# Blue Thumb Records

Blue Thumb Records was an American record label founded in 1968 by Bob Krasnow and former A&M Records executives Tommy LiPuma and Don Graham. Blue Thumb's last record was released in 1978. In 1995, the label was revived and remained active until 2005.

## History

Bob Krasnow had been in the record business since the 1950s, working as a promotion man for King Records and also working for Buddah/Kama Sutra Records. Blue Thumb was originally intended by Captain Beefheart to be the name of his backing band. However, Krasnow did not think the name was right for the group. Later Krasnow chose the name for his label.
Other acts that appeared on the label include Phil Upchurch, Ben Sidran, Last Poets, Gerry Rafferty, The Credibility Gap, The Crusaders, Hugh Masekela, Sam Lay, Sylvester, Southwind, Robbie Basho, Tom Rapp, Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation (licensed from UK Liberty Records), Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Jimmy Smith, Dave Mason, The Pointer Sisters, The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, T. Rex (in its earlier incarnation as Tyrannosaurus Rex, licensed from the UK's Regal Zonophone Records), Ike & Tina Turner, Love, Gábor Szabó, Mark-Almond, Modereko, and National Lampoon (on the Banana label imprint).
Blue Thumb originally used independent distribution, but went to Capitol/EMI for distribution in late 1970. Gulf and Western's Famous Music Group took over distribution in mid-1971, then bought the label outright in 1972. Late in 1974, the Famous Music record labels were sold to ABC Records. ABC kept Blue Thumb active for a time, mostly for albums by the Pointer Sisters and the Crusaders as well as some reissues. In 1979 ABC sold its labels to MCA Records, which discontinued the Blue Thumb imprint altogether.
In the United Kingdom and Europe, Blue Thumb releases were licensed to Harvest Records (also owned by EMI) from 1969 to 1971, and to Island Records thereafter. In 1995, an anthology CD was released, All Day Thumbsucker Revisited: The History of Blue Thumb Records, consisting of recordings from various artists from 1968 to 1974.
The label was revived in 1995 for blues and soft rock releases. This remained so, even after the 1998 merger with parent Universal Music Group and PolyGram and being put under the fold of the Verve Music Group, continuing to be Verve's imprint for non-jazz releases. In early 2005, the Blue Thumb imprint was deactivated and was replaced with Verve Forecast to handle such releases. UMG's reissue arm Hip-O Records has reissued several Blue Thumb recordings, including such acts as the Crusaders, Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks and the Pointer Sisters.

