Some of the key figures who ensured that Malaco Records would last 50 years were on hand Thursday at the unveiling of the newest exhibit at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale.
Malaco Records is one of the nation’s few remaining independent records labels, making its home in Jackson. It survived a tornado that destroyed its studio on April 15, 2011, and has recorded a number of hits such as King Floyd’s “Groove Me” and Jean Knight’s “Mr. Big Stuff”, provided the studio musicians on songs such as Rita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” and was the home for noted blues musicians ZZ Hill and Johnnie Taylor.
But in 1975, things appeared bleak for the company, said singer Dorothy Moore.
“We were broke and happy,” she said of herself and the record label. “We didn’t have one nickel.”
Moore said she’s been told Malaco was near bankruptcy when “Misty Blue” was released.
Tommy Couch, who formed the record company with his brother-in-law Mitchell Malouf and Ole Miss fraternity brother Wolf Stephenson in 1967 and was later joined by Stewart Madison, said she is right.
“We always have these ‘saving moments’ and ‘Misty Blue’ was a big one,” Couch said.
Moore cut the record in one take in 1973. According to the song’s biography on Wikipedia, Malaco Records shopped the song to major labels without success, with the track remaining “in the can” until November 1975 when cash-strapped Malaco used the last of its resources to press the song, which they released themselves.
According to Wikipedia, Moore’s single broke in the Southern states in April 1976 and three months later it was nominated for a Grammy Award. In 1976, the single reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the No. 19 song for 1976.
Moore would go on to have two other songs reach the top 10 on the rhythm and blues charts – “Funny How Time Slips Away” and “I Believe You.”
Those songs are just a few of the company’s “gigantic catalog of gospel, rhythm and blues, black music, early gospel music,” said Couch, who said a big part of Malaco’s business now is with licensing music for movies and commercials.
The exhibit, which will be on display throughout the rest of the year, features vintage recording equipment, a video retrospective of Malaco and other important historical items that span the 50 years of the company’s growth.
Couch said Shelley Ritter, director of the Delta Blues Museum, approached his company about having an exhibit and he thought it was a great idea.
“We were blown away. It was so nice,” Couch said of his initial visit to the Delta Blues Museum.
Couch said Clarksdale is a part of what makes Mississippi music noteworthy and something that his company has tried to showcase with its offerings of rhythm and blues, soul and gospel recordings.
“We are really the last soul company still in business,” Couch said. “When we started, we were blown away by Motown, Stax and companies like that. And here we are still doing it, and they have sold out to all the big major companies.”
Moore, who has received five Grammy nominations in her career, grew up in and still lives in Jackson. She says the state of Mississippi has been and is still gifted with talented musicians.
“Mississippi was just known for good music,” said Moore, who is a member of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and is on the national advisory board for the Mississippi Grammy Museum in Cleveland.
Moore, who is 71, still performs and she’s even picked up playing the harmonica. She’ll be singing at the Delta Blues Festival in Greenville later this year.
Moore jokingly said the exhibit, which features photos of her performing and her “Misty Blue” album cover, is proof that she can tell her friends that she “was once a size six.”
“It’s a great thing. It’s another way to keep our music alive and for people to learn about us, about what we used to do and how we did it,” said Moore, who was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in Clarksdale in June 2015.
She said the music industry has changed so much over the years, going from being listened to on vinyl records and over the radio during her hey-day to now being distributed digitally and promoted by YouTube videos.
Couch agreed.
“We used to break records with radio stations. And now, you break them with You Tube. Everything changes,” he said.
