The success of Vee-Jay Records can be neatly summed up in the old adage, “right place, right time.” Likewise, its demise can be explained as, “wrong place, wrong time.” Vee-Jay was a successful, black-owned, independent Chicago-based label that operated from 1953 to 1966. It started out recording neighborhood blues, doo wop and gospel, but it quickly made that music popular throughout the country. As it grew, it developed a most diverse roster. Vee-Jay was the home for bluesmen such as Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker, as well as early soul stars Gene Chandler and Jerry Butler. When trends in popular music shifted in the early 1960s, Vee-Jay signed the Four Seasons and licensed the first Beatles singles for American release. When you consider they also recorded the Staple Singers, Eddie Harris, Gladys Knight, Dee Clark, Memphis Slim, the Spaniels and Joe Simon among others, you can understand the impact Vee-Jay Records had.

Most of the material on this four-CD set has been around the block more than once. Still, there are several surprises for even the veteran collector here. Blues tracks that took me aback were Earl Phillips’ “Oop De Loop” and Morris Pejoe’s “Hurt My Feelings.” There’s a local connection here too as Lee Diamond’s infectious “Hattie Malatti” is included, as is Leonard Carbo’s “Pigtails and Blue Jeans.”

The booklet explains the demise of Vee-Jay, summing up that the owners didn’t watch their bottom line, but clearly they were no longer recording the kind of music people were buying. (One of the most bizarre items in Vee-Jay’s s catalog was a mid-1960s LP by Harpo Marx’s son Bill called My Son the Folk Singer.) When Vee-Jay folded, it took Ace Records, one of New Orleans’ most successful indie labels with it, but before it closed its doors, Vee-Jay recorded some important and impressive music, and this set underlines that fact.