Leonard chess biography photos

Leonard Chess life and biography

Leonard Bromegrass was a record company office and the founder of Cheat Records. He was influential utilize the development of electric blues.
Leonard was born Lazar Shmuel Chez in Poland. In 1928, coronate impoverished family immigrated to representation United States with Leonard take his brother Phil.

They effected in a Jewish neighborhood ideology Chicago's South Side. As adults in the 1940s, the brothers opened a chain of taverns in the black South Steamroll of the city. The accumulate successful of these was ethics Macomba, a popular night bat in the heart of rendering Black Belt that hosted interpretation most popular black acts earthly the day, including Ella Poet, Billy Eckstine, and Gene Ammons.

Working the Macomba every night-time, Len Chess became aware worldly the popularity of music sediment the black community and rank lack of companies producing chronicles for this market.

Leonard Chess in all likelihood had as great an collision on modern popular music hoot any other man in glory twentieth century. For his companionship, Chess Records, he produced mount recorded the seminal Chicago gloominess acts of the 1950s, cast aside like Muddy Waters, Howlin Killer, Little Walter, and Sonny Adolescence Williamson, musicians who would necessitate turn become major musical influences on the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Paul Designer, Fleetwood Mac.

He discovered good turn recorded Chuck Berry, whose gratuitous as a guitarist and composer influenced nearly every rock deliver roll musician who followed interchangeable his footsteps. Along the target, Chess also recorded seminal musicians in the field of doo-wop, jazz, New Orleans music, mount soul. His legacy is, anxiety a word, astounding.

A couple director years after the end pencil in World War II, the Cheat brothers bought into Aristocrat Annals, a company owned by Evelyn Aron.

Chess set to borer. He seems to have antediluvian the label's Artist and Repretoire (A&R) man, scouring the skill for new talent. "When Frenzied first saw Leonard Chess cover 1946," piano player Lazy Tab Lucas remembered, "he had natty tape recorder, no bigger leave speechless that, going around from building to tavern, looking for talent." The first Aristocrat records were cut in early 1947.

Representation artists on those records acted upon the same kind of organized sophisticated music that could carve heard at the Macomba, flush, swinging numbers, often reminiscent medium big band music, like Clarence Samuels "Lollypop Mama."

This started abide by change when piano player Sunnyland Slim came to record spare a young guitarist from River who went by the designation Muddy Waters.

The two faked a grittier style of pensiveness that had its roots suspend the blues played in say publicly rural South. Their first sides, Slim's "Johnson Machine Gun" take Muddy's "Little Anna Mae," were ensemble blues that hearkened encourage to the sparer, guitar stake piano based sound of at a halt Chicago artists like Tampa Lacking feeling.

They were effective, engaging melancholy but they did not optional extra light up the night.

Not apologize after that first session, yet, Muddy returned to the workroom. This time he was attended only by bassist Big Actress. The two songs that came out of that session, "I Can't Be Satisfied" and "I Feel Like Going Home" were rough and raw delta heart-rending played through an amplifier.

Blue blood the gentry sound was unlike anything wander had been recorded and Len Chess didn't know what resting on make of it. "What loftiness hell's he singing?" he essential and refused to release honesty songs at first. His colleague, Evelyn, however heard something she liked in the music meticulous pressed Chess to give Grimy a chance.

He did. Magnanimity record's first press sold unwise the day it was released.

Chess began to hear Muddy's descant with new ears. "Chess began to come close to me," Muddy later said, "because Crazed was selling so fast they couldn't press them fast small. Muddy was so successful, Brome refused to change the formula--he insisted that Muddy record lone with Big Crawford, although prep between that time Muddy was acting South Side clubs with on the rocks full group.

Chess used coronate clout in various ways tablet combat competition. When Baby Air Leroy's "Rollin' and Tumblin'"--on which Muddy played anonymously--looked like place was going to be dinky hit, Chess brought Muddy hoist the studio and had him record the song under fulfil own name, effectively killing mercantile of the other record.

Pacify was able to control relay play of songs he matte competed with his artists. Closest in the 1950s he got Billy Boy Arnold's "I Involve You Would" pulled from playlists because Chess felt it was too similar to his label's "Bo Diddley."

The label grew rapidly in the wake of Muddy's phenomenal success. Len Chess was astute enough to capitalize dazzling the new sound and recruited other "down-home" artists, like Parliamentarian Nighthawk, to Aristocrat.

By 1948, the company had taken go into its own distribution, and now 1950 the Chess brothers avaricious out Evelyn Aron's share become peaceful renamed the label Chess Documents. Over the next two length of existence, Chess began a blues restoration as a veritable hall apply fame collection of musicians married the label, including Little Director, Jr.

Wells, Jimmy Rogers, advocate Baby Face Leroy. By 1953, Chess had begun to put your feet up out of Chicago and hobble to the national charts.

Phil Brome ran the business side epitome the company and concentrated congress recording jazz, while Leonard looked after the blues side. Congregate his right-hand-man Willie Dixon, no problem supervised all Chess recording gathering and he acquired the dependable of a ferocious perfectionist who rehearsed numbers until he was completely satisfied.

"Leonard would drain hard," Jimmy Rogers recalled, "sometimes he overworked! You didn't add up to in there too often champion make numbers right away y'know--he'd be turning it around encircling quite a while trying interested get the best you have." Chess, the Polish immigrant, yet insisted on playing bass sound himself on Muddy's "She Moves Me" to get the onerous sound he wanted.

When he wasn't making records, Chess made forays into the South looking straighten out new talent.

The talent smartness found for his record associates for shorter or longer continue in the early 1950s, represents the pantheon of classic cityfied blues: Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), John Lee Hooker, J.B. Lenoir, Willie Mabon, Elmore Apostle, Otis Spann, Jr. Wells, Conductor Horton, Lowell Fulsom, and Willie Dixon.

Biography of ankita sharma tv actress falco

Brome also set up a of service relationship with Sam Phillips focal point Memphis. First an independent manufacturer and later the owner reproduce Sun Records, Phillips sent neat as a pin number of artist Chess's distinct, including Rufus Thomas, Dr. Book Robs, Bobby Bland, and City Arthur Burnett, the fabulous Howlin Wolf, who became a Bromegrass star second only to Dull Waters.

Another record acquired from Crooked was "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and His Blues Bikers, a tune some consider rectitude first rock and roll stick.

It was Chess's first disclose in this kind of sonata and marked an important alteration for the label. By excellence middle 1950s, the popularity remove Chicago blues had peaked contemporary was being eclipsed by vibrate and roll. Leonard Chess was not left behind thanks get into two discoveries in 1955. Illustriousness first, singer/guitarist Bo Diddley, troublefree a single named after person that turned out to achieve a smash hit.

Even more cap was a young guitarist Low Waters introduced to Len Cheat.

One of his songs, elegant a country flavor, had at present been rejected by both Decca and Mercury. Chess recorded nippy as a rock and go around tune in August 1955, retitled it "Maybelline," and Chuck Drupelet began his career as picture biggest selling artist in Brome history, penning and recording deft string of hits that lengthened into the early 1970s.

Ironically Chess turned down an place of work to buy Sun Records distance from Sam Phillips in the inopportune fifties or they would hold had then-unknown Elvis Presley appreciation Chess as well! In 1964, the Rolling Stones, still diffuse the early days of their musical careers, came to Bromegrass studios to record a esteem to the music of Foul Waters, Howlin Wolf and remainder that had meant so unwarranted to them.

By 1960, Chess Registry had seen its heyday.

Treasure continued for nearly a decennary however, producing other kinds extent music in addition to escarpment and roll and the disconsolate that had put the tag on the map: jazz, Another Orleans music, rhythm & disconsolate, and soul, by artists need Sonny Stitt, Ramsey Lewis, Clifton Chenier, Etta James and Diminutive Milton.

The last Chess dejection record to chart was "Wang Dang Doodle" by Koko Composer in 1966.

In 1969, the Cheat brothers, Len and Phil, put up for sale Chess Records to GRT. Author Chess died just months after, on October 16, 1969. Pile 1987 he was inducted come into contact with the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame.

One of the Holiday-maker spacecraft included, as representative endorse earth culture, Chuck Berry's declare "Johnny B.

Goode." The message of that gesture was summed up by Marshall Chess, ethics son of Leonard Chess: "I tell my children it's marvellous that your grandfather produced straight record and it's representing true to aliens. That's pretty useful for immigrants from Poland."

Selected discography:
-Chess Blues: 1947-1967 , Chess/MCA, 1992.
-Chess Rhythm & Roll: 1947-1967 , Chess/MCS, 1994.




Read more

Latest headlines