Chess Dies
Leonard Chess, with his brother Phil co-founder of Chess Records, died October 16. He was fifty two years old. Chess was a pioneer in the recording industry; under his and his brother’s guidance Chess produced some of the greatest blues and rhythm and blues artists of the 1950s.
Chess Dies
Leonard Chess, with his brother Phil co-founder of Chess Records, died October 16. He was fifty two years old.
Chess was a pioneer in the recording industry; under his and his brother’s guidance Chess produced some of the greatest blues and rhythm and blues artists of the 1950s. Their initial recording effort was Gene Ammons “My Foolish Heart”; the 1948 record was an immediate success and led to national distribution of the label.
Besides being a leader in the blues field, Chess also initiated many rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists. They kicked off rock and roll by recording a song called “Ida Red” by an unknown St. Louis musician who had been turned down by Capitol and Mercury. They changed the song’s title to Maybelline and Chuck Berry had his first hit.
Besides Berry, the Chess/Checker/Cadet labels also cut groups such as the Flamingos, the Moonglows and the Cornets. Leonard and Phil were also studio innovators, using such effects as tape delay, distortion and echo as far back as the mid-1950’s.