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Spinning Blues into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records
Muddy Waters. Howlin' Wolf. Chuck Berry. Etta James. Bo Diddley.
The greatest artists who sang the blues made their mark with Leonard and Phil Chess, whose Chess Records was synonymous with the sound that swept up from the south, embraced Chicago and spread out into mid-century America. Spinning Blues into Gold is the impeccably researched story of the men behind the music and the remarkable company they created. Chess Records-and later Checkers, Argo and Cadet-was built by Polish immigrant Jews, brothers who saw the blues as a unique business opportunity. From their first ventures, a liquor store and then a nightclub, they promoted live entertainment. And parlayed that into the first pressings sold out of car trunks on long junkets through the midsection of the country, ultimately expanding their empire to include influential radio stations. The story of the Chess brothers is a very American story of commerce in the service of culture. Long on chutzpah, Leonard and Phil went far beyond their childhoods as the sons of a scrap-metal dealer. They changed what America listened to; the artists they promoted planted the seeds of rock 'n' roll and are still influencing music today.
The story of the Chess brothers and the music they made captures the rich and volatile mix of race, Jews and music. Cohodas takes us deep into the world of independent record producers, sometimes abrasive and always aggressive men striving to succeed. Leonard and Phil worked hand-in-glove with disenfranchised black artists, the intermittent charges of exploitation balanced by the reality of a common purpose that brought them fame. From beginning to end, the lives of the Chesses were entwined with those of the artists socially, financially and creatively.
The greatest artists who sang the blues made their mark with Leonard and Phil Chess, whose Chess Records was synonymous with the sound that swept up from the south, embraced Chicago and spread out into mid-century America. Spinning Blues into Gold is the impeccably researched story of the men behind the music and the remarkable company they created. Chess Records-and later Checkers, Argo and Cadet-was built by Polish immigrant Jews, brothers who saw the blues as a unique business opportunity. From their first ventures, a liquor store and then a nightclub, they promoted live entertainment. And parlayed that into the first pressings sold out of car trunks on long junkets through the midsection of the country, ultimately expanding their empire to include influential radio stations. The story of the Chess brothers is a very American story of commerce in the service of culture. Long on chutzpah, Leonard and Phil went far beyond their childhoods as the sons of a scrap-metal dealer. They changed what America listened to; the artists they promoted planted the seeds of rock 'n' roll and are still influencing music today.
The story of the Chess brothers and the music they made captures the rich and volatile mix of race, Jews and music. Cohodas takes us deep into the world of independent record producers, sometimes abrasive and always aggressive men striving to succeed. Leonard and Phil worked hand-in-glove with disenfranchised black artists, the intermittent charges of exploitation balanced by the reality of a common purpose that brought them fame. From beginning to end, the lives of the Chesses were entwined with those of the artists socially, financially and creatively.
358 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 19, 2019
Blues history is always full of conflicting versions; you've got the different sides to the story, and then you have characters like Bo Diddley who tell it different in every interview. Even in a book like this one, which is more a business history and a bit of biography, things don't always crystallize but Cohodas keeps the path clear enough. When she contradicts Chess myths, I take her side because she obviously went back to the official records when possible and examined all the relevant interviews. Leonard, Phil and Marshall Chess come across as basically good guys who understood their market and their artists and aren't any more or less ruthless than their competitors.
The later into Chess's two decade history the book got, the more interested I was. I didn't know that much about the jazz releases on Argo, and I didn't know about the "Rotary Connection" albums. The coolest stuff in here is related to WVON, the "Voice of the Negro" radio station the brothers owned. It seems like the secret to the brothers' success is that "they knew how to get out of the way," as someone in here puts it, meaning when to leave the artists to do their thing, but it also seems to apply more broadly to the end of Chess Records. The decision to sell the record labels and WVON a year after the '68 riots seems to me to be mainly about recognizing the shift towards black power in the Chess brothers' core audience. Leonard seems to really love WVON and he was on his way there when he died, so why sell? Cohodas only hints at 'getting out of the way' as one reason, when she writes that Leonard told Marshall "that it was getting more difficult for white people to own companies that did business in the black community." They had let VON get political and do fund raisers for all kinds of civil rights stuff, and now that Jesse Jackson was breathing down their necks to hire more African Americans to senior management, they saw the writing on the wall. Unfortunately, they didn't sell it to African Americans, they sold it to a bunch of corporate numb nuts and the entire back catalog disappeared until MCA finally got a hold of it in the late 80s.
