Air Week: January 20-26, 2025

“Juke In The Back” begins a behemoth, multi-part series on Chess Records. The Chicago record label, founded by 2 Polish immigrant brothers, Leonard and Phil Chess, proved to be one of the most influential and important labels in not only Blues, but also Rhythm & Blues and its contribution to the birth of Rock n’ Roll. Chess was the musical home of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, The Moonglows, The Flamingos and countless other giants of 20th Century music. In part 1, Matt The Cat introduces Leonard and Phil and their foray into the entertainment business, beginning with liquor clubs, nightclubs and eventually a record company. Leonard got a deep education of African-American culture while growing up, living and working on Chicago South Side. The jukebox in his liquor joint was jammed with the down-home Delta Blues that newly-arrived transplants from the South were craving. This set the stage for Leonard’s involvement with the fledgling Aristocrat Record Label. He originally bought into the label to help with distribution and promotion, but as the Blues became more popular, his involvement with the label grew. During the Aristocrat days, local talent from The 5 Blazes, Tom Archia and Andrew Tibbs was beginning to sell outside of Chicago. Tibbs’ song “Bilbo Is Dead” became a minor hit and was banned in parts of the South for its sarcastic tone towards recently deceased segregationist Senator Bilbo. Muddy Waters had only recently begun recording for the label, but in late 1948, he scored a national hit with “Feel Like Going Home” b/w “I Can’t Be Satisfied.” By the end of ’49, Leonard had bought out the other partners and brought in his brother Phil to help. Soon, Aristocrat would get a name-change to Chess and the brothers would be off and running. This week in part 1, we’ll look at where it all began on the Aristocrat of Records.

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