Established and run by two Jewish immigrant brothers from what was then Poland, Leonard and Phil Chess, the company produced and released many singles and albums regarded as central to the rock music canon. The musician and critic Cub Koda described Chess as "America's greatest blues label".[1]
Chess was based at several locations on the south side of Chicago, initially at South Cottage Grove Ave.[2] The most famous was 2120 S. Michigan Avenue, from May 1957 to 1967 [2] immortalized by the Rolling Stones in "2120 South Michigan Avenue", an instrumental recorded there during the group's first U.S. tour in 1964.[3] In 1967, Chess relocated to a much larger building, the former home of Revere Camera Company at 320 E. 21st Street, the label's final Chicago home.[4] Shortly before the death of Leonard Chess in 1969, the Chess brothers sold the company. The Studio at 2120 South Michigan Avenue was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 16th 1990.[5] In 1993 the building was purchased by Marie Dixon, the widow of Willie Dixon, and turned into a museum which opened in 1997[6] The building is now the home of Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation.[7]
History
Chess brothers' company
The Chess Records logo, as featured on a Memphis Slim single
Leonard Chess bought a stake in Aristocrat Records in 1947. In 1950, he brought his brother, Phil, into the operation, and they became the sole owners of the company. In the same year, they brought in a third partner, Evelyn Aron, and renamed the company Chess Records.
The first release from Chess was a 78 RPMsingle, "My Foolish Heart", backed with "Bless You", by Gene Ammons, issued as Chess 1425 in June 1950, which became the label's biggest hit of the year.[8]
In 1951, the Chess brothers began an association with Sam Phillips, of the Memphis Recording Service, the forerunner of Sun Records.[8] One of the most important recordings that Phillips gave to Chess was "Rocket 88", by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats (the band was actually Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm), which topped Billboard magazine's R&B Records chart[9] and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 in recognition of its influence on rock and roll.[10] One of the most important artists that came out of Memphis was Howlin' Wolf,[11] who stayed with the label until his death in 1976. Musical figures created for Chess by Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and others were the basis of much subsequent rock and roll. Many songs created by Chess artists were later covered by many rock artists, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys and Eric Clapton.
In 1952, the brothers started Checker Records as an alternative label for radio play (radio stations had a policy of only playing a limited number of records from any one imprint).[12] In December 1955, they launched a jazz and pop label, Marterry, a name created from the first names of Leonard and Phil's sons, Marshall and Terry.[2] This was quickly renamed Argo Records, but the name was changed again in 1965 to Cadet Records to end confusion with an existing British spoken-word label.
In 1953, Leonard Chess and Gene Goodman set up Arc Music BMI, a publishing company, which published songs by many rhythm and blues artists.[13]
In the mid-1950s, the Chess brothers received two doo-wop groups by Alan Freed, the Coronets and the Moonglows; the former group was not very popular but the latter achieved several major crossover hits including "Sincerely", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.[10] Several of Chess's releases gave a writing credit to Alan Freed.
During the 1950s, Leonard and Phil Chess handled most of the recording production themselves. They brought in producer Ralph Bass in 1960 to handle the gospel output and some of the blues singers. Bassist and songwriter Willie Dixon was also heavily involved in organizing blues sessions for the label and is now credited retroactively as a producer on some re-releases.[2] During the 1960s, the company's A&R manager and chief producer for soul and R&B recordings was Roquel "Billy" Davis, who had previously worked with Motown founder Berry Gordy on songs for Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Marv Johnson and other early Motown releases.
Chess Studios, 2120 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, later Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation (photo 2009)
In May of 1957 the Chess brothers moved to a building at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The studio would operate at this location until 1967 when they relocated to 320 East 21st Street.[14]
Chess Records was also known for its regular band of session musicians who played on most of the company's Chicago soul recordings, including the drummer Maurice White and the bassist Louis Satterfield, both of whom later shaped the funk group Earth, Wind & Fire; the guitarists Pete Cosey, Gerald Sims and Phil Upchurch; the pianist Leonard Caston, later a producer for Motown; and the organist Sonny Thompson. In 1962, Chess Records was sued by Peacock Records for recording their artists Reverend Robert Ballinger and the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi.[16]
In 1969, Chess Records established a subsidiary label in the U.K., Middle Earth Records, which was distributed by Pye Records. The subsidiary specialized in Psychedelic rock and was a joint venture with the Middle Earth Club in London. The Middle Earth label released only four albums and about a dozen singles before it closed in 1970.[17]
The company was briefly run by Marshall Chess, Leonard's son, in his position as vice president between January and October 1969 and then as president following its acquisition by GRT, before he went on to found Rolling Stones Records.
Under GRT and All Platinum
In 1969, the Chess brothers sold the label to General Recorded Tape (GRT) for $6.5 million. In October 1969, Leonard Chess died and by 1972, the only part of Chess Records still operating in Chicago was the recording studio, Ter-Mar Studios. Following the sale of Chess to GRT, Phil left the label to run radio station WVON. In the 1970s, Chess Records and its publishing arm, Arc Music, were successfully sued by Muddy Waters[18] and Willie Dixon[19] for nonpayment of royalties due to them. Ter-Mar Studios continued to operate at the 320 E. 21st St. building until its closure in 1979.[3]
In the early 1980s, noticing that much of the Chess catalogue was commercially unavailable, Marshall Chess was able to convince Joe and Sylvia Robinson, who ran All Platinum, to reissue the catalogue themselves under his supervision (All Platinum had been licensing selected tracks to other companies, which ultimately resulted in the disappearance of some original master tapes).[2] The reissued singles and LPs sold well, but by the mid-80s All Platinum had fallen into financial difficulties, and the Chess master recordings were acquired by MCA Records, which itself was later merged with Geffen Records, a Universal Music imprint.
