Inventory
0.25 Linear Feet
October 2003
Revised November 2007; May 2008; Aug. 2012
Vivian Carter was a successful radio personality during the 1950s, owned a small record store in Gary, Indiana (1640 Broadway), and started a Gary-based record company, Vee Jay Records. Carter was one of the first African-American female radio personalities. She worked for WGES, WGRY, and WWCA-AM where she hosted her popular late-night program “Livin’ with Vivian.”
Vee Jay Records brought Carter her greatest success. Carter; her husband, James Bracken; and her brother, Calvin Carter, produced their first record in 1953 from a small record store they owned on Broadway in Gary, Indiana. This record, The Spaniels’ “Baby It’s You,” became an R&B hit. By the 1960s, Vee Jay Records was putting out nationally acclaimed hit singles.
In 1962, the company signed the Beatles’ first contract in America and distributed their first record “Please Please Me” in 1963. Other hit recording artists include Gladys Knight and the Pips, Gene Chandler, and The Four Seasons. Due to mismanagement of funds, Vee Jay Records filed for bankruptcy in 1966, while they were still recording hits.
After Vee Jay Records failed, Carter remained in Gary working as a clerk and supervisor in the Calumet Township Trustee’s office. She died in 1989.
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File |
Description |
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1 |
Historical Information, (1995-2007) |
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2 |
Book excerpt, “Vee Jay Records” from Chicago Soul by Robert Pruter, 1991 |
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3 |
Inventory lists, Vee Jay Records recorded singles, 1953-1966 |
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4 |
Sheet music, “Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight”, 1953 |
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5 |
Program & ticket stub, Vivian Carter’s 8th Anniversary Show, 1957 |
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6 |
Catalog, Vee Jay Re-release of Classics, Fall, 1993 |
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7 |
Article, “The Vee Jay Story”, Goldmine, May, 1 |
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8 |
Newsarticle, “’Livin’ with Vivian’ just the beginning”, Post-Tribune, May 14, 1989 |
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9 |
Newsarticle, “Two Gary Music Scene Figures Die”, Post-Tribune, June 14, 1989 |
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10 |
Newsarticle, “Vee Jay: Record Label’s Fall was as Meteoric as Its Rise”, Post-Tribune, November 17, 1991 |
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11 |
Newsarticle, “Vivian Carter built Vee Jay into top R&B label”, Post-Tribune, November 2, 1992 |
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12 |
Newsarticle, “Invasion starts here”, Post-Tribune, September 26, 1993 |
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13 |
Newsarticle, “Found and lost: how a legendary band got away from a Gary-born record label”, Post-Tribune, August 23, 1998 |
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14 |
Newsarticle, “Psst . . . Gary label lost its big chance”, The Times, December 5, 1999 |
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15 |
Newsarticle, “Vee-Jay Records’ tumble was quicker than its rise to the top”, Post-Tribune, October 10, 2004 |
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15a |
Newsarticle, "Rock's Hall of Fame Should Consider Gary's Spaniels, Vee Jay Matriarch," Post-Tribune, October 1, 2010 |
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| 2 |
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Periodical, Goldmine, no. 60, May, 1981 |
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Newsarticle, “Found and lost: how a legendary band got away from a Gary-born record label”, Post-Tribune, August 23, 1998 |
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Newsarticle, “Psst . . . Gary label lost its big chance”, The Times, December 5, 1999 |
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Newsarticle, “Vee Jay has its day”, Post-Tribune, February 6, 2006 |
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Newsarticles, (2), “Glory Days: Gary’s Vee-Jay Record label spawned a rich collection of hits”, The Times, October 14, 2007 |
Subject Tracings
- African Americans
- Beatles
- Bracken, James
- Carter, Calvin
- Carter, Vivian
- Gary (Ind.)
- Music
- Radio
- Spaniels
- Vee Jay Records
- WGES
- WGRY
- WWCA
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