I Feel Like Going Home: The Legacy of Chess Records
By Adam D. Miller

Legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has described his initial meeting with electric blues patriarch Muddy Waters with great amusement in many interviews.  On their first trip to the United States, The Stones wanted to visit Chess Studios.  They had taken their name from one of the many Muddy Waters tracks recorded there for Chess Records, “Rollin’ Stone,” and the band counted many of the musicians who had also recorded there, such as Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley, among their primary influences.

When The Stones arrived at Chess Studios, Muddy was on a ladder painting a wall.  This must have been a humbling experience for the Stones, who would go on to record “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” at the studio and become one of the highest grossing acts in rock ‘n’ roll history.

Decades earlier, McKinley Morganfield (a.k.a Muddy Waters) joined scores of other African-Americans in a mass migration from the Mississippi Delta to the north.  Morganfield hoped for a better job and more financial security.  Connections in Chicago drew him in, although it would be some time before his move proved successful.  Working days driving a truck, and nights immersed in Chicago’s South Side blues scene, he befriended pianist Sunnyland Slim, who introduced him to many local musicians, including some of those who would ultimately become members of Muddy’s band.

The Chess family had also come to Chicago in hopes of finding success there.  Only they hadn’t come from the Missisippi Delta, they had come from Poland.  Leonard and Phil Chess grew up in Chicago with their family before entering the nightclub business together.  Then, in 1947, they tried their hand at the record industry, buying into the new independent Aristocrat Records label. 

With Aristocrat, they cut tracks with Sunnyland Slim, Muddy Waters, and Robert Nighthawk.

In 1950, the Chess brothers bought out the rest of Aristocrat Records and renamed it Chess Records.  That’s when things really began to take off.

In 1951, the Chess brothers hired Willie Dixon, a former boxer who had also been in the U.S. army.  Dixon was a talented vocalist, but found his niche as Chess’ session bassist and in-house songwriter.  The list of songs he wrote at Chess include many of the label’s biggest hits: “Spoonful,” “I Just Want To Make Love To You,” “Hoochie Coochie Man,” and “My Babe,” to name a few.

Around the same time that Chess was recording hits with Muddy Waters, another powerful blues singer joined the label.  With a voice like a grizzly bear and weighing in at 6’3” and 270 pounds, Howlin’ Wolf was an immeasurable force on the Chess roster.  Wolf’s earliest recordings were actually recorded by Sam Phillips from Sun Records, but his music was leased to Chess Records and other labels for release.  By 1953, Howlin’ Wolf had moved to Chicago and became an exclusive member of the Chess family.  His biggest hits starting coming in 1956 and included “Smokestack Lighting” and “Evil.”  Like Waters, many of Howlin’ Wolf’s songs would go on to be recorded by the likes of Cream, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix, among others. 

In 1970, many of the British blues rockers who were enamored by Howlin’ Wolf in their younger days got the opportunity to record The London Howlin’ Wolf Sessions with him.  Of the experience, Eric Clapton has remarked:

“Howlin’ taught me how to play ‘Red Rooster’.  It was a hairy experience.  He came over and got hold of my wrist and said, ‘You move your hand up HERE!’  he was very, very vehement about it being done right.  Because he considered us to be English and foreigners, and therefore we wouldn’t have heard the song, right?  So he just got his guitar out and said, ‘This is how it goes.’  It’s not on the album unfortunately, but he played it all the way through once on his own with us just sitting there and listening.  He was playing slide dobro, and it was just bloody amazing!  And he said, ‘Okay, you try it.’  So we all tried playing it like him, but it didn’t sound right, so I said, ‘Well, why don’t you do it with us?’  And that’s the bit that got on the record.”

Because Chess Records put two of the greatest blues musicians of all-time (in fact, there were more; John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy both got their start at the label as well) on the map, many assume that Chess was thoroughly a blues label.  This is not entirely true, and some of the artists who recorded for the label are more identified with other genres, like rock ‘n’ roll and R&B. 

Chuck Berry was eager to make records when he arrived in Chicago.  He had played St. Louis clubs with bands, but after a chance meeting with Muddy Waters, Berry was convinced that he should approach Chess records with his demo tape.  After Leonard Chess heard “Ida Red” on Berry’s tape, he was eager to meet the man behind it.  Berry and Chess ultimately renamed the song, and the May 21, 1955 recording session of “Maybellene” proved historic.  With its success, Berry proved capable of being one of rock ‘n’ roll’s first crossover stars, appealing to both black and white audiences.  Not much else need be said about Chuck Berry’s time at Chess.  He proved to be their biggest success, recording songs like “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen” for the label.

Chuck Berry’s contemporary at Chess was a strange guitarist/singer named Bo Diddley.  Born Elias McDaniel, Bo Diddley came to chess in 1955 and recorded “Bo Diddley,” a song that still gets musicians excited.  With a handmade, square-shaped guitarshaky voice, and thick glasses, not to mention that signature Bo Diddley beat (bomp, ba-bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp), Diddley’s self-titled single proved groundbreaking.  Thanks to Diddley’s beat, songs like The Who’s “Magic Bus” and Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” were made possible.

Although the 1950s was Chess Records’ golden period, the label continued to operate through the 1960s.  Etta James was 21 when she signed with Chess Records in 1960, ushering in her career with the timeless ballad “At Last” and other classics, including the more upbeat “Tell Mama.”  The 1960s also saw the label recording with other performers such as Koko Taylor and Little Milton, as well as the young Buddy Guy.

The end of Chess Records more or less came with the death of Leonard Chess in 1969.  The Chess name lived on, though more as a brand associated with the artists of a golden era than a label that continued recording new music.  In 1987, Leonard Chess was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1997, MCA marked the 50^th anniversary of Chess Records with a series of 50^th Anniversary Collection sets devoted to Bo Diddley, Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Little Walter, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, and others. 

 

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