This is how the music spawned on Maxwell Street reached the rest of the world. The configuration of the east-of-Halsted Maxwell Street Market is unknown. Suffering from poor health, Left Hand Frank moved to California to join his sister, retired from music, and died in 1992. Hesplayed on over 50 records with artists including Big Mojo Elem, Sunnyland Slim, Hip Linkchain, Little Mack Simmons, Eddie Shaw, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Robert Plunkett, Paul Jones, Mick Taylor, Easy Baby, Lovie Lee, Billy Branch, ZZ Hill, Taildragger, Harmonica Hines, Maurice John Vaughn, Melvin Taylor, and Willie Kent and more. How did the end of 24-hour service impact the stand? Jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, born in 1909, grew up in the Maxwell Street area. Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones, 12 x 5 (Uni/ABKCO). Bribery of officials was the currency at every level of policing and permissions. His nickname came from a brief trip to that city after being rejected from military service in 1942. (James Mayo, Chicago Tribune), Joe Caldwell sells string beans for 45 cents a pound, tomatoes for 25 cents and onions for 20 cents from his cart in the Maxwell Street area on Sept. 25, 1975. (Walter Kale, Chicago Tribune), A jazz band plays while shoppers mingle on Maxwell Street on March 16, 1975. "Poor folks can't afford to pay more," he said. Once north in the big city, musicians flocked to Jewtown, he saidMuddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers. Photo printed on Oct. 1, 1993. Arriving Chicago in 1949, Taylor played on Maxwell Street and in the clubs on the West and South Side, first with guitarist Jimmie Lee Robinson, then with harpist Snooky Pryor and guitarist Floyd Jones. He fitted his Kalamazoo acoustic guitar with an electric pickup, helping shape the sound of Chicago blues. His statue keeps a vigil on the gentrified 21st century Maxwell Street. A 1996 review of Rushings ferocious style from David Whiteis in the Chicago Reader:http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/pat-rushing-with-willie-jamesthe-maxwell-street-blues-band/Content?oid=890047 He often played with, or around the corner from another musician, John Henry Davis, and hosted other performers including drummer Winehead Willie Williams, according to blues fan Les Fourge. Born in Shaw, MS, David Honey Edwards was one of the last Delta guitar players to travel and perform professionally. She specializes in knowing the holes in the wall where the best soul and blues can be found, and in the areas north of Chicago http://lowreensliveblues.com, For a mainstream guide to blues and blues-rock acts and events in the area, see Linda Cain and Jennifer Nobles Chicago Blues Guide http://www.chicagobluesguide.com/index.html, The Windy City Blues Society website posts clubs, events, and bands http://windycityblues.org/musicians/, Al Harris moved to Chicago from Shreveport, LA in the early 1960s. Our founder, Dick Portillo, frequented the famous corner of Maxwell St. & Halsted St. as a young boy, where he recalls the sweet smell of grilled onions from the Polish sausage street carts. My Pop Mr CHEROKEE CHARLIE MCGEE 1st Restaurant @ HALSTED & MAXWELL #1 of 5 Eateries & 12 of my Parents Businesses 2. The Maxwell Street market -- its principal thoroughfare was just south of Roosevelt Road on either side of Halsted Street -- was the ancestor of today's suburban flea markets. BURTON J. BLEDSTEIN, PROJECT DIRECTOR. My constituents cant read. His parents moved to the near South Side of Chicago; they took him to visit Maxwell Street when he was eight years old. Located on the eastern side at the south branch of the Chicago River with a few industrial buildings, the street moved westward with increasing residential density around Jefferson Street, where outdoor marketing first appeared. Just as Elvis Presley copied African American rock n roll creators like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Fats Domino promoted by Sam Phillips at Sun Records in the 1950s, British rocknroll bands copied and built upon American blues. One of Chicagos very first record companies to record blues was Ora-Nelle Records, owned and operated by Bernard Abrams and his wife Idel at their Radio and Records store at 831 W. Maxwell Street. No single piece or genre of documentation is definitive, or credible at mere face value. Suffering from bone cancer in 2002, he took his own life at age 71. http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/maxwell%20street.htm, Also known as Jewtown Jimmy, Davis was born Charles Thompson in Tippo, MS according to Komara and Lees Blues Encyclopedia. As a young boy learning to play along with his friend Jimmy Reed, he followed guitar heroes Robert Johnson, Charley Patton and Son House. The blues wasnt recognized much until the blues singers got a break, till they got a chance [to record], see. Settling in Chicago in the mid-1940s, he joined leading artists onstage: Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, and John Lee Sonny Boy Williamson (No. Also see his live performance of this song on the Street in Mike Sheas film, And This Is Free. On Dec. 23, 1938, Big Bill played solo in the first Spirituals to Swing concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York Citya stand-in for Robert Johnson who had been murdered that year. 1309 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60607 Directions. According to the Tribune, a "marijuana and hashish enthusiast" sells slightly used drug paraphernalia on Maxwell Street on March 16, 1975. