Chess Records and Chicago Blues History Fair Documentary

[slideharp1]

..It's an idiotic perseverance to keep ripping into something uniquely hybrid and simply barking up the wrong tree when people are looking for traces of "purity" to give a pointless explanation of it's existence. It's the work of nutcases who want more meaning than is there and would make no difference anyway. People play and listen to music 'cos it's there. We take it for granted as we always have done and always will because it's da natural thing to do. Not 'cos we're fuckin anthropologists.

[2agray]

@slideharp1 Very good! Like I said, "We like it because we like it." No sense in getting racial issues and all that crap involved. But then again people are going to try to analzye the music of today in 100 years from now. It's all good.

[slideharp1]

@2agray That's my whole point. People are Not going to "alalyze the music of today in 100 years" - it makes no difference. They aren't going to analyze it any more than they're going to analyze their own food preferences. And it was me who said "we like it because we like it". Actually I said "we like it because it's There", but I don't mind being paraphrased.......

[Rattler32114]

One thing I have notice is the reluctance and downright arrogance of some to minimize the history of this music.

[1992daan]

How did you get the vid. material of the crossroads guitar festival? it's not on the dvd, right?

[dave22h34]

M 'S A pig !!! 

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

I love the blues BUT remember the blacks didn't bring the Guitar from Africa.

[BlacknesUnforgivable]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 They brought the banjo though

[paulandj]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 Lmao what the fuck are you talkin about?

[2agray]

Robert Johnson was NOT one of the first blues recording artists. 1920 was the year it became commercialized and recorded with Mamie Smith.  Need to do some more homework.

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@2agray You got that right. In those days the early radio stations had white country music musicians,,The Blacks listened to THOSE RADIO STATIONS and DID IT THEIR WAY. It's as simple as that. Jimmy Rodgers "the singing brakeman" influenced them all. Use Your Brain. Country Music is 95% Blues done with a fiddle and/or steel guitar. I am not a country music fan,,I'm just intelligient and I read a lot.

[Rattler32114]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 I hope you aren't suggesting that the blues comes from white country music. You need to be a little more intelligent and do little more reading. Use your brain and not try to revise history

[2agray]

@Rattler32114 Yeah country and black blues are from opposite ends of the spectrum. Now there was "country blues" which was usually referred to by male blues artists of the day. It was just a term somebody came up with. A more rural and unpolished form of blues. But blues also stretched into white Vaudeville in a watered down form.

[2agray]

@2agray And also take into consideration that terms were named by "experts" like "delta blues." These are just regional styles. Regional styles still exsist today in modern music. It's like accents or types of food that are indicative to regions of the country.

[paulandj]

@2agray No.

[paulandj]

@2agray aye chill out with your re-written white man's history that you are notorious for.

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@2agray Yeah you guys are so full of it,,,I'm 88 and lived it,,where were you?Hell I was a Wynonnie Harris fan.

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 I trademarked "themojoman" as an entertainer for radio and tv and personal appearances in 1959,,,knowing in the future every dipshit and his brother would us it. I saw Ann Cole in a Johnny Otis show in 1959 singing HER original song Got My Mojo Working written by Preston Foster,,and thought TMM would be a good radio/stage name. ustm # 2 343 775,,feel to research that. (Been There,Done That,,Bought the T-shirt,,Sometimes I was On the T-shirt)

[paulandj]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 Country music came from the Blues. Blues came about in the slave fields with call and response chants. Country music is even reffered to as "the white mans blues". Yall didn't influence Black people to do shit, just took all the credit. African Americans invented just about every form of music in North America. Yall still doin it look at Adele the other night with all them fuckin grammys, she ain't doin shit fat black women ain't been doin since the slavery days.

[slideharp1]

@paulandj You're on a deeply-disturbed trip. Taking the Credit for great artists, whoever you think you are. Call and response chants and hollers were never exclusive to slaves working fields. Work songs have been around since long before the Americas were even discovered. And amongst the most prominent were sea shanties (Chant-eys) and there were hundreds of them. A shanty man did the calling and rest responded. A good shantyman was well in. Country/mountain music came from Ireland.