Also news to me were the many women business partners, especially in the early years, and just Leonard's general attitude towards women. It's not spelled out here but it seems like if a woman is out in the world, either in business or as an artist, then Leonard treats her the same as he does the men. His relationship with Etta James isn't any different than his relationship to Muddy Waters or Rice Miller. He takes care of their legal troubles, he pays for rehab, whatever. But the women in his own family are expected to be homemakers.
I loved imagining Leonard barking out the quotes Cohodas attributes to him in a Chicago-Jewish accent. "It's gotta have more boom! boom! boom!" The constant "motherf*ckers" and one of the best stories in here, when he takes a Mad Men style ad guy deep into the South Side while the MLK riots are still going on for some on-the-spot focus group research that ends with one Black man climbing on a chair to better piss on the poster the Mad Men dork has made. The images of Leonard Chess in these parts of Chicago or promoting his products in the Black parts of the deep South are just pure joy for me. Looking forward to revisiting some of these scenes in related works, for example, the history of Sun Records...
The later into Chess's two decade history the book got, the more interested I was. I didn't know that much about the jazz releases on Argo, and I didn't know about the "Rotary Connection" albums. The coolest stuff in here is related to WVON, the "Voice of the Negro" radio station the brothers owned. It seems like the secret to the brothers' success is that "they knew how to get out of the way," as someone in here puts it, meaning when to leave the artists to do their thing, but it also seems to apply more broadly to the end of Chess Records. The decision to sell the record labels and WVON a year after the '68 riots seems to me to be mainly about recognizing the shift towards black power in the Chess brothers' core audience. Leonard seems to really love WVON and he was on his way there when he died, so why sell? Cohodas only hints at 'getting out of the way' as one reason, when she writes that Leonard told Marshall "that it was getting more difficult for white people to own companies that did business in the black community." They had let VON get political and do fund raisers for all kinds of civil rights stuff, and now that Jesse Jackson was breathing down their necks to hire more African Americans to senior management, they saw the writing on the wall. Unfortunately, they didn't sell it to African Americans, they sold it to a bunch of corporate numb nuts and the entire back catalog disappeared until MCA finally got a hold of it in the late 80s.
Also news to me were the many women business partners, especially in the early years, and just Leonard's general attitude towards women. It's not spelled out here but it seems like if a woman is out in the world, either in business or as an artist, then Leonard treats her the same as he does the men. His relationship with Etta James isn't any different than his relationship to Muddy Waters or Rice Miller. He takes care of their legal troubles, he pays for rehab, whatever. But the women in his own family are expected to be homemakers.
I loved imagining Leonard barking out the quotes Cohodas attributes to him in a Chicago-Jewish accent. "It's gotta have more boom! boom! boom!" The constant "motherf*ckers" and one of the best stories in here, when he takes a Mad Men style ad guy deep into the South Side while the MLK riots are still going on for some on-the-spot focus group research that ends with one Black man climbing on a chair to better piss on the poster the Mad Men dork has made. The images of Leonard Chess in these parts of Chicago or promoting his products in the Black parts of the deep South are just pure joy for me. Looking forward to revisiting some of these scenes in related works, for example, the history of Sun Records...
March 4, 2009
I was very excited to read this book because I am such a fan of so many Chess Records artists. Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willy Dixon, Ramsey Lewis, Etta James, Chuck Berry... the list is long and very impressive.
