In his second book, The Soul of New Orleans: A Legacy of Rhythm and Blues, Jeff Hannusch devotes a chapter to Joe Ruffino and his two labels under the heading Ric & Ron Records: Records with Class, and opens with these words:

"Between 1958 and 1962, the Ric and Ron labels were an important force in New Orleans rhythm and blues. Together they provided Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas, Martha Carter, Robert Parker, Warren Lee, and Al Johnson their first opportunity to record. They also extended the careers of Eddie Bo, Bobby Mitchell, Tommy Ridgley, and Professor Longhair.

"The punchy Ric and Ron sound was unique, even when compared to Minit, Instant, Ace, Frisco, and Imperial, labels active in New Orleans during that same period. This was due largely to the ambitious owner Joe Ruffino, whose aspiration was to create a label different from the competition."

In response to the Cosimo Code team's request, Jeff describes how he managed to rescue the Ric and Ron master tapes in the 1980s for eventual reissue by Rounder:

"I'll try to briefly explain my involvement in archiving the Ric and Ron catalog. I was hired as a sales rep for Rounder Records covering Louisiana and Mississippi in the mid-1980s. You could also say I was Rounder's A&R rep, as on my recommendation, I convinced them to sign (ex-Ric and Ron artists) Irma Thomas and Johnny Adams among others. Rounder was doing well with New Orleans/Louisiana contemporary releases, but they were also interested in reissuing past glories too. I had become friends with Tommy Ridgley. We often talked about his Ric records. Tommy told me where he thought the master tapes might be.

"Back track: Ruffino was Joe Assunto's (One Stop Records) brother-in-law. After Ruffino died in the fall of 1962, Assunto procured the Ric and Ron tapes and kept the label mildly active, putting out a couple of Johnny Adams singles and repressing Carnival Time around Mardi Gras. Assunto died around 1980 and his daughter took over the store. However, One Stop folded after the jukebox business tanked in the early 1980s. She kept the existing Ric and Ron tapes however.

"Tommy told me he thought she was living in LaPlace, La. Sure enough, we tracked her down and she had a closet full of 5-inch reels of tapes. We (Rounder) made a deal in her living room...

"Before I sent the tapes off to Cambridge, Mass., the home of Rounder, I Xeroxed the back of all the tape boxes and the existing paperwork contained in the boxes. Now that I recall, a lot of those boxes had Cosimo's paperwork folded neatly inside. They were printed on cheap, yellow paper with the Gov. Nichols address, and some of the earlier ones had the familiar logo of a trumpet player at the top as well. The paperwork listed the songs in the tape box and their duration written neatly with a fountain pen. Don't ask me which ones, but there were a lot.

"Cos spliced a lot of tapes too. I transferred those tapes to digital at a studio in Marblehead, Mass., and a lot of the splices disintegrated when I replayed them and had to put them back together. I also recall Cos liked to recycle tape. I found one Johnny Adams master tape box that was originally a Shirley & Lee session.

"I then put together a series of Ric and Ron reissues that appeared on Rounder LPs. I saved the Ric and Ron Xeroxes in my garage for several years. Unfortunately, in 2005 we were introduced to Hurricane Katrina; the Xeroxes were all destroyed.

"Luckily, I had pencilled in the Ric and Ron recording dates next to where they were listed in Ray Topping's invaluable booklet New Orleans Rhythm & Blues Record Label Listings. That was on the second floor of my house - Katrina didn't get that.

"Thanks now to the Cosimo Code, I can share this information with collectors and lovers of New Orleans music."
- Jeff Hannusch, May 2013

In the few months since Jeff submitted this piece, he was able (through Scott Billington and Adam Taylor at Rounder Records) to procure high quality scans of those original tape boxes that he found in that closet in La Place all those years ago, and he has kindly consented to allow us to feature some of them here on this page. We here at the Cosimo Code are just blown way by the generosity of all involved, and we can't thank them enough!

In 2010, Rounder Records was acquired by Concord Music Group, which already owned the Stax, Fantasy, Galaxy, Specialty, Ebb, Prestige and Riverside catalogues. Concord itself was bought out in March 2013 by Wood Creek Capital Management, a private equity firm based in New Haven, Conn. That's where Ric and Ron reside at present. Prior to the takeover, Concord had released The Complete Ric & Ron Recordings, a seven volume set that is available for download in the U.S. in mp3 format.

Listed below, in chronological order, are all of the records that Jeff had 'pencilled in' his well worn copy of the Topping discography, along with their original recording dates. Links are provided to the corresponding scans on 45cat, and to the official mp3 of each side at Amazon:

In 2012, for Record Store Day, Rounder released a box set of 10 newly-pressed 45 rpm discs, titled From the Vaults of Ric & Ron Records: Rare and Unreleased Recordings 1958-1962 in a limited edition of 1500. The featured artists were Johnny Adams, Edgar Blanchard, Eddie Bo, Al Johnson, Barbara Lynn and Paul Marvin. A few copies are still available for sale at Louisiana Music Factory. Get them while you can!

Just released by our friends at Ace Records in the UK, You Talk Too Much: The Ric & Ron Story Volume 1 "...salutes the great work of Joe Ruffino and the A&R men, artists, songwriters and musicians whose contributions made Ric and Ron 45s as fresh and invigorating today as they were when first issued. The first volume features material from the first couple of years of Ric and Ron... with this volume we bring you -in the approximate order of their signing to Joe Ruffino's labels - the artists who helped build Ric and Ron's position as a major source for New Orleans music in the late 50s and early 60s." Yeah You Rite!

Ain't It The Truth - The Ric & Ron Story Volume 2 "takes up from where the first volume left off at the end of 1960, and follows through to early 1963, shortly after Ruffino's death. All the labels' biggest artists of the period are featured, including Tommy Ridgley, Eddie Bo and Johnny Adams... along with a selection of rare demos that make their CD debuts. Some of the greatest New Orleans jukebox hits of the period are featured... along with titles by... future mainstays of the area's soul scene. Almost all tracks are mastered from fresh transfers of the original Ric and Ron tapes. You will never have heard them sounding as good as they do here!"