Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry, Etta James, and Bo Diddley, forexample -- some of the greatest artists who ever sang the blues -- madetheir mark with Leonard and Phil Chess, whose Chess Records wassynonymous with the sound that swept up from the south, embraced Chicagoand spread out into mid-century America.Spinning Blues Into Gold is the impeccably researchedstory of the men behind the music and the remarkable company theycreated.
Chess Records -- and later Checkers, Argo and Cadet -- was built byPolish immigrant Jews, brothers who saw the blues as a unique businessopportunity. From their start in a liquor store and then a nightclub,they promoted live entertainment, sold their first pressings out of cartrunks on long junkets through the midsection of the country, andultimately expanded their empire to include influential radio stations.
The book portrays the rich and volatile mix of race, Jews, and music.Cohodas takes us deep into the world of independent record producers,men who were sometimes abrasive and always aggressive, striving tosucceed. Leonard and Phil worked hand-in-glove with disenfranchisedblack artists, and the intermittent charges of exploitation werebalanced by the reality of a common purpose that brought them fame. Frombeginning to end, the the lives of the Chesses were entwined with thoseof the artists -- socially, financially, and creatively.
The story of the Chess brothers is a very American story of commerce inthe service of culture. Long on chutzpah, Leonard and Phil went farbeyond their childhoods as the sons of a scrap-metal dealer. Theychanged what America listened to; the artists they promoted planted theseeds of rock 'n' roll and are still influencing music today.
"Filled with the facts and funk, Spinning Blues Into Gold tells arough-and-tumble American story: how Chicago's Leonard and Phil Chessgot black electric blues on wax and sent it round the world. Acompelling, at times poignant book, superbly researched and sensitivelywritten by Nadine Cohodas."
MICHAEL LYDON, AUTHOR OF RAY CHARLES: MAN ANDMUSIC"A story of luck and chutzpah, of immigrants carving out their piece ofthe American dream..."
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