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yStDAOj2GPQ, Born in Dallas, TX, Bobby Top Hat Davis was already entertaining people at age nine, shining shoes and tap dancing outside the Dallas State Movie Theater. Rear structures were added to many buildings to accommodate expanding businesses. What is the best-selling item at Jims, and what do you think makes it special? The leasehold for the northeast corner at the Maxwell street crossing, seventy-five feet, was purchased two weeks ago for $60,000. I Love Chicago! Maxwell Street Market was officially . Please enter a valid email and try again. Hearing of prosperity on Maxwell Street, Honey migrated to Chicago in 1945 with harmonica player Little Walter. People are getting on the public transit bus. When recorded, the result became not only the dominant form of blues, but a vehicle that radically changed the emerging sound of rock and roll. By the 1930s he was working with Sleepy John Estes and Sonny Boy Williamson I. According to British writer Mike Rowes book Chicago Blues: The City and the Music, Ora Nelle issued only two records: one by the mandolin-guitar duo Johnny Young and Johnny Williams. "Poor folks can't afford to pay more," he said. The historians universe neither privileges subjective fictions of myth and imaginative story telling nor objective sciences of measurement and numbers. Moving to Chicago hed play Maxwell Street at the height of the crowd each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Usually backed by nothing more than an electric guitar and a drummer. Photo printed on Oct. 1, 1993. Lefty plays on the sidewalks at Chicago Blues Festival and neighborhood events, and at the, http://klezmerband.com/aboutus/history.html, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUQeSsf9Sec, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people, http://www.newstips.org/category/maxwell-street/, https://www.pbs.org/thisfarbyfaith/people/thomas_dorsey.html, B. Maxwell Street Sounds through the years, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZVyOiUypQs, http://www.wbez.org/blogs/lee-bey/2013-06/old-maxwell-street-remembered-film-107720, 1. Chuck Cowdery, Urban Blues, book by Charles Keil, (University of Chicago Press, 1964, reissued 1992, 225 page paperback). Vera Green, left, and Maria Gutierez, right, ride floats as queens in a parade honoring the 100th anniversary of the Maxwell and Halsted Street business districts on Nov. 25, 1955. Born in Chicago right after his parents arrived from Hollandale, MS, Vince grew up in Lawndale in the neighborhood of California and Polk. And then the blues began to spread. Coming up from the south, musicians were used to the natural sounds of stringed instruments, horns, drums, fiddles, banjos, washtubs and voices played on the street, in the church or on peoples front porches. When I first put my feet on the soil of Chicago, I was so disgusted that I wished I had stayed in Russia. "You have to know what you're looking for," says a frequent visitor to the area. Always great polish,hot dogs,pork chops,fish burgers open 24/7 Maxwell polish beef or pork always great! Here he sings in 2013 with a band of fellow West Siders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YPabDDlCaE. In the early 00s, the L.V. Eater: Who are you and what is your relationship to Jims Original? (Barnes-Crosby / Chicago History Museum), An undated photo of the Maxwell Street market. 10 (October 1909): 4-5. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat and add onions. At the end, Johnny appeals for donations to help fellow musician Piano C Red who had been shot in March in a robbery, his legs paralyzed. He learned guitar from Houston Stackhouse in Mississippi. We present some of the artists and promoters who influenced and helped develop the Maxwell Street sound; the musicians of the golden age of Chicago blues; the rock music that branched off from it; and the musicians who have continued to play it well into the 21st century. The Ashkenazi or Eastern Europeans reflected badly upon the enlightened and established assimilated Germans. The Maxwell Street sound was created, beginning in the 1920s. A secondary objective of the investigation is to make accessible to the public an expansive array of original sources, written and visual. (Chicago Tribune historical photo), University of Illinois security guard Zyad Hasan stands near a police barricade Sept. 9, 1994, where the old Maxwell Street market used to be at Maxwell and Halsted streets in Chicago. (Rod Lamkey Jr., For the Chicago Tribune), For more than 100 years, Maxwell Street has preserved a bit of Old World culture within sight of the Loop's skyscrapers. Halsted Street from Taylor to Maxwell streets. Williams played often with his cousin, mandolinist Johnny Young with Floyd Jones and his cousin Moody; and harmonica player Snooky Pryor.Johnny Williams plays Worried Man Blues, c. 1948, on the And This Is FreeCD. 