Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded Atlantic...

Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson founded Atlantic Records in 1947 as a 78-rpm label with a strong jazz/blues orientation. They were joined in 1953 by Jerry Wexler and in 1955 by Ertegun’s younger brother, Nesuhi.

Because of the company’s big-bucks pop image today there is a tendency to forget that these men for many years dedicated themselves to the preservation of the blues in all its forms. Thanks to a splendid research job by Bob Porter, four double-LP sets have been collated to bring some of their most fruitful sessions to a new generation. Available separately, they can also be found in a boxed set, “Atlantic Blues,” on Atlantic 7-81713-1.

“ATLANTIC BLUES: PIANO.” Atlantic 7-81694-1. Atlantic caught these artists in one of four conditions: before, during or after their prime, and a few who simply had no prime. Ray Charles is in superb form in three early 1950s cuts, as are Jay McShann and Pete Johnson, the latter backing Big Joe Turner in “Roll ‘Em Pete” and “Cherry Red.” Eight of the 13 pianists double as vocalists; Floyd Dixon sings Louis Jordan style material.

Meade Lux Lewis, the first famous boogie-woogie pianist, was a bit over the hill in 1951, 24 years after his original recording of “Honky Tonk Train Blues.” The later version is played too fast, as if he were on automatic pilot.

The first side is divided between an ailing Jimmy Yancey and a still powerful barrelhouse pioneer, “Little Brother” Montgomery. Conventional cuts by Dr. John, Professor Longhair and Willie Mabon (the latter co-produced by Mick Jagger, who plays a harmonica solo) drag the level down, but one of the least known pianists, Vann Walls, achieves a potent after-hours feeling. An interesting mix of primitives and comparative sophisticates; the latter, of course, could not have evolved without the influence of the former. 3 1/2 stars.

“ATLANTIC BLUES: GUITAR.” Atlantic 7-81695-1. Among the 24 tracks by 17 guitarists, spanning 1949-1982, T-Bone Walker, B. B. King and Cornell Dupree take the honors. Walker (1910-1975) brought some magic blues to Los Angeles during his last 25 years. One cut has him teamed with two other guitarists, R. S. Rankin and Barney Kessel.

As in the piano set, there are some introductory tunes by early, basic bluesmen: Blind Willie McTell, Fred McDowell and John Lee Hooker, all justifying their place in history, while in the case of Stick McGhee there is no evidence of originality or conviction either as guitarist or singer. Joe Turner, who’s on all but the last of these four albums, shows up on “TV Mama” because Elmore James, who influenced Duane Allman and Eric Clapton, was on the scene and has a solo. (Allman himself is featured on the John Hammond Jr. cut.) The variety of 12 string, slide, electric and acoustic guitars, and the surprises such as Ike Turner, whose cut (with Tina) is fine until he gets into a melodramatic ending, add up to a 4-star collection.

ATLANTIC BLUES: VOCALISTS.” Atlantic 7-81696-1. Again the span is broad, from classic (an ailing Sippie Wallace at 84, backed by Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar) to comic (Percy Mayfield in “I Don’t Want to Be President”) to urban and urbane (one Joe Turner cut has a be-bop trumpet solo). Among the 13 male and seven female singers, the most compelling and distinctive are the youthful, exuberant Aretha Franklin (in 1969), the timeless Jimmy Witherspoon, and the tinny, nasal yet oddly attractive whining of Lil Green. Otis Clay and Wynonie Harris suffer from feeble material; Mama Yancey, always more legend than reality, was wailing but failing, and LaVern Baker, in “Gimme a Pigfoot,” shows that it took Bessie Smith to deal with a Bessie Smith song. Two cuts by Ruth Brown and one by Esther Phillips, and lesser known artists recorded in Muscle Shoals, Ala., Memphis and New Orleans, make up this uneven but historically valuable set. 4 stars.

“ATLANTIC BLUES: CHICAGO.” Atlantic 7-81697-1. Oddly, only the first two artists (T-Bone Walker and Johnny Jones) were recorded in Chicago; in fact, the entire third and fourth sides were taped live at blues festivals in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Montreux, Switzerland. But the notes (admirable in all four albums) clarify Chicago’s role in the evolution of the blues. The performances jump from droning one-chord monotony on the Junior Wells-Buddy Guy “Poor Man’s Plea” to high energy vitality in Muddy Waters’ “Honey Bee” and the rough, earthy Koko Taylor in her famous “Wang Dang Doodle.” Howlin’ Wolf is well represented in “Highway 49.” Freddie King and Otis Rush sing and play in the B. B. King mold; Rush’s “Reap What You Sow” is a spellbinding minor blues. As Luther Allison hollers: “If you don’t like the blues you gotta have a hole in your soul.” Many souls may be repaired by this well-chosen mix of the voices, guitars, pianos and harmonicas that typified the Chicago sounds between 1953 and 1982. 4 1/2 stars.

“SET ME FREE.” Esther Phillips. Atlantic 7-81662-1. Phillips’ solitary cut on the “Blues Vocalists” album will leave many listeners hungry for more. These 25 tracks oddly omit most of her best work for Atlantic. With few exceptions (“Fever,” and a remake of her teen-age hit “Double Crossing Blues”), the songs are as dismal as the treatment: bloated big band charts, string sections, vocal groups, all in the vain hope of finding an R&B; hit. Esther has an even harder time surmounting this 1960s trash than Billie Holiday had dealing with 1940s pop. Why doesn’t Atlantic simply reissue one of the classic LPs such as “Burnin’ ” or “Confessin’ the Blues”? Zero for the producers and everyone else involved except Esther; 2 1/2 stars just for the sound of her.

“LOST IN THE STARS.” Joe Sardaro. Catch My Drift DR 1111 (11030 Moorpark, North Hollywood 91602). Hip but never overhip, Sardaro easily makes the jump from the 1920s (“Sugar”) to the ‘80s (“How Do You Say Auf Wiedersehn”). Male pop jazz singers are a rare breed; despite erratic production (the harmony on the lovely title song seems disorganized) and a couple of dumb tunes like “Orange Colored Sky,” he leaves no doubt about his potential. This must be a belated release, since the late Shelly Manne plays drums. Informal backing has Al Viola on guitar and Sam Most on tenor sax and flute. 3 1/2 stars.