III. Chicago Blues
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Also known as Urban Blues and Electric Blues, Chicago Blues refers to a more sophisticated, "polished" style of the blues, usually with lyrics depicting city life – its opportunities and dark realities.
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A. Why Chicago
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Right place, right time, right people... |
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Hub of transportation (e.g., terminal of Illinois Central Railroad)
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Center of commerce, manufacturing, industrialization (e.g., stockyards, steel mills, financial center)
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2. |
History of black settlement
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Founded by Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a man of African and French descent
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Had Pre-Civil War African-American population
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Was a destination for southern blacks during the Great Migration
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An ethnically diverse working-class population was the audience base
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Phil and Leonard Chess, two Polish immigrants, founded Chess Records in Chicago; it was the preeminent blues label of the 1950s and '60s
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Era of social transformation
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The Roaring '20s (aka as the Jazz Age)
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Coast-to-coast radio broadcasts
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World War II re-industrialization
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Post-war economic expansion
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Civil Rights struggle in Chicago
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g. |
1984 establishment of the Chicago Blues Festival
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B. More Chicago
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Openness to southern-born music
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Jelly Roll Morton in Chicago
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Louis Armstrong in Chicago
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Blind Lemon Jefferson records in Chicago
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Alberta Hunter comes to Chicago
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Blues musicians establish Chicago beachhead
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Tampa Red and Georgia Tom Dorsey -- "hokum" blues (humorous songs; silly lyrics; spoofs)
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Big Maceo Merriweather
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John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson
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Electrifying the blues
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Muddy Waters amplifies guitar, 1947
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Important record labels included Aristocrat Records (later to become Chess Records) and Sun Records
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British rock artists of the 1960's heavily influenced by Chicago blues include John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and Led Zepplin
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American folk-blues revival of the 1960s
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b. |
Paul Butterfield Blues Band with Mike Bloomfield
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Blues on tour -- American Folk Blues Festival, 1962 -1966
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C. Besides Chicago
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Second generation Chicago blues artists
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Blues venues migrate to white Chicago neighborhoods
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b. |
changing musical preferences
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New recording companies: Delmark, Alligator, Earwig, Blind Pig, The Sirens
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Acclaim for Chicago blues masters
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Muddy Waters' comeback, abetted by Johnny Winter
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Howlin' Wolf honored by Grammies and the Rolling Stones
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c. |
City of Chicago establishes annual Blues Festival, 1984
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Cross-genre influences
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Blues Brothers (Saturday Night Live TV comedy; films)
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The Staple Singers (contemporary gospel music)
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Curtis Mayfield (soul/soundtrack music)
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d. |
"Hip Hop Ain't Nothing But The Young People's Blues"
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Outkast, "Percival and Rooster" (Idlewild Blues)
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Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess and heir to the Chess Records legacy) produces hip-hop artist Chuck D. for Martin Scorsese's blues film series, bringing veteran blues players together with contemporary hip hop musicians
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D. Download Chicago Blues Essay
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Video Clips
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