Lester Melrose (December 14, 1891 - April, 1968) was one of the first producers of blues records. In many ways he can be considered a founder of the Chicago blues, although he greatly favored acoustic over electric performances.
He was a partner in his brother's record store in Chicago in 1923 when he met Jelly Roll Morton. Within a short time, he had sold his share of the store and become an A & R man, the old name for a record producer. His first big success was "It's Tight Like That" with Tampa Red and soon-to-be gospel music legend Thomas A. Dorsey, then still known as Georgia Tom.
He worked for several record companies simultaneously in the 1930s, including RCA Victor, Bluebird, Columbia records, and Okeh records. Among the artists her recorded were Big Bill Broonzy, the first Sonny Boy Williamson, Memphis Minnie, Roosevelt Sykes, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Bukka White, Washboard Sam, Champion Jack Dupree, Jazz Gillum, and Leroy Carr.
He is a member of the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.
As was the custom at the time (and not just in blues music), Melrose often assigned composer credit and performance rights of the artists' songs to himself, paying the artists only for the record session. Nonetheless, he unquestionably had excellent taste in performers and produced some of the foundation blues recordings. His name appears on "Reefer Head Blues", recorded by Jazz Gillum and Aerosmith, and "Me and My Chauffeur", recorded by Memphis Minnie and Jefferson Airplane.