Seventy years before the late Bob Koester founded Delmar (later Delmark) Records while a college student in St. Louis, Buffalo Bill’s travelling Wild West Show debuted, Chester A. Arthur was president, Thomas Edison brought electric light to Roselle, NJ for the first time, and “Black Bart” was in the news for another stagecoach robbery. When Koester released his first record in 1953, many of the now-iconic figures in blues and jazz were still every day working musicians, Ike was in the White House, and the U.S. was fighting in Korea. Now seventy years on, Delmark is the oldest independent jazz and blues record label in the world, boasting a catalog bulging with over twelve thousand recordings by a virtual who’s who of jazz and blues. Although Koester retired in 2018, under the leadership of President/CEO, Julia A. Miller, and Artistic Director Elbio Barilari, Delmark has released over 30 thirty albums in five years, has made digitally available over twelve thousand songs and continues its mission of seeking out and documenting new talent. To celebrate the 70th anniversary, here are some of the finest tracks from the Delmark blues music vaults.

TRACKLIST : 1. Snatch It Back And Hold It by Junior Wells, Buddy Guy 2. All Of Your Love by Magic Sam, Mighty Joe Young, Odie Payne 3. All Of Your Love (I Miss Loving) by Otis Rush, Abb Locke, Bob Levis, Big Moose Walker 4. All For Business by Jimmy Dawkins, Big Voice Odom, Otis Rush 5. Blues For A Day by Dinah Washington, Lucky Thompson, Charles Mingus 6. I Want A Little Girl by T-Bone Walker, S.P. Leary 7. Long Tall Daddy by Big Time Sarah, Emery Williams, Rodney Brown, Tony Llorens, Bill Hargrave, Ricky Nelson 8. I Just keep Loving Her by Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Baby Face Leroy Foster 9. Memphis Slim U.S.A. by Memphis Slim, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Henry Taylor, Otho Allen, Jim Conley, Neil Green 10. Ashes In My Ashtray by Jimmy Johnson, Rico McFarland, Carl Snyder, Ike Anderson, Dino Alavarez