Fat Possum Records

Fat Possum was founded in 1991 by Living Blues editor Peter Redvers-Lee, who went to the University of Mississippi for his MA studies in Journalism.{{Cite mailing list| author = LeBlanc, Eric| title = HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER LEE (of FAT POSSUM RECORDS)| access-date = 2015-05-14|date = July 2, 1994 | url = http://blues-l.com/pipermail/blues-l/1994-July/279703.html}}{{cite news|author= Chris Morris |magazine=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA95 |date=11 June 1994 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |pages=1, 95 |issn=0006-2510 |title= Mississippi Labels Tap into Wealth of Delta Blues Talent}} He planned on starting a record label and picked the name with another student, Billy "Pup" Cochrane.{{cite web| author = Billy 'pup' Cochrane | title = The Passing of a Master – Dave "Honeyboy" Edwards [blog post] |access-date = 2015-05-14 |url = http://bluestrail.com/?p=435}}{{verify-inline|date=May 2015}} Co-founder Matthew Johnson, who grew up in the state, was also a student at the University of Mississippi. By 1994 or so{{cite book |contribution=Recording |publisher = Psychology Press| isbn = 9780415926997| editor-last = Komara| editor-first = Edward |title = Encyclopedia of the Blues| date = 2005 |page= 820}} Lee left, and freelance recording engineer Bruce Watson assumed his managerial role.{{cite news |author=Mike Rubin |newspaper= SPIN |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4irI6O3Ko8C&pg=PA74 |date=May 1997 |pages=74–82,128–131 |issn=0886-3032 |title= Call of the Wild}} An early investor was John Hermann of Widespread Panic, who also pitched Robert Palmer's name as producer.{{cite web |url=http://www.johnsinclair.us/columns-and-reviews/20-features/737-robert-palmer-site-specific-music.html |title=Robert Palmer: Site-Specific Music |newspaper=Johnsinclair.us |date=1993 |author=John Sinclair |author-link=John Sinclair (poet) |access-date=June 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626115315/http://www.johnsinclair.us/columns-and-reviews/20-features/737-robert-palmer-site-specific-music.html |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |url-status=dead }}

The label initially specialised in discovering blues players from the North Mississippi region, many of whom had never recorded before.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} At Fat Possum's behest some artists, particularly R. L. Burnside, released both standard blues albums and more techno albums,{{cite journal| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2003/nov/16/popandrock2 |title=Delta Force |journal=Observer Music Monthly| date=2003-11-16 |last=Grant |first=Richard |access-date=2010-02-26 |quote=One last question: how does he (R. L. Burnside) like the remixes of his music that Fat Possum has put out? 'At first I didn't like them too much,' he says. 'Then I saw how much money they were making and I got to liking them pretty well.'}} done in the style that would later be made famous by Moby's album Play.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} This led to a fair amount of controversy among blues purists, a group in which Johnson was largely uninterested.The liner notes for Not the Same Old Blues Crap 3 and several other blues compilations contain essays by Matthew Johnson regarding his feelings for blues archivalists. He is against them. Many of the early artists for Fat Possum were picked{{Cite web|title=HOME|url=http://www.larryhoffmanmusic.com/home-1.html|access-date=2021-02-18|website=Larry Hoffman Music|language=en}} with the aid of Palmer (previously a teacher of Johnson at the University of Mississippi), who also produced a number of records for the label.

Fat Possum’s early releases were critically acclaimed, particularly Junior Kimbrough's album All Night Long, which received 4 stars from Rolling Stone and the loud approval of Iggy Pop. In 1995, they added Arkansas bluesman John "So Blue" Weston to their roster, with So Doggone Blue (FP 1003) produced by Grammy nominee and Living Blues writer Larry Hoffman.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/so-doggone-blue-mw0000098072/credits|title=So Doggone Blue - John Weston | Credits | AllMusic|access-date=March 12, 2021|website=AllMusic}} Disputes between the artist and label resulted in Hoffman buying back the master and selling it to Evidence Records (UPC: 730182609226).Junior Kimbrough performed one of his few tours with Iggy Pop. Fat Possum was perennially strapped for cash. Word of mouth and artist compilations, such as Not the Same Old Blues Crap 3 (with a cover illustration by Joe Sacco)Sacco also travelled with T-Model Ford for a piece for Vanity Fair and All Men Are Liars, gradually pulled Fat Possum out of the red, even if only for brief periods of time. A legal fight with Capricorn Records, who were to be their distributor, drained Fat Possum's funds and left a number of projects on the shelf.{{cite magazine |url= http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_28/possum.html |title= Fat Possum: a rocky road for the roots label |magazine= Blues Access |date= Winter 1997 |author= Michael Dixon |access-date=2014-07-30}}

Burnside proved early on to be the label's biggest money maker. Having released two albums, he teamed with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for a tour, and then recorded with the band A Ass Pocket of Whiskey, which helped Burnside and Fat Possum gain wider recognition. A remix of the R. L. Burnside song, "It's Bad You Know", was also featured prominently on The Sopranos.