[slideharp1]

@paulandj ..and those slaves on ships would've heard shanties, hollers, hornpipes and ballads. "Ethnomusicologists" (an American endeavor) keep looking for The Source of the blues by rummaging around W.Africa like it's some type of life quest - like it's the source of the Nile or something.. The blues is American music, played/sung by black southerners who are Of their environment. Everything American is being broken into supposed component parts for analysis, which is pointless

[2agray]

@paulandj No. Country and blues are separate. Country was more folk songs from rural white areas. Black blues did come from slavery songs and the like and progressed into the modern form. Nobody is throwing racial aspects here and neither should you. And I've never heard country called "the white man's blues." They are completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Traditional country that is. Everything morphoed together over the years. All music influenced other music over time.

[2agray]

@2agray And the most important thing is that we all enjoy and appreciate it. It's not to throw slander on it's origin, color or creed.  Black, white, country, blues - it doesn't matter. What matters is that we appreciate it. Basically what we know is from when music was first written down and then especially once it was being recorded. And does it really matter? No. We like it because we like it.

[2agray]

@THEMOJOMANsince1959 Well actually there were broadcasts of blues singers on white radio stations because there really weren't any black stations yet. It was new. Even Bessie Smith did radio stints but they were never recorded. Transcriptions weren't around in the very early days of radio. But then, blues singers were seen as novelty acts. It wasn't until later that they were appreciated for their art.

[darkamithist]

did u place in the history fair, u should have. my team and I made a documantry also and u have pumpled us into the ground.

[909chuck]

Kind of a disappointment as history. Better than nothing and hearing THE WOLF makes it worth catching as a basis for learning more. Many books, and a lot of videos to fit together the pieces from pop to blues, soul, folk and other influences that made the music. See "Life is a rock. . ." by Reunion for a 3 min compilation.

[AlperKongen]

yngwie is like very fast car that going nowhere, ever.

[ONENIGGER2ANOTHER]

This so called documentary leaves much to be desired. The producer seeks the advice of a guy who creates soundtracks for video games? And how in Hell does Wingee Mumford figure into this again! A huge WHAT THE FUCK on this one, Yeah great job mister Coppola.

[scheemadruci]

when you aint got no money for house rent you got the blues! when you aint got no reefers to smoke you got the blues!!!!

[RoyFive]

I'm trying to post this to my Facebook profile and all I'm getting is a "No Title" and an error message. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON????????????????

[CYBERVISIONSdotCom]

"When you ain't got no money, and can't pay your house rent, and can't buy you no food, you DAMN SURE got the Blues...." - Howlin' Wolf

[colonialbacon3]

brilliant video! thank you! i love the blues. its all i play and has the most soul out of all music; its real. and you dont have to play all fast and flashy like these metal bands now-a-days or yngwie; just feel it, and "make those funny noises that sound good to me, you know..."

[DarknessPhantom93]

Not sure how Yngwie got in a Blues video as he was mainly inspired by classical music like Paganini and suppose a tad of Jimi Hendrix etc. However you can't say he had no soul for his music and he is an awful composer, I agree his newer music has failed to progress, but when he came out his music was revolutionary. If you listen to the album Rising Force and forget the shred craze, songs like Far Beyond the Sun are one of the greatest master pieces ever made, with raw emotion and inventively.

[whayes8084]

Thanks to whoever posted this. Made my day.

[bugsycline]

some of these clips of chicago's maxwell street are priceless.

[hah13]

who couldnt like this?

[DangerRifai]

I don't know if anybody cares, but Livio & Roby sampled Howlin Wolf's end speech on here in their house tune Stapanu Intergalactic.

[TheMegaCorax]

From Robert Johnson and Bo Diddley to Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones: This video clearly shows the evolution from the blues to hardrock, and eventually heavy metal. If the bluesscales and blue notes are embedded in a song properly its sound can really touch your soul. I think Howlin' Wolf's conclusion "Anytime you thinkin' evil, you thinkin' 'bout the blues" still applies to a lot of rock & metal today. Except for the blackmetal genre. How ironic...

