The Henry Glover Story, 1947-1961

Henry Glover is all but forgotten today, but back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was one of the most significant executives in R&B recording. After Syd Nathan founded King Records in Cincinnati in 1943, the label began recording roots country artists, what the trade publications used to call “hillbilly music." But by 1946, it was clear to Nathan what type of music was going to pay the bills. With the vast migration of black Americans from the South to the North and West to fill jobs in defense and manufacturing, a new market had emerged for blues music with a rhythmic dance beat.

The problem for Nathan was that he knew little about the music and even less about the market. After signing Lucky Millinder's orchestra to King in 1946, Nathan became friendly with band trumpeter Henry Glover. After discussing the business and what he wanted to do with King, Nathan hired Glover to be the label's head of A&R. Back then, that meant Glover would be part talent scout, part songwriter and arranger, and part producer to ensure high standards of recordings. 

From 1947 to 1961, Glover oversaw production of a sizable number of R&B hits for King. Many of the songs he produced dripped with sexual innuendo and were aimed at the adult marketplace that camped out at bars between assembly-line shifts or let loose on weekend nights. All of these bars had jukeboxes that played records between sets of live music.

In his new role, Glover kept the label's recording schedule operating at a high level before the arrival in Los Angeles of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who began to dial down suggestive lyrics as their records appealed to a growing number of white teens tuning into black radio stations late at night. Before Leiber and Stoller, Glover set the tone and helped establish artists such as Tiny Bradshaw, Wynonie Harris, Pigmeat Peterson, Sonny Thompson, the Swallows, Eddie “Cleanhead" Vinson and many others.

Now, Rhythm & Blues Records in the U.K. has issued The Henry Glover Story, 1947-1961, a four-CD set across a pair of two-CD sets, that trace the producer's career at King and the influence he had in shaping R&B. What makes these two volumes special are the songs included. Many are rare, earthy 78s and 45s collected by the label's Nick Duckett, who also wrote the highly informative liner notes.

The 123 tracks include one solid R&B single after the next, allowing you to hear the music's evolution from raunchy blues to jump blues, vocal harmony groups and individual female vocalists such as Lula Reed, Sarah McLawler, Linda Hopkins, Bonnie Lou and Beverly Ann Gibson.

Though Glover's composed, produced or arranged singles continued to come out until 1961, he left the label in 1958 to join New York's Roulette label, headed by Morris Levy. There, he produced Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Sonny Stitt, among other artists. Later in the 1960s, Glover returned to King as head of the label. After Nathan died in 1968, King was purchased by Hal Neely's Starday Records and then sold to Leiber and Stoller in 1970. The label was bought and sold multiple times.

According to Wiki, Levon Helm and Glover in 1975 co-founded RCO Productions, which released two of Helm's solo projects. The same year Glover produced The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album, which won a Grammy, and the following year he produced Paul Butterfield's Put It in Your Ear. In 1976, Glover partly arranged the horn section with Garth Hudson, Howard Johnson, Tom Malone, John Simon and Allen Toussaint on The Band's concert, The Last Waltz, and the subsequent album, The Last Waltz. 

Henry Glover died of a heart attack in 1991. He was 69.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Henry Glover Story in two parts—Volume 1 (1947-1951) here and Volume 2 ( 1951-1961) here. It's also available on streaming platforms and at Discogs.com.

JazzWax clips: Here's Henry Glover's Mountain Oysters with Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis on tenor saxophone...



Here's Bull Moose Jackson's I Want a Bowlegged Woman...



Here's Wynonie Harris's I Don't Know Where to Go...



Here's Doc Bagby's Grinding...



Here's Tiny Bradshaw's I'm Going to Have Myself a Ball...



Here's Sonny Thompson's Blues for Night Owls...



Here's All My Love Belongs to You by the Vibrations...



And here's Soulville by Titus Turner...