Lee Diamond / Lue Cazz / Roscoe Gordon
Southern R&B
Rare & Collectible Vinyl Records

1984 Japan pressing without Obi. Southern R&B compiles a fascinating niche a shuffling, offbeat Memphis R&B and directly influenced Jamaican ska’s rhythmic development, demonstrating the global reach of Southern sounds. Lee Diamond and Lue Cazz, while less widely celebrated, were integral to the bustling Memphis recording scene, contributing raw vocal stylings and infectious grooves that mirrored the region’s social energy in the postwar era. Their recordings, often cut in smaller studios throughout the south, reflect both the innovation and struggle endemic to Southern R&B artists navigating the segregated music industry of the 1940s and 1950s.