[stankupdaplace]

I think willie dixon simplified the bues of muddy waters and then took credit for writing riffs that muddy could have wrote in his sleep. I like the songs muddy had before willie dixon took over the writing

[stankupdaplace]

willie dixon had no hand in chuck berrys work which was the begining of rock before elvis ever tried to act black

[djlegand]

@stankupdaplace try Rocket 88 (1951) Ike or Bill version rnr birth

[braclo93]

@Beefgog Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil, so your statement about Yngwie Malmsteen doesn't make sense. Perhaps you meant that because of the fact that Malmsteen is a pompous, ass-faced douchebag, he shouldn't be in the video. XD

[pozegausaill]

hell yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joethepainter90]

Anytime you thinkin evil you thinkin bout The Blues!!

[elvispreseli]

Have to agree. This was pretty good until Malmsteen appeared... Why? So much better out there. How about Sherman Robertson to name but one?

[tokiyolite81]

thats what my grandparents did..got out of miss. and went to chicago.. i remember listenin to the blues all the time with my grandparents.. SOUTHSIDE yeeh

[fessormojo]

The Delta Blues refers to the 120 mile long (90 miles at the widest) leave-shaped alluvial plain from as they say , "the lobby of the Peabody Hotel to Catfish row in Vicksburg." It is the richest soil on the planet as it was built by the overflow of the Yazoo River and the Mississippi River and bounded by bluffs on the East (Loess hills) and on the Arkansas side by more bluffs.

It is the Mississippi Delta NOT the Delta of the Mississippi River 300 miles further South.

[thailow117]

Apart from the insanely absurd comparison to Malmsteen that is going on here, the map of the delta in the beginning shows a common misunderstanding of the M Delta being the Mi River Delta. The Mississippi Delta lies further in the North in the State of Mississippi.

[FraterSoddi]

Malmstein is a great technical guitarist - but he substitutes flash for feeling. If you want a white man who has really learned the blues and made it his own, you should look to Bill Harkelroad - aka Zoot Horn Rollo from Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band.

[slideharp1]

@FraterSoddi You're right, The Magic Band played the most unique style of pure blues, especially when Ry Cooder was with them. And after he left, they moved ahead with a wild blues sound/rhythm. No-one else has played like that, tho' there were young bands in NY in the 90s who were influenced by them.

[robbcofc88]

oh yeah... i'm sure you guy's are better than him¿

[justinev10]

When you feel it deep inside and it hurts so bad that you just want to let it go and make it better ...Then you know you have the blues....

[jdominod1]

Robert Johnson,Cool,But was he B4 Lead belly? i thought ist started way back then,the sound was a little different back then too.

[hotlinklarry]

Port Chicago California? where did you pull that one from? (let me guess) lol

[howlingsandy]

Home Sweet Chicago was written about Port Chicago, California.. though easy to understand how the meaning came to be altered altered. There's more to be said but that will suffice for now except to say... the man who put the 2/4 beat to the fast shuffle of blues even Rocket 88 was fast shuffle .. was Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup. He also wrote blues classics like Mean Ol' Frisco and of course is the man whose music made Elvis. But is he inducted into the Rock Hall, even 'Influences' section? NO.

[decadentfudgesauce]

@howlingsandy thx for mentioning Crudup I'd never heard of him before...wow.

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@howlingsandy You got that right!!

[quailster1]

No doubt Chess artists influenced English kids of the 60's, but how do you do a documentary about Chicago blues and it's influence without talking about the rise of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They cut their teeth in the Southside clubs, and sat in with most of the Chess legends. Sad to not recognize them

[edrixie]

MALMSTEEN IS A FAT PRICK WHO PLAYS A DAMN GOOD GUITAR BUT ALL STYLE NO SUBSTANCE JUST DONT CUT IT FOR ME. A BAD HAIRDAY...FOREVER. THATS HOW I SEE HIM.

[TheBluescollector]

boy, there sure is a lot missing from this mini doccu.

perhaps if the stones clapton and yngwie were taken out and more focus on the actual chicago blues artists it would have been better.

not to mention sound mixing was poor.

If you want to see a real Doccumentary that pays homage to these types of artist, just check out my channel.

watch learn and take notes

[bogertheogre]

CHRIST! yngwie sucks something awful 

[reggieann1]

i def agree wit de wolf-lol

[zthetha]

Any time you ain't got no money - you got the blues... for rich kids the blues is a way INTO that kinda feeling - for poor kids it's a way OUT.

[fessormojo]

WRONG MISSISSIPPI DELTA!!

