Local Chicago Music
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Donny Hathaway: more than we could ask for.
A short piece on one of my favorite artists of all time. He was an amazing vocalist, as well as an expert arranger. In fact, the majority of songs on his Greatest Hits compilation album were popularized by someone else in completely different forms (i.e. “Giving Up” and “A Song For You”). Featuring audio from…
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Amanda Love: You Keep Calling Me By Her Name.
(above, 45 sleeve art by Johnny Spencer. for more on him, click here) Not a lot is known about Amanda Love (which is probably an alias). What I do know is that she put out this bluesy number on Mel London’s Starville label about 1967. Mel London was a Chicago songwriter/producer/record label owner who…
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One Day I Was Walking: Soulful Gospel from the Swan Mellarks (Update!)
Just to give you some warning… Lynnell Harris (misspelled as Lindell Harris on the label) has an amazing tone and vocals that are SOOOOO bananas. This record was recorded for tiny Valberst Records in the 70s here in Chicago at Pervis Staples’ (of the Staple Singers) Studio. “One Day I Was Walking” has been in my head…
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McKinley Mitchell: This place ain’t getting no better.
Based in Chicago, McKinley Mitchell was one of the Chicago School of R&B belters I’m so fond of (these include Garland Green, Otis Clay, Johnny Sayles, and Tyrone Davis). Unfortunately, for all his vocal prowess, he was sort of slept on in his day. He recorded some seriously beautiful sides for George Leaner’s One-Derful Records…
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Donald Jenkins and the Delighters (and their Basement Music Revolution)
I’m not sure what exactly is revolutionary about this record, titled “Music Revolution” and released by Donald Jenkins and the Delighters in 1975, but it sure is lovely. It’s what I like to call Basement Soul. It also reminds me of how much I miss skin tight harmonies. A local Chicago record through and through…
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The Buckinghams: Chicago’s answer to the British Invasion.
The Buckinghams were by far one of the biggest pop-rock hit makers to come out of our city. Named for The Buckingham Fountain in Chicago (of course), the group was originally known as the Pulsations. They changed their names to a British-sounding name in hopes of benefitting from the British Invasion, the trend in the…
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La Cade: The little hair care company that made some big waves.
La Cade Products was another of many Chicago-based black hair care firms (that I detail here) during the late 60s through the 1970s. Though not as well-known as Supreme Products (who created Duke and Raveen) or Johnson Products (who created Soft Sheen, Afro Sheen, and Ultra Sheen), La Cade left behind scant but fascinating evidence…
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Don Cornelius: made Soul a household name.
One of the most amazing things about the life of Don Cornelius (and to be clear, this post is about his life… not his death) is the trajectory of his rise to prominence as an ambassador of Soul. Starting out as a radio journalist here on Chicago’s WVON in the early 1960s, he built important…
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More and More: Little Milton’s plea for more as the cost of living was skyrocketing.
Whew. That was a long blogpost title, huh? I know. But, let me explain: In late 1967, Chess Records’ Checker subsidiary released this record entitled “More and More” by Little Milton, where the chorus sings and growls: “More and More… all the time!” Ironically, the flip is a meandering soulful blues cut called “The Cost…
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