Spinning Blues Into Gold is alright. The down side is that Cohodas has a very flat writing style. It's all about, "This happened then this happened then these things happened." Which is what a bio is but there are ways of writing those facts down that makes a bio fresh and interesting. The other side of that coin is that this has to be one of the most thoroughly researched bios ever. Meticulous. Exhausting. The facts are all there, including the debunking of myths, my favorite. Finally, the myth that Muddy Waters ever did any kind of manual labor for Chess is dispelled.
Indispensable as a reference guide for all the information it contains but not a whole lot of fun to read, Spinning Blues Into Gold could have been a lot more.
Spinning Blues Into Gold is alright. The down side is that Cohodas has a very flat writing style. It's all about, "This happened then this happened then these things happened." Which is what a bio is but there are ways of writing those facts down that makes a bio fresh and interesting. The other side of that coin is that this has to be one of the most thoroughly researched bios ever. Meticulous. Exhausting. The facts are all there, including the debunking of myths, my favorite. Finally, the myth that Muddy Waters ever did any kind of manual labor for Chess is dispelled.
Indispensable as a reference guide for all the information it contains but not a whole lot of fun to read, Spinning Blues Into Gold could have been a lot more.
December 30, 2015
Unreadable. Nadine Cohodas' 'Spinning Blues Into Gold' is so dense with insignificant, inconsequential detail as to render it unreadable. I gave up on page 109 of 314, and regret that I struggled to read that far. I very much enjoyed the movie: Cadillac Records that I wanted to know more about the exciting times, people and events. 'Spinning Blues into Gold' is about the same times, people and events, but there's nothing exciting about it. Too bogged down in the precise wording of what ad appeared in which trade paper.
Recommendation: Watch the movie again, but avoid wasting time on this book.
2nd worst-read of 2009
Recommendation: Watch the movie again, but avoid wasting time on this book.
2nd worst-read of 2009
January 21, 2018
This is a fascinating book that really makes you want to go listen to some old music. Chess Records boasted such artists as Muddy Waters, Etta James, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon and many others. Their artists did well on their own, and were monstrously influential among British rockers like Mick and Keef, and later Jimmy and Robert. This book does a nice job of charting the label's rise from a tiny outfit on Chicago's South Side (not far from where I used to live). It doesn't paper over the fact that the Chess brothers were a couple of white guys selling black music, nor the fact that they weren't necessarily the nicest guys, but it contextualizes them and makes a case that they had a genuine love for a lot of the people they worked with.
The problems it has, I'd say, are mostly editorial. This edition, at least, is chock full of typos, and its layout isn't all that user-friendly. But hey, it was a fun read.
The problems it has, I'd say, are mostly editorial. This edition, at least, is chock full of typos, and its layout isn't all that user-friendly. But hey, it was a fun read.
August 8, 2012
I picked up this book after listening to an old Sound Opinions podcast about Chess Records. Both this book and the movie, "Cadillac Records," were mentioned and accompanied by a selection of great songs from the studio's stars, which made it a must-read.
This book took some time to get through because it is so densely packed. I give the author credit for the amount of research behind the final product, but there are portions of the book that dragged. To bring Chess Records and its artists to life, I listened to each track as it came up in the book. On the plus side, it's a balanced peek into the rise and fall of a small Chicago studio run by Polish immigrants. Check it out if you are interested in blues, early rock, and soul out of Chicago.
This book took some time to get through because it is so densely packed. I give the author credit for the amount of research behind the final product, but there are portions of the book that dragged. To bring Chess Records and its artists to life, I listened to each track as it came up in the book. On the plus side, it's a balanced peek into the rise and fall of a small Chicago studio run by Polish immigrants. Check it out if you are interested in blues, early rock, and soul out of Chicago.
August 8, 2016
Brilliant and probably the most comprehensive history of the famous Chess Record label. A must read for Blues fans!