Someone ought to tell this gentleman that the Mississippi delta is the flood plain of the Mississippi River a 120 mile long leaf shaped plain 90 miles wide at the widest (Greenwood to Greenville). That is 400 mies North of the Louisiana Mississippi River delta below New Orleans referred to in this documentary.

[healedbybluz]

I agree, Yngwie is just a shred speed freak. He has no place in this documentary, and has no clue as to what blues music is all about. But then again, neither does Eric ("One Foot in the Blues") Clapton.

[MrGabo80x]

good video. exelent info, thanks.

[allaboard70]

Really a great documentary about the blues and Chess Records. Wille Dixon is the man of the blues and Chuck Berry the father of Rock'n'Roll.

[giseba7]

Thanks for the info! All these musicians great!

[PipelineChicago]

thanks love it...please enjoy our channel when you find time and check out our news letter chicago-pipeline

[SuperSPOKENWORD]

If you are a student of music this is important info

[SuperOlds88]

@luvureally I said dont go crazy, its just my OPINION, ok? I happen to like the acoustic sound better, that's all.

[luvureally]

Everybody has a preference, but your acoustic preference does not mean electric blues men were not "real blues men".

[SuperOlds88]

@luvureally so what's your point?

[LMT915]

Great stuff!!! I like hearing about the GREAT BLUES days, bonus getting to see it.

[SuperOlds88]

my father worked in a factory along Lake Michigan starting in the 30's and I can remember him telling me how many fellas he worked with were from Mississippi and Arkansas. They use to rabbit and squirrel hunt with my dad, and later me. Just a little meaningless info.

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@SuperOlds88 Meaningless ??? I think it's cool.

[SuperOlds88]

ok, just giving my opinion, so dont crazy, I think old old blues is much better. One bluesman, one guitar, no stinking drums or bass, they didnt need it, they were the whole band, of course real blues fans know this. It seems to me that all electric leads end up being a screaming 12th fret tune, they all sound the same. I wish blues was like it was in the 20s and 30s. Those were the real bluesmen.

[slideharp1]

@SuperOlds88. Spot on. The nature of the guitar style meant that folks didn't NEED to hire a whole band to get the joint jumpin, All the music would be there in one guy, and you could dance your ass off. Re. Solo's; Check all of RJ's 29 songs - not one 'solo', all the flourishes are played Between the vocal lines, Or at the same time! Likewise Charlie Patton. Others (e.g.Wolf, Muddy, Bukka W, Fred McD) only played 1-2 choruses, more to punctuate the song than solo-it-up.

[bootlegpreacher]

I've been searching far and wide for some folks who still understand that. It's at the point where the solos are KILLING the blues.

[luvureally]

When they reached Chicago, Detroit, they had something many of them did not have down in the Delta - electricity. So "electric" bluesmen like Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, Albert Collins, Freddy King were not real bluesmen?

[slideharp1]

@luvureally. Actually they Did have electricity in the Delta - it just took a bit longer to get there. And, electricity or not, most people still lived in the Country and lived rural lives. Yes of course the guys you mentioned were real bluesmen - electric bluesmen.

[luvureally]

I said many of them (not all) did not have electricity. I am very familiar with southern country rural life, my family is from Alabama.  Electric or acoustic still blues.

[slideharp1]

....which is exactly what I was saying.

[slideharp1]

Sorry, didn't realise we were arguing. So are the guys you mentioned NOT 'real' Bluesmen?

[luvureally]

Not arguing. SuperOlds88 stated that the acoustic musicians were the "real" blues men. I say with or w/o "tricity" they were all "real" blues men.

[slideharp1]

then why send it to me ??

[THEMOJOMANsince1959]

@slideharp1 Funny to me all this Jabbering about who did what and when,,none of you really know,,,Music just evolves. Such as: There was a rockabilly singer in Texas named Buddy Holly,,One day he either saw or heard Bo Diddley play,,,he got himself some blackrimmed glasses and ther rest is history. EVOLVES

[SuperOlds88]

I hate it when they give Robert Johnson so much credit. He was fantastic for sure, but what about the guys he learned from, dont they get any credit? and what about the guys before that? and like it is now, there were probably plenty of guys who werent fortunate enough to get recorded. Johnson died young, so his life and accomplishments have been overly magnified.

