It's not often that you hear of a record company being destroyed by success, but that was the fate of one of America's most prominent blues, jazz, and soul labels, Vee-Jay Records. The music they ...

Vee-Jay Records, founded with $500 in 1953, rose to become the most successful African American-owned label of its day, anticipating Motown during a time when small, independent record companies were ...

Frankie Valli attends the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons 50th Anniversary Celebration on Oct. 19, 2012, at the Broadway Theatre in New York. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images) The Feb. 4 Arts & Style ...

On infrequent occasions only does a collection of one artist's work embrace the breadth and vitality of his or her many years as a recording artist. Usually, these themed collections provide windows ...

Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection collects blues, soul and R&B from acts like John Lee Hooker, The Spaniels, Jay McShann, The Staple Sisters and Jimmy Reed. In 1953, Vivian and James Bracken from ...

John Lennon receives an award for sales of The Beatles’ 'Twist & Shout' from Vee-Jay president Randy Wood. It wasn’t recorded as a single and The Beatles weren’t signed to Vee-Jay or its subsidiaries.

"Definitive" is a loaded phrase, not necessarily suggesting completion but a representation of what made something notable. In Vee-Jay's case, the glaring omission is the Beatles, whose earliest ...