In the 1990s, MCA Records sued Charly Records for selling CDs which contained copyrighted material by Chess artists.[20]
In February 1997, MCA started releasing eleven compilation albums for the 50th anniversary of Chess Records.[21]
In July 2008, the 2008 Universal Studios fire burned down a warehouse filled with Universal Music Grouprecording masters, including many albums and songs released by Chess. These masters, by artists such as Chuck Berry, were "priceless" and irreplaceable; while UMG claimed at the time it had copies, later reporting questioned this, with it emerging that the masters were destroyed.[22][23]
The original Chess LP series started with LP-1425 and included albums on both the Chess and the Checker labels. After 1437, the series was used exclusively for the Chess label; the Checker label switched to a 2970 series.[25]
The Bystanders - Royal Blue Summer Sunshine Day; Sounds Around - Red White And You; Pennsylvania Sixpence - Love Of The Common People; Ali Ben Dhown - Mustapha; Pinkerton's Colours - MUM And DAD; The Bystanders - Make Up Your Mind; The Traffic Jam - Almost But Not Quite There; Tony Crane - Anonymous Mr. Brown; Ali Ben Dhown - Turkish Delight; The Bystanders - Pattern People.[citation needed]
GRT consolidated Chess/Cadet album discography (1971–1975)
In 1971 Chess Records was purchased by General Recorded Tape, also known as GRT Corporation, which consolidated both the Chess and Cadet labels into a single labeling number sequence.[26]
William James Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.
McKinley Morganfield, known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago blues". His style of playing has been described as "raining down Delta beatitude".
Chester Arthur Burnett, better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chicago blues, and over a four-decade career, recorded blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and psychedelic rock. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time.
Lejzor Szmuel Czyż, best known as Leonard Sam Chess and simply Leonard Chess, was a Polish-American record company executive and the co-founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues, Chicago blues, and rock and roll.
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. Key features that distinguish Chicago blues from the earlier traditions, such as Delta blues, is the prominent use of electrified instruments, especially the electric guitar, and especially the use of electronic effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Electric Mud is the fifth studio album by Muddy Waters, with members of Rotary Connection playing as his backing band. Released in 1968, it presents Muddy Waters as a psychedelic musician. Producer Marshall Chess suggested that Muddy Waters record it in an attempt to appeal to a rock audience.
Cadet Records was an American record label that began as Argo Records in 1955 as the jazz subsidiary of Chess Records. Argo changed its name in 1965 to Cadet to avoid confusion with the similarly named label in the UK. Cadet stopped releasing records around 1974, when its artists were moved to Chess.
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.
Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966.
Moanin' in the Moonlight is a compilation album and the first album by American blues artist Howlin' Wolf, released by Chess Records in 1959. It contains songs previously issued as singles, including one of his best-known, "Smokestack Lightning". Rolling Stone ranked it number 477 on its 2020 list of "the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Marshall Chess is an American record producer, the son of Leonard Chess who co-founded Chess Records.
"Wang Dang Doodle" is a blues song written by Willie Dixon. Music critic Mike Rowe calls it a party song in an urban style with its massive, rolling, exciting beat. It was first recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1960 and released by Chess Records in 1961. In 1965, Dixon and Leonard Chess persuaded Koko Taylor to record it for Checker Records, a Chess subsidiary. Taylor's rendition quickly became a hit, reaching number thirteen on the Billboard R&B chart and number 58 on the pop chart. "Wang Dang Doodle" became a blues standard and has been recorded by various artists. Taylor's version was added to the United States National Recording Registry in 2023.
Philip Chess was a Polish-born American record producer and company executive, the co-founder with his brother of Chess Records.
Cadillac Records is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company executive Leonard Chess, and a few of the musicians who recorded for Chess Records.
The Howlin' Wolf Album is the first studio album by Howlin' Wolf, released in 1969. It features members of Rotary Connection as his backing band. The album mixed blues with psychedelic rock arrangements of several of Wolf's classic songs. Howlin' Wolf strongly disliked the album, which is noted on the album's cover art. The album peaked at number 69 on Billboard magazine's "Black Albums" chart.
The Real Folk Blues is a 1965 compilation album of Muddy Waters recordings, released on the Chess record label in January 1965. The album was the first release of The Real Folk Blues series and has since been re-released in multiple formats. The album features some of Waters' first recordings.
Super Blues is a 1967 studio album by a blues supergroup consisting of Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, and Little Walter. The album was released in both mono and stereo formats by Checker Records in June 1967. A follow-up album The Super Super Blues Band was released later that year and featured Howlin' Wolf replacing Little Walter.
Fathers and Sons is the seventh studio album by the American blues musician Muddy Waters, released as a double LP by Chess Records in August 1969.
2120 South Michigan Ave. is the fifteenth studio album by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. It was released on June 14, 2011, on the Capitol Records label. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. The title refers to the address of the offices and recording studios of Chess Records in Chicago. The album contains ten covers of songs recorded on Chess Records by artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, and Muddy Waters; plus a cover of The Rolling Stones' instrumental "2120 South Michigan Avenue" and two original songs about Chess Records artists. Capitol Records approached Thorogood with the idea for the album and selected most of the songs. Buddy Guy and Charlie Musselwhite perform on the album, although their work was added after primary recording was complete.
Little Walter (1930–1968) was an American blues artist who is generally regarded as the most influential blues harmonica player of his era. Most of his earliest recordings were as a sideman, when he contributed harmonica to songs by Chicago blues musicians such as Jimmy Rogers and Muddy Waters. As the featured artist, he recorded the instrumental "Juke" in 1952. The single reached number one on the Billboard Rhythm and Blues chart and launched his career as a solo artist.
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