[slideharp1]

I love RJ's stuff but it's true he died young and left a good-looking corpse. And Charlie Patton was making fantastic records 6-7 years before. re. lawnmusics' post: Sorry, you got it ass-backwards, R. J. Lockwood was a kid when his mother was seeing R.Johnson. Johnson gave him some guitar lessons but never officially adopted him - he was just passing thru'. So don't know how your arithmatic adds-up. Check dvd "Can't You Hear The Wind Howl". Danny Glover narrates.

[Jman20111]

i feel that this really talks about chess records and what is was mainly about in the blues world to chicago

[zack8food]

@malcolmX2011 god for you.... dumbass

[carooman]

I pomyśleć, że twórcą Chess Records byli polscy bracia spod Częstochowy Leonard i Filip Czyż.

Tam właśnie zaczął swoja karierę Morganfield znany raczej jako Muddy Waters itak sie zaczął rock"n"roll

I

[sidebarr7]

MickJaggard looked like a lost little girl??

[lawnmusic1947]

that song sweet home chicago is really aw aw baby by Robert Lockwood jr. Recorded for JOB records, the owner of JOB was a black man , he helped the Chess brothers to start chess records, Chess first hit record was leased to him , all of the JB LENOIR we own , Joe Brown ,owned five record companies ,and the first black publishing co. He had the best house band it was back then , I cant say to much now but soon the legacy of Joe Brown will be told

[Viesor]

Howlin' Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett) Is a smart man tbh, what ever he said it turned into a smart guide into ur lifes

[Rainbowshow]

these guys don't know the blues!

[somerville00]

its all a fuck it really is. Thank the Jews for that. Think about it a video about black music by white guys. Only Jews trying to make a silver. Flip a silver coin in the dark they will show there true colors.

[noraMaiden]

cadillac records!!

[freddysouth]

Yeah! a great movie!

Keep the blues alive!

[jakrueg2pbg]

Check out"Relapse" awesome game

[2009framat]

Jimmy Reed took a demo tape to Chess in 1952/53. They wanted to record him but only with their musicians Little Walter, Dixon & Co..

Reed said he had his own sound and wanted it that way on record so he went to Veejay/Chance.

I made a tribute to JIMMY REED. An animated short - just click on my name to watch it. Hope you like it. It is only 74 seconds long. Comments&ratings will always be welcome.

Greetings from Berlin, Germany

[PeaceAndJustice357]

Them Brother's look like they was enjoying themselves for real man!

[bugsycline]

@7:22 dixion is holding a 78...

any one know what it is?

[doctorpep1]

You guys did a great job covering Chess Records and Rock 'N' Roll and the Brits, but you can't just jump from slavery to Robert Johnson. There were so many Country Blues artists just as good as Robert. When Robert was alive, he was far from famous or influential. Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie were far better known.

[ddecto]

Skip James, Blind Lemon Jefferson.

[doctorpep1]

Robert Johnson was not the beginning. This is the typical nonsense we hear about Country Blues. No offense, by Johnson was a synthesis of the styles of men like Kokomo Arnold, Skip James, Son House, Leroy Carr, etc.

[OmriLahavComposer]

I agree, but they never said he was first - just one of the "realy recording artists" - which is true, not that many people were actually recording at that time.

[bigmamou]

OmriLahavComposer - not that many people were actually recording at that time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Are you kidding??? That's total nonsense! There were thousands of blues recordings made starting at least 20 years before Johnson recorded. Just because no one mentioned Charley Patton or remembers Sylvester Weaver doesn't mean they didn't influence practically every blues player who followed them! Robert Johnson was only a blip on the blues radar screen until the late 60's!!!!

[oramikleepunk]

Chess was like the first motown up north.Singers became more known up north.

[muddy2]

what the hell is that malmsteen guy doing in this?

[Poncianoedubiges]

the song malmsteen is playing is a cover of Jimi Hendrix (Red House), Jimi hendrix is a blues guitar player, who inspired modern guitarists like Yngwie, Satriani and vai among others =]

[doctorpep1]

Yngwie is laughably awful.

[LedZeppelin2055]

@doctorpep1 Ummm, actually he can shred pretty well. If you think he's awful, maybe you should clean your ears. He has no buisness in this, and hasn't had a massive influence like the blues, but he's pretty damn good.