11656 S Halsted St Chicago IL 60628. By submitting your email, you agree to our, The freshest news from the local food world, This Historic Chicago Sausage Stand Made the Maxwell Street Polish a Local Icon, Sign up for the He played about a year in Wolfs band, ran a clothing store and taxi business from 1961-69, and returned to play music until his death.http://sundayblues.org/archives/tag/sunnyland-slim. In America, the music has evolved to include elements of jazz and Broadway show tunes, in a melting pot just like Maxwell Street. Jimmy Stefanovic, owner of the thriving hot-dog stand on the northwest corner of Halsted and Maxwell, was born on July 11, 1901, in Gostivar, Macedonia, Yugoslavia. Even after his bandstand and the stores were torn down, Sonny Scott continued to show up on various streets and at the Maxwell Street Foundation booth at the Chicago Blues Fest during the 2000s. This continuous interaction over the course of several decades following the Second World War produced what is typically called Chicago Blues, but which could just as easily be called The Maxwell Street Blues. Where in previous decades, recorded Delta Blues had been modified to fit the popular song styles of the day, on Maxwell Street it was left raw and simply amplified, both in volume and dramatic intensity. With his sweeping jazz-like solos and intentional overdriving of amplifers, Little Walter revolutionized the art of electric harmonica. Frank worked days as a manual laborer and nights as a side musician on bass or guitar, leaving the band leading headaches to bluesmen like Junior Wells, Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, and Willie Cobbs, Junior Simpkins, Willie Williams, Carey Bell, Little Arthur Gray, and James Scott. Visitor and Card Access. He published compositions by Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver, and in 1928 recorded the Hokum Boys, Tampa Red and Georgia Tom for Paramount. (Chicago Tribune historical photo), A Maxwell Street vendor tries to entice late Christmas shoppers with ornaments and dolls on Dec. 24, 1944. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/movies/born-in-chicago-tells-of-titans-who-taught-young-proteges.html?_r=0. All Music Guide says Gray may have had a hand in writing the Bob Dylan song He was a Friend of Mine. Ira Berkow interviewed Arvella for his book Maxwell Street: Survival in a Bazaar. We won't be wanted when the new University of Illinois is built," said Margo. The bands affection for one another lent warmth to the music. (Ed Wagner Sr., Chicago Tribune), Crowds gather at the Maxwell Street market, circa March 24, 1964. Halsted/Taylor Parking Structure. Masters of Modern Blues (CD Testament records)Floyd Jones & Eddie Taylor Although recorded in 1966, the tracks hereespecially the ones featuring Floyd Jonesare very much what you would have heard Floyd and his cousin, Moody Jones, playing on Maxwell Street in the 40s and 50s. The Queen of Maxwell Street sang blues protest songs in Maxwell Street Preservation Coalitions 1999 video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkg-naNhMMY Moving to Chicago from Alabama in 1943, Johnnie Mae played drums and wrote songs with Jimmy Reed. He played on Bob Dylans Highway 61 album in 1965. IN THE VICINITY OF MAXWELL AND HALSTED STREETS: CHICAGO 1890-1930 A Human Documentary. The focal point was the intersection of Halsted and 13th Street named Maxwell. Rayfield had made a living on Maxwell Street for 20 years grinding and selling horseradish. He remembered his mother as a loving despot who repeatedly and abusively punished her children with the confidence that God would forgive her. Thats where most of the Biblical stories come from.Chicago blues songwriter, arranger, bass player and producer Willie Dixon, in his autobiography I Am the Blues, .a poets view: Maxwell Street: Confluence of blood and heart: One Beat, Poet Sterling Plumpp and guitarist Jimmie Lee Robinson break it down in rhythm:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZVyOiUypQs, Maxwell Street is significant to the history of blues not just because music was performed there, but because music was created there. He fell in with some West Side young bloodsLuther Allison and