September 29, 2018
The Czyz brothers, Leonard and Phil as they were known, became the Chess brothers when the family came to America. I have no idea how to pronounce the name, crazy to our eyes, "Czyz," but then neither did I know the extent of Chess Recording company. Plenty of their artists formed the music of my youth, and it turns out that through the years I came to know and listen to many artists who were in the larger Chess stable.
Apparently, Leonard's biggest mistake was dying intestate at an inauspicious time. Between the later legal machinations and the resonance of the lies---I call badly researched journalism a lie---which appeared in a 'Billboard' story on the brothers, a cloud has hung over the name Chess for some years. As we have seen many times, once a lie gets told often enough it becomes impossible to eradicate, but Nadine Cohodas' dual biography is even-handed, well researched and balanced.
For my money and kudos, I give thanks to the brothers and the work they did. We have great musical treasures at our fingertips because of them. While 'Spinning' predates Guralnick's "Sam Phillips" (2014) the two work well together to describe how large amounts of 'black' music became 'white'.
Recommended.
Apparently, Leonard's biggest mistake was dying intestate at an inauspicious time. Between the later legal machinations and the resonance of the lies---I call badly researched journalism a lie---which appeared in a 'Billboard' story on the brothers, a cloud has hung over the name Chess for some years. As we have seen many times, once a lie gets told often enough it becomes impossible to eradicate, but Nadine Cohodas' dual biography is even-handed, well researched and balanced.
For my money and kudos, I give thanks to the brothers and the work they did. We have great musical treasures at our fingertips because of them. While 'Spinning' predates Guralnick's "Sam Phillips" (2014) the two work well together to describe how large amounts of 'black' music became 'white'.
Recommended.
August 16, 2021
I'm a huge fan of many Chess artists Waters Wolf etc.I found this book informative fairly honest and nonbiased.
September 19, 2022
This is exhaustively researched and mostly about the business end of the blues. I expected more blues and less business, and was disappointed and a bit bored.
December 3, 2009
Good book presenting an accurate account of the Chess brothers and the founding and eventual demise of the legendary Chess Records label. A majority of the book focuses on a year by year accounting of the growth of Chess, specifically the artists and their hit singles and albums. That can be some dry reading at times but it's the colorful stories about a particular artist or session or incident peppered throughout the book that makes it a worthwhile read. The death of Leonard Chess and Chess Records, such an important part of the history of blues and rock and roll, is heartbreaking.
May 30, 2009
Highly detailed account of the early days and high times at Chess Records. The book is interesting, but doesn't have enough of a storyline to get me all the way through the facts. Got bored about 2/3 of the way through, but learned a ton about the small studio business and the movers and shakers at Chess.
February 4, 2008
A great topic for a book. It's about incredible music, jazz, blues and the birth of rock and roll. Gender, patriarchy, sexism, race and religions. Unfortunately it never comes alive and lies on the page like a lox.
July 15, 2009
Fascinating history of Chess Records and the many artists who recorded for them. Makes you long for a time machine so you can go back to the 1950s and visit the Macomba Lounge, 2120 South Michigan Ave., and Maxwell Street.
May 18, 2013
If you love music and like to know the stories behinds the songs, the record labels, the Chess Brothers, and all of the many artists they produced like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Etta James, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley you will love this book.
October 11, 2014
Well written history of the influential Chess Records, mostly focused on Leonard Chess, and the incidents, rumors, memories, activities, manic intensity, revisionist viewpoints, and somewhat realistic version of such an important record company in popular music.
October 29, 2008
A comprehensive look at the history of Chess Records, both the good and the bad. The early history of real rock n' roll.
January 28, 2014
well researched, but surprisingly lacking in passion considering the subject matter. Written with a lean toward the business end more than the music.
Read
May 7, 2015definite slant in favor of subjects...
January 6, 2023
While I wasn't blown away by the prose, this is the only decent history of Chess Records I've ever found.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews