- Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess (
March 12 ,1917 -October 16 ,1969 ) was a record company executive, founder ofChess Records . Chess was influential in the development ofelectric blues .He was born Lejzor Czyz in a Jewish community in
Motal ,Poland (but now withinBelarus ) [http://www.bluestogold.com/index2.html] . He and his brother Fiszel, sister Malka and mother followed their father toChicago, Illinois in 1928. The family name was changed to Chess, with Lejzor becoming Leonard and Fiszel becoming Philip.Leonard and his brother Phil were involved in the black nightclub scene on the south side of Chicago by 1947. They soon became associated with
Aristocrat Records , and moved the company away from black pop and jazz and closer to pure blues music with artists such asMuddy Waters ,Sunnyland Slim andWillie Dixon . Leonard Chess himself playedbass drum on some Muddy Waters's songs. In 1948, the Chess brothers took control of the company and in 1950 renamed it Chess Records. "My Foolish Heart" (Gene Ammons ), "Rollin' Stone " (Muddy Waters ) and "That's All Right" (Jimmy Rogers ) showcased the company's new direction.Chess contacted
Sam Phillips (ofSun Records ) to help find and record new artists in the south. Phillips supplied Chess with recordings byHowlin' Wolf ,Rufus Thomas andDoctor Ross among others. Of these, Howlin' Wolf especially became very popular, and Chess Records had to fight over him with other companies which had also been supplied with Wolf recordings by Phillips. Soon, more important artists joined up, includingBo Diddley andSonny Boy Williamson . In the 1950s, Chess Records' commercial success only grew with artists likeLittle Walter ,The Moonglows ,The Flamingos ,Chuck Berry , and in the '60s withEtta James ,Fontella Bass ,Koko Taylor ,Little Milton ,Laura Lee , andTommy Tucker , and subsidiary labels Checker, Argo and Cadet. As the 1960s progressed, Chess's recording enterprise branched out into other genres including gospel, traditional jazz, spoken word, comedy, and more. In the early 1960s the Chess became involved in the broadcasting business as part owner of WVON-AM radio, and later acquired WSDM-FM, both in Chicago. In October 1969, a few months after selling his namesake label to General Recorded Tape, Leonard Chess died of a heart attack.External links
* [http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/leonardchess.txt Biography]
* [http://www.history-of-rock.com/chess_records.htm Chess Records]
* [http://www.bsnpubs.com/chess/chesscheck.html The Chess Story]
* [http://www.bluestogold.com/index2.html Spinning Blues Into Gold]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jzkxu3y5an4k~T1 All Music Guide]
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