With time, many of the label's artists have died. Asie Payton, King Ernest, and Charles Caldwell died before their records could be released. Kimbrough died in 1998 and Burnside in 2005. T-Model Ford and Robert Belfour joined in the 2010s.

Responding to the first deaths, Fat Possum begun to release more archival records.Previously, the only non-Fat Possum recorded album released was by Scott Dunbar George Mitchell's recordings came out first as individual albums of Furry Lewis, Mississippi Joe Callicott, R.L. Burnside, Townes Van Zandt, and others, with covers designed by Chip Kidd, and then in bulk as the George Mitchell Collection. They acquired the Al Green catalog including his 1975 Greatest Hits.{{cite web |title=Fat Possum: 'We never thought this label would work' |publisher=[PIAS] |date=26 May 2015 |url=http://www.pias.com/blog/fat-possum-we-never-thought-this-label-would-work/ |access-date=2015-07-18 |archive-date=2015-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528140828/http://www.pias.com/blog/fat-possum-we-never-thought-this-label-would-work/ |url-status=dead }}

The successful band The Black Keys released their second album Thickfreakness (2003) on Fat Possum, and left the label after their third album Rubber Factory (2004). Solomon Burke's "comeback" album, Don't Give Up On Me, won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album.{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/solomon-burke |title=Artist: Solomon Burke|author= |date=n.d. |website=www.grammy.com |publisher=Recording Academy |access-date=November 2, 2020}} In 2013, Fat Possum released Ready To Die by Iggy and the Stooges.

Concluding that further searches for rural talent are hopeless,{{Cite news| title = We've still got the blues| newspaper= The Independent| author= Andy Gill | date= 24 June 2005 | access-date = 2014-01-23| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/weve-still-got-the-blues-5346131.html}}{{Cite news|title = Replacing the Possum|url = http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/replacing-the-possum/Content?oid=1132111|website = Memphis Flyer |author= Andrtia Lisle |date= December 14, 2006 |access-date = 2015-07-17}} it has begun to broaden its base of artists and sign a range of younger, indie rock bands like Andrew Bird, Milk Music, MellowHype, the Heartless Bastards, Deadboy & the Elephantmen, Wavves, Youth Lagoon, The Walkmen, Temples, Yuck, Fat White Family, The Districts, Crocodiles, Bass Drum of Death, and Soccer Mommy. They have tapped into the indie-folk scene, releasing Verbena's frontman A.A. Bondy's solo records, The Felice Brothers, and female songwriter Lissie. In 2021, punk band Off! was signed to the label and announced that along with their upcoming fourth studio album, Fat Possum will also release their back catalog as well.{{Cite news|last=Wright|first=Imani WJ|title=OFF! Covers Metallica’s ‘Holier Than Thou,’ Their First New Song in Seven Years|url=https://www.spin.com/2021/07/off-covers-metallicas-holier-than-thou-their-first-new-song-in-seven-years/|newspaper=Spin Magazine|date=July 7, 2021|access-date=July 11, 2021}} In 2023, Fat Possum released Armand Hammer's We Buy Diabetic Test Strips.

In 2017 Fat Possum partnered with founding Gorilla vs. Bear blogger Chris Cantalini to start new label Luminelle Recordings. Canadian singer-songwriter Helena Deland was the label's first signing.{{cite news |last=Rys |first=Dan |url= https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8070219/gorilla-vs-bear-fat-possum-record-label-luminelle |title=Gorilla vs. Bear Teams With Fat Possum For New Record Label Luminelle: Exclusive |work=Billboard |date=December 12, 2017 |access-date=June 9, 2018}} Following Deland's signing, Fat Possum and Luminelle signed new acts such as Magdalena Bay, MUNYA, and Enumclaw.

• AA Bondy
• Armand Hammer
• Baseball Game
• Buffalo Nichols
• Cassowary
• Country Westerns
• Courtney Marie Andrews
• Dax Riggs
• Deadboy & the Elephantmen
• The Districts
• Don Bryant
• EL-P
• ellis
• Empath
• Fievel Is Glauque
• Ghais Guevara
• Hand Habits
• Honeyglaze
• Insecure Men
• Joanna Sternberg
• Lightning Bug
• Off!
• Patrick Paige II
• Songhoy Blues
• Trevor Powers
• The Weather Station
• Why Bonnie
• Wavves
• Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• X

• List of record labels
• Punk blues
• :Category:Fat Possum Records artists

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• [http://www.fatpossum.com/ Official website]

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Category:American independent record labels

Category:Blues record labels

Category:Companies based in Mississippi

Category:Record labels established in 1992

Category:1992 establishments in Mississippi