Label founder Bob Koester talks 55 years of Delmark Records

[Above: Bob Koester with Buddy Guy at Delmark's 55th anniversary celebration in March 2008.]

“I think some of the writers really want to believe that it’s all over for blues in Chicago,” confides Bob Koester, owner of Delmark, the nation’s oldest independent record label. “If they’ll come to the [city], I’d be happy to show ‘em around some clubs on the North, South and West side, take ‘em to hear people like Byther Smith, Lurrie Bell, Jimmy Burns, Michael Coleman… it’s a long list.”

Koester, now 75, founded Delmark Records in St. Louis, Mo., in 1953. In 1958, he moved to Chicago and found himself in the golden era of blues, right when Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf were in their prime. With a heart for jazz and eyes for signing and recording burgeoning local talents, he purchased Seymour's Jazz Mart on Wabash Avenue downtown. Clubs on all compass points were crawling with newbie all-stars, which Koester needed only to frequent once a month to find new talent to recruit.

His ascent as one of the most esteemed blues archivists in the world was launched in 1965 by a move to bring Jr. Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues, the first “working blues band,” in to record an LP with Delmark. Koester insisted that Wells have free reign to record the album any way he saw fit, with no restrictions on track length or his own sidemen recruits. The album won critical acclaim and is Delmark’s best-selling record to date, and Koester is credited with igniting Wells' career.

In addition to signing stalwarts such as Robert Jr. Lockwood, Jimmy Dawkins and Mighty Joe Young, Koester’s Seymour Jazz Mart, which would later become Jazz Record Mart, was an incubator of future blues artists. Koester employed young, struggling musicians like Mike Bloomfield and Charlie Musselwhite. His most infamous employee was a young Bruce Iglauer, who went on to forge the highly successful Alligator Records after Koester refused to record Iglauer’s favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers. Koester now laughs, “[Alligator is] better at promoting records. I’ll be the first to admit it.”        

Delmark and Jazz Record Mart still hold strong as go-to boutiques for both old and new artists, such as Dave Specter, one of the first white bluesmen to make his own record, and Shirley Johnson, Zora Young and Tail Dragger. They “didn’t make records in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Koester says, “but they’re still great artists.” 

Koester believes Chicago remains fertile ground for new blues talent. If anything, he blames illegal downloading for any deathblows to the scene, believing it eats into his recording costs. “As long as I don’t lose too much money I’ll stay with it.  If I ever had another 100,000 [dollar] loss [in a year], I’d probably be talking some other way,” shrugs Koester, “But we’ve got a stock room full of records.  If I close down the label, what am I going to do with all them records?”

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