Chess Records

By Shala Way

Chess Records

Leonard and Phillip Chess were two Jewish immigrants from Poland who came to Chicago in 1928. In the 1940's the Chess brothers owned a nightclub called The Macomba. This nightclub had live entertainment, mainly blues performers who migrated to Chicago from Mississippi. Leonard and Phillip recognized that these artists were not being properly recorded, so they started recording themselves.

The Chess brothers entered a partnership with Charles and Evelyn Aron who owned Aristocrat Records. In 1949 Leonard and Phil became the sole owners of Aristocrat Records. On June 3, 1950 together they reorganized and renamed the studio Chess Records, which is now known as "America's greatest blues label". In addition to blues, Chess records also catered to R&B, soul, gospel, early rock and roll, and jazz.

Chess Records was located at many different locations on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. They were most famous at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue from years 1956 to 1965, solely because of an instrumental recording done by The Rolling Stones at that location in 1964. Chess records then relocated to 320 E. 21st Street in Chicago, which is the last place they resided.

In June of 1950 Chess Records has their first release "My Foolish Heart" by Gene Ammons, which became the label's biggest hit of the year. A year later Leonard and Phil began working with a young producer named Sam Phillips. Sam Phillips was currently recordings a farmer named Chester Burnette, who soon was called the "Howlin Wolf." Sam Phillips would later establish Sun Records, but at the time did not have a record company so he leased the Howlin Wolf masters to the Chess brothers. Soon after, Howlin Wolf moved to Chicago and signed with Chess Records. An important recording named "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cates was given to Chess and topped Billboard magazine's R&B Records chart. This record was also placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 1952 the Chess brothers started Checker Records, which was an alternative label for radio play, mainly because radio stations would only play a limited number of records for one imprint. In the mid-1950's Chess Records was given two doo-wop groups named the Flamingos and the Moonglows. Each group had a hit song that was quickly covered by white singers. Even though Chess Records did not receive the sales for these songs, the label became known as a recording company that produced hit songs. One recording named "Sincerely" was later placed in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 1956 Chess established a jazz subsidiary called Argo, which held a vast amount of impressive jazz artists. This subsidiary also contained the work of Etta James who is a female giant in rhythm and blues. In 1965 the named was changed to Cadet to avoid confusion with another record company named Argo, located in England.

In the year 1958 Chess Records began producing their first Long Playing records, which included albums like The Best of Muddy Waters and Best of Little Walter. The record company was also known for its band of session musicians who played on the company's soul recordings. Some of these musicians included Maurice White and Louis Satterfield who later would help create the funk group Earth, Wind, & Fire.

Around this time Chess also became interested in music from New Orleans, and signed a veteran Paul Gayten to represent them there. Paul was able to bring Clarence "Frogman" Henry to the table. Frogman had many hits including "Ain't Got No Home", "You Always Hurt the One You Love" and "I Don't Know Why But I Do." The Chess brothers also had many religious and gospel recordings. An entire series was devoted to the sermons of Rev. C.L. Franklin, who