In 1954, McKinley Morganfield bought his first house, located at 4339 S. Lake Park Avenue in Kenwood. Better known as Muddy Waters, the Father of Chicago Blues shared the south-side house with his wife Geneva, Geneva’s son Charles, his granddaughter Amelia “Cookie” Cooper, and his great-granddaughter Chandra “Peaches” Cooper. Quite a few people came and […]
Tag: Little Walter
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Lazy Bill Lucas came into his own as a bandleader in his last decade
Snowstorms, cold snaps, the most contagious wave of COVID-19 yet—it’s clearly time for the Secret History of Chicago Music to begin its yearly Winter Blues series. That’s where I cover the city’s great unheralded blues artists, many of whom gigged constantly but barely had the means to get by, let alone record their music. Many […]
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The Aces helped invent the sound of electric Chicago blues
The Aces are best known as a backing band, but they took the lead when it came to the future of the blues.
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Two Chicago institutions bridge jazz and blues
Guitarist George Freeman and harmonica player Billy Branch demonstrate the common roots of the sounds they love.
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Louis Myers cofounded one of the great backing bands in the blues
The guitar and harmonica master from the Aces played with Junior Wells, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and many more.
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Blues bassist Calvin ‘Fuzz’ Jones made Muddy Waters sound his best
Calvin “Fuzz” Jones, who spent most of his five-decade career in Chicago, was one of the most prominent sidemen in electric blues.
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The Reader’s guide to the 2018 Chicago Blues Festival
The fest expands its footprint in Millennium Park with a diverse lineup that includes boogie-woogie pianist Erwin Helfer, southern soul-blues star Ms. Jody, and the Rising Stars Fife & Drum Band with Shardé Thomas.
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The complete schedule of the 2018 Chicago Blues Festival
Every Blues Festival set on all five stages in Millennium Park, from Friday morning through Sunday night
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Ten great photos taken during the heyday of the blues
Images of Muddy Waters, James Cotton, and Bob Dylan are among 1,000 searchable photos by Raeburn Flerlage that are now online.
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Blues guitarist Joe Carter electrified Chicago’s 1950s club scene, but he never recorded in his heyday
Joe Carter’s only LP came out in 1976, and original copies of the raw-as-hell Mean & Evil Blues now fetch more than $100.
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Blues harmonica legend Little Walter recorded one of his best singles in 1954, when he was just 24
Little Walter’s 1954 classic “Mellow Down Easy” combines rudely soulful singing, lilting guitar, furious harmonica, and a quasi-Cuban groove.
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The Third Coast—turning a bunch of stuff that happened into drama
Thomas Dyja’s history of Chicago finds the story line in 30 years of city life.
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Historical Sound and Vision
A beautiful Dust-to-Digital book/CD set about early American immersion baptism earns a Grammy nomination.
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Grady Freeman
Blues vocalist and harpist Grady Freeman spent the 50s alongside such future legends as Junior Wells and brothers Dave and Louis Myers, and in the early 60s he gigged around Chicago with the likes of Little Walter and Otis Rush. In 1963 he signed with Chess Records, and though he recorded a number of R […]