Forever - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6135/BS 96135 - Chrome on the Range - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6136/BS 96136 - Dig Out - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6137/BS 96137 - Sport Car Caravan - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6138/BS 96138 - Grand Prix-USA - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6139/BS 96139 - Road Racing America - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6140/BS 96140 - Cycles Galore - Sound Effects [1964]
- 6141/BS 96141 - I'm Saved and I Know It - Gable-Airs [1964]
- 6142/BS 96142 - Someone to Care - Rev. Cleophus Robinson [1964]