The founder of Alligator Records, one of the largest and most successful independent labels of the modern era, producer Bruce Iglauer was among the driving forces behind the contemporary blues revival. Born in Cincinnati in 1947, he became obsessed with the blues during the mid-'60s after catching a live performance by Mississippi Fred McDowell; he soon began hosting a blues radio show at his alma mater, Wisconsin's Lawrence College, and made regular pilgrimages to Chicago to hear Muddy Waters, Magic Sam, Otis Rush, and Carey Bell. After convincing the college activities committee to book a live performance by Howlin' Wolf, Iglauer became frustrated by the lack of promotional support for the concert; convinced he could do better, he agreed to guarantee the costs of Luther Allison in exchange for complete control over promotional duties. Both of the shows quickly sold out.

Iglauer's tenacious promoting style brought him to the attention of Delmark Records founder Bob Koester, and when Iglauer relocated to Chicago on a permanent basis, he joined the Delmark staff as a shipping clerk, frequently turning up at the studio to look on as label stars like Junior Wells cut new material. When Koester declined Iglauer's advice to sign his favorite band, Hound Dog Taylor the HouseRockers, he dipped into a $2500 inheritance to record the group himself; thus Alligator was created in 1971, with Taylor's self-titled LP quickly becoming a cult favorite on progressive rock and college radio stations. The label soon became a full-time proposition, although Iglauer barely scraped by at the outset -- with each release essentially funding the production of the next record, the company was able to issue about only one album annually during its early years, among them acclaimed recordings from Big Walter Horton, Son Seals, and Fenton Robinson.

Alligator's mainstream breakthrough came with the 1975 release of Koko Taylor's label debut I Got What It Takes, which earned the company the first of its many Grammy nominations. That same year, Alligator hired its first paid employee, and in 1976, Hound Dog Taylor's posthumously released Beware of the Dog scored another Grammy nod. In 1978, Iglauer assembled the first in a series of Living Chicago Blues releases, collections designed to spotlight underrecognized Windy City performers; that same year, he also signed Alligator's first non-Chicago act, the internationally renowned Albert Collins. The 1982 release of Clifton Chenier's I'm Here! finally netted Alligator a Grammy award, and in 1984 the label signed Johnny Winter, whose Guitar Slinger became its first release to crack the Billboard Top 200 charts. By the '90s, Alligator was established as the world's biggest independent contemporary blues label, with hit releases from Charlie Musselwhite, Lonnie Brooks, James Cotton, and Buddy Guy. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi