Rollicking pianist Big Maceo Merriweather was a major architect of Chicago blues

His heyday as a recording artist lasted just five years, but his output includes some of the most widely covered songs in the history of the genre.

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

This posthumous 1992 collection from Arhoolie Records includes “Worried Life Blues,” “County Jail Blues,” “Things Have Changed,” and “Chicago Breakdown.”