The
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago,
Illinois
by taking
the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta
blues and adding electrically
amplified guitar, amplified bass
guitar, drums, piano, and sometimes saxophone, and making the harmonica louder with a
microphone and an instrument
amplifier. In fact, some even used the trumpet. The
music developed in the first half of the twentieth century due to
the
Great
Migration when poor Black workers moved from the South into the
industrial cities of the North such as Chicago.
Chicago Blues has a more extended palette of notes than the
standard
six-note blues scale;
often, notes from the
major scale and
dominant
9th chords are added, which gives the
music a more of a "jazz feel" while remaining in the confines of
the blues genre. Chicago blues is also known for its heavy rolling
bass. Like Delta Blues, Chicago Blues often uses a harmonica and
occasionally saxophones.
Notable musicians
Well-known Chicago blues players include singer/songwriters such as
Muddy Waters,
Howlin' Wolf, and
Willie Dixon; guitar players such as
Freddie King,
Magic
Sam,
Syl Johnson,
Buddy Guy,
McKinley
Mitchell,
Bo Diddley,
Mike Bloomfield and
Elmore James; and
harmonica players such as
Big Walter Horton,
Little Walter,
Charlie Musselwhite,
Paul Butterfield and
Junior Wells. Also
Jimmy
Reed.
Notable record labels
Chess Records
Chess Records, run by brothers
Leonard
and
Phil Chess, was probably the most
famous of the Chicago record labels to feature or promote blues.
Musician and critic
Cub Koda even described
Chess Records as "America's greatest blues label." It was active
from 1950–1969 when the brothers sold the company. Most solo
artists also did double duty as session musicians on the records of
others.
Checker Records was a subsidiary of
Chess that recorded Chicago blues greats such as
Bo Diddley,
J.B.
Lenoir and
Sonny Boy Williamson II.
Cobra Records
Cobra Records (together with its Artistic subsidiary) was an
independent record label that operated from 1956 to 1959. The label
was important for launching the recording careers of Chicago blues
artists Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Buddy Guy. It signaled the
emergence of a distinctive West Side Sound.
Cobra Records was started on Chicago's West Side in 1956 by Eli
Toscano (a record store and television-repair shop owner) and
Howard Bedno. When his previous record label, Abco Records, failed
to generate much interest, Toscano approached Willie Dixon about
working for Cobra. Dissatisfied with his arrangement with Chess
Records, Dixon joined Cobra. There he served in many capacities,
including talent scout, producer, arranger, songwriter, and
bassist, as well as guiding its artistic vision.
Delmark
Delmark was formed when
Bob Koester
moved his Delmar label from St. Louis to Chicago in 1958 and
remains active today. They are still known for Jazz and Blues.
Artist recorded by the label includes
Roscoe Mitchell,
Junior Wells and
Sonny Boy Williamson II.
Alligator Records
Bruce Iglauer, a former employee of
Delmark, formed Alligator Records in 1971. Alligator Records
remains a premier blues label to this day. They have recorded
Chicago blues greats such as
Koko
Taylor,
Buddy Guy,
Otis Rush,
Hound Dog
Taylor and
Eddy "The Chief"
Clearwater.
Twinight Records
Twinight Records was a minor American recording label, founded in
Chicago 1967 by Howard Bedno and Peter
Wright, who later added E. Rodney Jones as a partner. Specializing
in R&B and soul music, for a few months the label was called
Twilight Records until it was
discovered that another company already owned the Twilight name.
Over five years, the label released (or at least recorded) 55
singles and charted seven times. The label’s star was
Syl Johnson, an established R&B performer
who had had a number of hits for King Records and who would have
his biggest hits for Hi Records in the 1970s. Johnson’s hits at
Twinight included "Come on Sock it to Me" (1967), "Sorry ‘Bout
Dat", "Different Strokes", "Is It Because I'm Black" (1969), and
"Concrete Reservation".Testament records
See also
References
-
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jpfixqegldse
External links
- http://www.cod.edu/wdcb/wdcb_online.htm - Free with no
commercials streaming blues from College of DuPage, Illinois on
Saturdays from 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 pm Central Time
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