## Catalog

| Catalog | Year | Album | Artist | Notes |
| BTS 1 | 1968 | Strictly Personal | Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | Beefheart was going to name his band “Blue Thumb” but Krasnow felt it worked better as a label name |
| BTS 2 | 1968 | An Album of Political Pornography | Lew Irwin & The Credibility Gap | |
| BTS 3 | 1968 | Original and Authentic Recordings by the Great W.C. Fields | W.C. Fields | |
| BTS 4 | 1968 | The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation | Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation | |
| BTS 5 | 1969 | Outta Season | Ike & Tina Turner | |
| BTS 6 | 1969 | Doctor Dunbar's Prescription | Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation | |
| BTS 7 | 1969 | Unicorn | Tyrannosaurus Rex | |
| BTS 8 | 1969 | Truckin' with Albert Collins | Albert Collins | Reissue of The Cool Sounds of Albert Collins (TCF Hall, 1965) |
| BTS 9 | 1970 | Coming Home | Chicago Blue Stars | Personnel includes Charlie Musselwhite, Fred Roulette, Louis Myers, Skip Rose, Jack Myers and Fred Below |
| BTS 10 | 1969 | Venus in Cancer | Robbie Basho | |
| BTS 11 | 1969 | The Hunter | Ike & Tina Turner | |
| BTS 12 | 1969 | Sweet Black Angel | Earl Hooker | |
| BTS 13 | 1969 | Ready to Ride | Southwind | |
| BTS 14 | 1969 | Sam Lay in Bluesland | Sam Lay's Bluesband | |
| BTS 15 | 1969 | Clifton Chenier's Very Best | Clifton Chenier | |
| BTS 16 | 1970 | To Mum From Aynsley and the Boys | Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation | |
| BTS 17 | 1969 | Alegria! | Bossa Rio | |
| BTS 18 | 1970 | A Beard of Stars | Tyrannosaurus Rex | |
| BTS 19 | 1970 | Alone Together | Dave Mason | On multi-colored vinyl |
| BTS 20 | 1970 | Buddy and the Juniors | Buddy Guy, Junior Mance & Junior Wells | |
| BTS 21 | 1970 | A Bad Donato | João Donato | |
| BTS 22 | 1970 | False Start | Love | |
| BTS 23 | 1970 | Magical Connection | Gábor Szabó | |
| BTS 24 | | | | |
| BTS 25 | 1971 | Dave Mason & Cass Elliot | Dave Mason and Cass Elliot | |
| BTS 26 | 1970 | What a Place to Land | Southwind | |
| BTS 27 | 1971 | Mark-Almond | Mark-Almond | |
| BTS 28 | 1971 | High Contrast | Gábor Szabó | featuring Bobby Womack |
| BTS 29 | 1971 | Where's the Money? | Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks | |
| BTS 30 | 1971 | Recorded Live at Bimbo's, San Francisco | Charles Pierce | |
| BTS 31 | 1971 | Naturally | Jessie Hill | |
| BTS 32 | 1972 | Mark-Almond II | Mark-Almond | |
| BTS 33 | 1971 | How Are Things in Your Town? | Ken Nordine | 2LP Compilation of material previously released on Dot Records |
| BTS 34 | 1972 | Headkeeper | Dave Mason | |
| BTS 35 | 1972 | Crazed Hipsters | Finningan & Wood | |
| BTS 36 | 1972 | Striking It Rich | Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks | |
| BTS 37 | 1972 | Luis Gasca | Luis Gasca | aka For Those Who Chant |
| Banana BTS 38 | 1972 | Radio Dinner | National Lampoon | |
| BTS 39 | 1972 | Chastisement | The Last Poets | |
| BTS 40 | 1972 | I Lead a Life | Ben Sidran | |
| BTS 41 | 1973 | Space Is the Place | Sun Ra | Released as a quadraphonic LP only, and 8-track |
| BTS 42 | 1972 | The Barbeque of Deville | Hoodoo Rhythm Devils | |
| BTS 43 | 1972 | Private Tonight | Arthur Adams | |
| BTS 44 | 1972 | Stardancer | Tom Rapp | |
| BTS 45 | 1973 | Sylvester and the Hot Band | Sylvester and the Hot Band | |
| BTS 46 | 1973 | Singing/Playing | Larry Carlton | |
| BTS 47 | 1973 | Supermellow | Paul Humphrey | |
| BTS 48 | 1973 | The Pointer Sisters | The Pointer Sisters | |
| BTS 49 | 1973 | The Best of Ike & Tina Turner | Ike & Tina Turner | Compilation |
| BTS 50 | 1973 | The Best of Mark-Almond | Mark-Almond | Compilation |
| BTS 51 | 1973 | Last Train to Hicksville... The Home of Happy Feet | Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks | |
| BTS 52 | 1973 | At Last | The Last Poets | |
| BTS 53 | | | | |
| BTS 54 | 1973 | Dave Mason is Alive! | Dave Mason | |
| BTS 55 | 1973 | Puttin' in Time on Planet Earth | Ben Sidran | |
| BTS 56 | 1973 | Sunforest | Tom Rapp / Pearls Before Swine | |
| BTS 57 | 1973 | What the Kids Want | Hoodoo Rhythm Devils | |
