R&B after 1945

1945–55 Black migration into Northern industrial cities, still under segregation, concentrates audiences. Indie labels open where the listeners are. TV steals network radio attention; local stations hunt local advertisers—and Black communities become a clear buy, so R&B blocks fill the schedule.

Chess (Chicago, 1947): Chicago electric blues—Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bo Diddley; also Chuck Berry. Small shop, rough-edged sonics Britain later fetishizes. Atlantic (New York, 1948): arranged, studio-musician, hi-fi R&B under Ahmet Ertegun; Tom Dowd engineers early multitrack polish—Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Joe Turner, the Drifters. Sun (Memphis, Sam Phillips): mostly Black sessions before Elvis; *Rocket 88* (1951) recorded for Phillips, issued on Chess; Elvis sold to RCA; later Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison. Specialty (Art Rupe) houses Little Richard; Imperial (Lew Chudd) issues Fats Domino (cut in New Orleans with Dave Bartholomew); Dot (Randy Wood) pushes Pat Boone’s cleaned-up crossover covers of R&B hits.

Majors nationalize pop; indies own regional R&B until rock sales force the majors to notice.