Scout Records was a short-lived German independent record label founded in the late 1960s by the renowned concert promoters Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau. It specialized primarily in blues, with additional jazz releases, and served as a precursor to their longer-running L+R Records (established in 1979). The label issued a small but significant catalog of seven blues albums and a notable jazz set, capturing performances tied to the American Folk Blues Festival and other European events of the era.
History and Ownership
Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau were pivotal figures in bringing American blues and jazz to European audiences. Beginning in the early 1960s, they organized the influential American Folk Blues Festival (AFBF) tours, which introduced artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and many others to enthusiastic crowds across the continent. Scout Records emerged from this promotional work as their first dedicated record label, allowing them to document and release material from these festivals and related sessions.
Active mainly around 1968–1970 (with some sources extending the period slightly), the label focused on high-quality recordings of visiting American blues artists. After its brief run, Lippmann and Rau concentrated on live promotion before launching the more extensive L+R Records in 1979, which continued their commitment to blues and jazz documentation. Scout’s limited output has since become collectible among blues enthusiasts for its connection to the AFBF and its presentation of both established and lesser-documented performers.
Notable Artists and Recordings – Blues Focus
Scout’s blues catalog centered on festival and studio material from American artists touring Europe:
- Hubert Sumlin — The longtime guitarist for Howlin’ Wolf received a solo album on Scout (Blues Anytime!), highlighting his distinctive, influential playing style outside the Wolf context. Tracks from Sumlin also appeared on compilations. This release later saw reissues on L+R and Evidence.
- J.B. Lenoir — Scout issued the German edition of Lenoir’s first solo album, featuring his distinctive high voice, guitar work, and socially conscious songwriting (including material addressing the Vietnam War era). Lenoir tracks also featured on Scout compilations.
- American Folk Blues Festival recordings — The label released albums drawn from the 1969 and 1970 editions of the festival. These captured live or related performances by artists associated with the tours, preserving the energy of the European blues circuit at the end of the 1960s.
- Compilations — Titles such as Bye Bye Bird... (Sc-1, 1968) gathered tracks by Sonny Boy Williamson (“Bye Bye Bird,” “In My Own Little Cabin,” “Dissatisfied”), Robert Pete Williams (“Midnight Boogie”), Little Brother Montgomery (“Vicksburg Blues”), Willie Dixon (“Big Legged Woman”), Sunnyland Slim, J.B. Lenoir (“Everybody Is Crying About Vietnam”), and Hubert Sumlin (“When I Feel Better”). Other compilations further documented the AFBF roster and related sessions.
These releases emphasized authentic performances by Chicago and Delta-rooted artists, often recorded during or around the festival tours organized by Lippmann and Rau.
Other Musical Styles
Beyond blues, Scout issued a significant triple-LP set of recordings from the Deutsches Jazz Festival Frankfurt 1970. This collection featured leading European and international jazz artists of the period, including Albert Mangelsdorff, Klaus Doldinger Quartet, Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine, Dave Pike Set, Peter Brötzmann Group, Pierre Favre Group, Joachim Kühn Group, Gunter Hampel Group, Just Music, and the European Free Jazz Orchestra of the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The set documented the vibrant free-jazz and modern jazz scene in Germany at the time.
Legacy
Although brief in duration and limited in catalog size, Scout Records holds importance as an early outlet for documenting American blues artists in a European context during the peak years of the blues revival. Its connection to the American Folk Blues Festival—itself a landmark series that helped reshape European perceptions of the blues—gives the releases lasting historical value. The subsequent L+R Records built on this foundation with a much larger output. Today, Scout albums are sought by collectors for their rarity and for preserving performances by Hubert Sumlin, J.B. Lenoir, and festival participants that might otherwise have remained less accessible.