| BTS 58 | 1973 | Can I Have My Money Back? | Gerry Rafferty | Reissue of Transatlantic Records album |
| BTS 59 | 1973 | Lovin' Feelin' | Phil Upchurch | |
| BTS 60 | 1973 | Bazaar | Sylvester & The Hot Band | |
| BTS 61 | 1973 | Face to Face | Evan Pace | |
| BTS 62 | 1972 | Introducing Hedzoleh Sounds | Hugh Masekela | |
| BTS 63 | 1973 | Butts Band | Butts Band | Featuring Robby Krieger and John Densmore |
| BTS 64 | 1974 | Aim for the Highest | Aim | |
| BTS 65 | | | | |
| BTS 66 | 1974 | America, Wake Up | Paul Humphrey | |
| BTS 880 | 1975 | Split Coconut | Dave Mason | |
| BTS 6000 | 1969 | Memphis Swamp Jam | Various Artists | Featuring Bukka White, Piano Red, Nathan Beauregard, Sleepy John Estes, Fred McDowell & Johnny Woods, Furry Lewis, R.L. Watson & Josiah Jones |
| BTS 6001 | 1972 | Crusaders 1 | The Crusaders | Two record set |
| BTS 6002 | | | | |
| BTS 6003 | 1973 | Home Is Where the Music Is | Hugh Masekela | Two record set |
| BTS 6004 | 1972 | Lights Out: San Francisco (Voco Presents The Soul Of The Bay Area) | Various Artists | Two record set featuring John Lee Hooker, Clifford Coulter, Tower Of Power, Sylvester and The Hot Band, Fadil Shahin and The Casbah Band, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks |
| BTS 6005 | 1972 | Darkess Darkness | Phil Upchurch | |
| Banana BTS 6006 | 1973 | Lemmings | National Lampoon | |
| BTS 6007 | 1973 | Unsung Heroes | The Crusaders | |
| Banana BTS 6008 | 1974 | The Missing White House Tapes | National Lampoon | |
| BTS 6009 | 1974 | That's a Plenty | The Pointer Sisters | |
| BTS 6010 | 1974 | Scratch | The Crusaders | |
| BTS 6011 | 1974 | Italian Graffiti | Nick DeCaro | |
| BTS 6012 | 1974 | Don't Let Go | Ben Sidran | |
| BTS 6013 | 1974 | The Best of Dave Mason | Dave Mason | |
| BTS 6014 | 1974 | Gabor Szabo Live | Gábor Szabó | |
| BTS 6015 | 1974 | I Am Not Afraid | Hugh Masekela | |
| BTS 6016 | 1974 | The Big Bow-Wow Strain | Ken Burgan | |
| BTS 6017 | | | | |
| BTSD 6018 | 1975 | Hear and Now | Butts Band | |
| BTSD 6019 | 1975 | New Year, New Band, New Company | John Mayall | |
| BTSD 6020 | | | | |
| BTSD 6021 | 1975 | Steppin' | The Pointer Sisters | |
| BTSD 6022 | 1975 | Chain Reaction | The Crusaders | |
| BTSD 6023 | 1977 | Having a Party | The Pointer Sisters | |
| BTSD 6024 | 1976 | Those Southern Knights | The Crusaders | |
| BTSD 6025 | | | | |
| BTSY 6026/2 | 1976 | The Best of the Pointer Sisters | The Pointer Sisters | Two record set |
| BTS 6027 | 1976 | The Best of the Crusaders | The Crusaders | Two record set |
| BTS 6028 | 1977 | Come Into Knowledge | RAMP | |
| BT 6029 | 1977 | Free as the Wind | The Crusaders | |
| BT 6030 | 1978 | Images | The Crusaders | |
| BT 6031 | 1978 | Can I Have My Money Back? | Gerry Rafferty | Reissue of BTS 58 |
| BT 6032 | 1978 | Very Best of Dave Mason | Dave Mason | |
| BTS 7000 | 1973 | The 2nd Crusade | The Crusaders | Two record set |
| BTS 7001 | | | | |
| BT3 7002 | 1995 | All Day Thumb Sucker Revisited: The History of Blue Thumb Records | Various Artists | Three record set label sampler – despite the title, this release shares no tracks with the 1970 original |
| BTS 8001 | | | | |
| BTS 8002 | 1974 | Live at the Opera House | The Pointer Sisters | |
| BTS 8701 | | | | |
| BTS 8702 | 1970 | All Day Thumb Sucker | Various Artists | Label sampler |
| BTS 8703 | | | | |
| BTS 8704 | | | | |
| BTS 8705 | | | | |
| BTS 8706 | 1971 | Memphis Swamp Jam | Various Artists | Reissue of BTS 6000 |
| BTS 8805 | 1971 | Outta Season | Ike & Tina Turner | Reissue of BTS 5 |
| BTS 8813 | 1971 | Ready to Ride | Southwind | Reissue of BTS 13 |
| BTS 8817 | 1971 | Alegria! | Bossa Rio | Reissue of BTS 17 |
| BTS 8818 | 1971 | A Beard of Stars | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Reissue of BTS 18 |
| BTS 8819 | 1971 | Alone Together | Dave Mason | Reissue of BTS 19 on standard black vinyl |
| BTS 8820 | 1971 | Buddy and the Juniors | Buddy Guy, Junior Mance & Junior Wells | Reissue of BTS 20 |
| BTS 9000 | 1969 | Out Here | Love | Two record set |
| BTS 9001 | 1972 | Lenny | Lenny Bruce | Two record set |
| BT 9002 | 1974 | Southern Comfort | The Crusaders | Two record set |