The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING 50 YEARS OF ALLIGATOR RECORDS
______
HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY
of illinois
in the house of representatives
Thursday, December 30, 2021
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I rise today along with my colleagues, Congressman Chuy Garcia, Congressman Casten, Congressman Krishnamoorthi, Congressman Kinzinger, Congresswoman Robin Kelly, Congressman Schneider, Congresswoman Bustos, Congressman Rush, Congresswoman Marie Newman, Congressman Bill Foster, Congresswoman Underwood, and Congressman Quigley, to honor the 50th anniversary of Alligator Records.
Chicago blues music has its roots deep in the Mississippi Delta and was carried north in the Great Migration of 1916 through 1970 by the millions of African Americans who migrated to northern industrial cities in search of good jobs and to escape from Jim Crow racism.
Chicago's blues community nurtured thousands of musicians and dozens of record labels, and the city became the world capital of blues and eventually gave birth to Alligator Records and the rich, soulful Chicago blues heritage and culture that we know and love today.
With nothing but his love of the blues and entrepreneurial spirit, Bruce Iglauer founded Alligator Records in 1971 at the age of 23, using all his savings to record his favorite Chicago blues band, Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, although the band had no national presence, no booking agent, no manager, no publicist, and played almost entirely in tiny neighborhood clubs on the South and West Sides of Chicago.
Beginning with this one album, Iglauer built a blues record label that is now celebrating its 50th birthday.
Today, Alligator Records is the largest independent blues label in the world, with over 350 albums and an artist roster that ranges in age from 22 to 78, and has won three Grammy Awards and an astonishing 48 nominations, as well as over 150 Blues Music Awards and over 115 Living Blues Awards.
Alligator Records has been a driving force in support of Chicago blues and blues music worldwide, and a glowing example of our country's rich tradition of musical and entrepreneurial spirit. Now, my colleagues in the House of Representatives and I honor Alligator Records on 50 years of business and celebrates the American cultural legacy of Chicago blues music.
Together we urge the United States Government to take all necessary steps to preserve and advance the art form of Chicago blues music; recommit itself to ensuring that recording labels like Alligator Records and their artists receive fair protection under the copyright laws of the United States for their contributions to culture in the United States; and reaffirm the status of Chicago blues as a unique national treasure.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 222
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