[JNagarya]

@LedZeppelin2055 It ain't only the playing. It's the feeling. Malmstein is purely "intellectual," reactionary, thin and irrelevant.

[LedZeppelin2055]

@JNagarya I know, but he's still good.

[devildog1775907]

@doctorpep1 have you ever picked up a guitar?

[bmin7b5]

malmsteen was on there smokin those so called" blues guys "thats what he was doin

[Zairebabyphat]

i love the BLUES !!!

[Lathica]

Fascinating history, well done.

[theophano]

I believe the electric guitar was first used in the blues in the south, not Chicago. You could hear electric guitar in the early 40's on the blues radio show "King Biscuit Time" on KFFA in Helena Arkansas in the early 40's. I think it was Robert Jr. Lockwood who said it Charlie Christian who influenced them at the time

[Beefgog]

Ynawie Malmsteen has no soul, he sould not be on here.

[doctorpep1]

100% correct. Hair metal idiocy.

[AirHendrix91]

@Beefgog He has skill but its pure speed 24/7. He never slows down...

[justinev10]

@Beefgog

Are you crazy have you seen or really watched this person play?

[superagnitio]

@Beefgog Sad to hear this by presumably guitar players. All the pros agree, Yngwie is one of a kind.

[ruotze]

We thank the Black people of America for THE BLUES.

..a totally American form of music!

[loitalove]

ERICAND WOLF SAID IT BEST

[chess1458]

Great Post,I Don't Think Their Was Ever A Bad Record Put Out By Chess

[mbazell]

Thanks for this interesting documentary. Growing up in Chicago in the 50's and 60's I can remember taking the #5 Jeffery bus to Michigan Ave at 22nd St./Cermack Rd. where I got off in front of Al Capone's old hotel, cross the street and hang out in front of the Chess studios hoping to run into Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry or Howlin'Wolf. Such memories.

[zmirecki]

I like the archival footage but think some of your research concerning slavery as the beginning of the blues should be reformed: Surely, the influence of slavery on the culture was huge but many influences of the blues are traced back further to Africa; the roots are there instead. I also have to agree with doctorpep1 - While Johnson was big he was not the first; maybe the most widely recognized and one to first be recorded commercially but nothing else.

[TheVigilanteMan]

I think there may be some influence from old folk songs both Celtic and English too?

[zmirecki]

I have never heard of that but that doesn't mean it's not true. If you ever research that some more and find somthing out let me know.

[TheVigilanteMan]

I was thinking how of some of the Folk Music and old "Minstrel" performances seemed to have a little influence on the Songsters like Leadbelly. Songs like "Gallis Pole" and "Old Time Religion" come to mind.

I think Mississippi John Hurt also started out as a bit of a "folk" singer and he learned guitar playing Old time Folk music.

I know the Songsters weren't the same as the "Bluesmen", but there seems to be some influence?

[TheVigilanteMan]

I could be wrong on that, I haven't really researched it a lot.

More of an observation.....

I was just thinking it may help to explain why the Africans who ended up in North America adapted thier music a little different over time than the Africans in South America. Partly because they may have came from diferent parts of Africa, partly because they ended up in different surroundings.

[Bluzer86]

great video, nice work

[funnynotbutcool]

HI i like this video and i would like to know where you're getting your videos. I'm doing a documentary my self for a class as well. i would appreciate it if you gave me the place you found all these videos,

[sSurrenderDorothy]

Jim is no authority, why is he even in this thing?

[doctorpep1]

This is a good documentary, but saying things like "Robert Johnson is the beginnings of the Blues" is absurd. The guy was born in 1911, whereas Patton, John Hurt and Furry Lewis were born in the early 1890s. This is just poor research and ignorance. Besides that, I think this is a nice piece of footage.

[Kinkygal24]

Thanks so much for this :) The new 2008 movie Cadillac Records made me do a search on chess records and I found this really interesting so thank you :)

[jonnytbirdzback]

Nice job on the documentary!

[jameycruz]

One of the great labels of all time.They're making 2 movies about Chess Records with Beyonce Knowles playing Etta James.What a label!

[aldeb456]

2 movies? Really?

[oramikleepunk]

Chess Records is on the same lines as sun Records.