Bo Diddley was especially bitter about his treatment, telling Rolling Stone in the 1987, “My records are sold all over the world and I ain’t got a f-ing dime.” While we’ll likely never know the truth, cases of labels withholding royalties from artists are still common today. All the lawsuits were settled confidentially out of court the issue is still debated today. In the 1970s, several Chess artists, including Waters, Wolf and Dixon sued for back royalty payments. While many of the Chess stars were also very well off, other artists showed less financial responsibility and had very little to show for their success. With Leonard no longer alive, it was up to Phil and Marshall, Leonard’s son, to appease the worries from their biggest stars that the brothers had made unreasonable profits off their artists. He had been on his way to a meeting at WVON.Ī little over twenty years after opening the Mocambo Lounge, Leonard and Phil Chess’ dream of striking it rich had come true several times over. Just 52 years old, the elder brother had died of a heart attack in his car less than two blocks from the Chess headquarters. Less than a year after selling their label, Leonard Chess was dead. When GRT made an offer of $6.5 million for all of the label’s properties, they accepted. By the end of the ’60s, Leonard and Phil had been looking for a way to get out of the record business and into television. ![]() With the exception of Berry, who briefly recorded for Mercury in the mid-’60s before returning to Chess, and Dixon, who took a short-lived job at Vee-Jay, all of Chess’ major artists stayed with the label until its sale. Guy didn’t find true success until his 1991 comeback album “Damn Right I’ve Got the Blues” on the Silvertone label. Primarily a session guitarist, solo singles like “The First Time I Met the Blues” barely hinted at the flamboyant style that influenced Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Although he was known for his anarchic guitar playing onstage, the Chess brothers reigned him in on record. From the gritty soul of “In the Basement” and “Tell Mama” to the heartache of “I’d Rather Go Blind,” James’ versatile voice found success for the rest of the decade.īuddy Guy showed up in Chicago in 1957 and quickly fell under the wing of Muddy Waters. Her breakthrough came the following year with “At Last.” The gorgeous soul ballad was a bit of a departure for the label – guitars and harmonicas were replaced by a lush string orchestra. She signed to Chess in 1960 and converted Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” into an R&B hit. She was discovered at age 14 by bandleader Johnny Otis, and recorded with him for Modern Records in the late 1950s. The other took more than three decades to reach his commercial potential, but stands today as the greatest living link to Chess and Chicago blues.Įtta James was born in Los Angeles to an unwed, 14-year-old mother. ![]() One of their biggest signings of the decade was an immediate success. Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley had helped formed rock and roll, and the label had branched into more genres, including R&B, comedy, jazz and gospel.īut Leonard and Phil were still looking for new ways to stay on top of the trends and build their roster. Thanks to the proselytizing of the British Invasion bands, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and other blues artists were performing for the largest crowds of their careers. The wonderful Etta James during her Chess period.Īs the 1960s dawned on Chess Records, label founders Leonard and Phil were at the peak of their powers.
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