Alligator Records facts for kids

Alligator Records is a cool American record company based in Chicago. It's an independent record label, which means it's not owned by a huge music corporation. Bruce Iglauer started it in 1971. He also helped create the Living Blues magazine in Chicago a year earlier.

History of Alligator Records

Bruce Iglauer began Alligator Records with his own money. He wanted to record his favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers. His boss at another record company, Delmark Records, didn't want to record them. So, Bruce decided to do it himself!

Nine months after the first album came out, Bruce left his job. He wanted to focus completely on Hound Dog Taylor and his new record label. Only 1,000 copies of Taylor's first album were made. Bruce also started managing the band.

Other early artists on the label included Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell and Fenton Robinson. In 1976, Koko Taylor's album, I Got What It Takes, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Soon after, Albert Collins also joined the label. Bruce Iglauer mainly worked as the main producer for these albums.

In 1982, Alligator Records won its first Grammy Award. This was for the album I'm Here by Clifton Chenier. The second Grammy came in 1985 for Showdown!. This album featured Albert Collins, Johnny Copeland, and Robert Cray. In 1991, a special album was released to celebrate the label's 20th anniversary.

Since it started, Alligator Records has released over 250 blues and blues/rock albums. They even had a reggae music series for a while. Many famous blues artists have recorded with Alligator. Some of these include Lonnie Mack, Marcia Ball, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials, and Roomful of Blues. More recently, blues legends Charlie Musselwhite and James Cotton have also signed with the label again.

Alligator Records celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011. They were also making a profit that year. In January 2021, another company called Exceleration Records invested in Alligator. This made them a financial partner with Bruce Iglauer. In 2021, Alligator celebrated its 50th anniversary. To mark this special event, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared June 18, 2021, as “Alligator Records Day” in Chicago. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky also spoke about how important Bruce Iglauer and Alligator Records are to the "American cultural legacy of Chicago blues music."

Discography

Alligator Records has released many albums since 1971. They mostly focus on Chicago blues artists.

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In Spanish: Alligator Records para niños

• List of record labels
• Chicago record labels
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