ARC

Little Walter

Today's announcement that the ARC Music Group has been sold again, this time by the Fuji Music Group to BMG, invites us to re-visit the Chess Records catalogue. The Chess brothers formed ARC in 1948 as a publishing associate to their Chicago-based enterprise, which went on to become the US's premiere R&B record label in the 1950s. The early records are all mono of course, but they still capture a great sense of space around the house band. Little Walter's harmonica playing is particularly 'electrifying':