Show 49: Alphabet Blues, Pt. 9: Keen / King / Mamlish / Okeh / Old Tramp

I'm your host. For today's 49th episode of the CC Blues Show, we will be resuming our Alphabet Blues series, where I aim to spin for you every single significant blues label from A through Z. Last week we covered a big chunk of labels, it was Fat Possum Records through J.O.B. Records, and for tonight we'll be hearing from Keen Records, Mamlish Records, Meteor Records, Miracle Records, Modern Records, and some of Paramount Records, which we will finish next episode. To begin today's show, we've got the man who needs little introduction, Sam Cooke. The tracks we'll hear from Mr. Cooke tonight come from his brief stint with Keen Records before he famously signed a historic recording contract with RCA Records. Cooke flourished with the creative freedom afforded at this small, young independent label and was able to produce some of his most enduring classics. After that we'll hear Mamlish Records tracks from the '20s, but now here's Sam Cooke's "Basin Street Blues."