Magic Samand played for Howlin Wolf, Little Walter, Little Johnny Taylor and Jimmy Reed. Home of The Jew Town Polish. Descriptions of Davis and other Maxwell Street musicians of that era are likely to be found in the 1981 documentary directed by Linda Williams. Direct Maxwell Street connections include Little Walter, Hound Dog Taylor, and even a young Jimmie Lee Robinson playing behind Big Mama Thornton on Hound Dog. See also The American Folk Blues Festival Volume Two (1962-1966) and The American Folk Blues Festival Volume Three (1962-1969), Chicago Blues: The City and the Music, book by Mike Rowe (DeCapo Press, 1973, paperback, 226 pages. (Chicago Tribune historical photo), The four-block Maxwell Street, shown here in April 1965, attracted up to 10,000 customers on a Sunday afternoon and was described by a writer as being as "dazzling as a merry-go-round." I asked him another question. A jug band style musician born in Alabama in 1867 right after the Civil War, Watson was among the earliest recorded bluesmen, making a record in Richmond Indiana 1924. Adherence to tradition is important at Jims, which was long known for its 24-hour service. http://www.document-records.com/fulldetails.asp?ProdID=DOCD-5055 He played with Homesick James Williamson (said to be his cousin) and mandolinist Yank Rachell around Tennessee, and was recording in Chicago by 1937. It is special because it is our own recipe for Polish sausage created over 80 years ago by Jim. Lost Ticket. They compromised. Russian Hebrews was a census category. A drummer and guitar player born 1923 in Algoma, MS, Foster worked for tips on Maxwell Street before graduating to the clubs playing with men like Sunnyland Slim, Sonny Boy Williamson and Lee Brown. Critic David Whiteis has a chapter, Maxwell Street: Last Dance at the Carnival of the Soul, and chapters on blues singer Clarence Scott (Little Scotty) and guitarist Lurie Bell, in his book, Chicago Blues: Portraits and Stories, U. of Illinois Press, 2006 http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/85epd5hc9780252030680.html, Blues and Soul singer/drummer Larry Hill Taylor, growing up on the West Side of Chicago with blues musicians for parents, visited Maxwell Street often as a youngster. He looked half asleep. Hooker is shown singing among the crowds on Maxwell Street in the first Blues Brothers movie in 1980,accompanied by Big Walter Horton, harmonica and Willie Big Eyes Smith, drums. One-armed John blew a fat tone out of his harp mike with a big Fender amp on the street. Once golden brown and caramelized, transfer onions to a bowl. The customs official said, "Lucky seven . The Board of Trustees of the Univesity Of Illinois | Privacy Statement. His hands were folded in front of him. 49th and Ashland. Drummer Edward Porkchop Hines impressed Maxwell Street Bazaar author Ira Berkow in the mid-1970s as a short man of 73 who wears cap, glasses, vest, snappy pointy shoes, and is kind of crochety. He had told of playing with jazz greats Gene Krupa and Louis Armstrong. Maxwell Street, despite its rough condition, was a magnet for young U.S. and international musicians who respected the blues and wanted to learn and practice on the street. Hed just purchased the car with his earnings from the American Folk Blues festival tour of Europe. Moreover, the Russian Armys sustained efforts at impressing Jewish sons into harsh compulsory military service accelerated the exodus of the Jews to the U.S. The pervasive corruption of public officialdom in Eastern Europe provided Jewish families a way out. Mick Jaggers loose-shouldered stage routine imitates Carrie Robinsons holy dance on the street as she sings the gospel song Power! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm_C36n76VA Carries dance is recorded in Mike Sheas 1964 documentary And This is Free. (The documentary is included on the DVD in the box set And This is Free sold on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/And-This-Is-Free-Legendary/dp/B0015FQZCQ ). The first rate band here includes Big Walter Horton on harp, Otis Spann on piano and Fred Below on drums. Hed wander, singing, through the crowds of Maxwell Street from the early 1930s through 1970s, a National resonator steel guitar hung around his neck and a cup pinned to his lapel to collect tips. Brit rockers came over, hung out on Maxwell Street and followed Chicagos blues stars around clubs on the North, West and South Sides. He is featured on Alligator Records Living Chicago Blues I compilation: http://www.alligator.com/artists/Left-Hand-Frank/ and on a French album of his own, Live at the Knickerbocker. The original caption said: "This is our world, old but good. Floyd had his own hard times recovering royalties in court when the rock band Canned Heat borrowed the words to his On the Road Again. (see Living Blues magazine issues 58, 59, winter and spring 1984). These old editions are available on the 8th floor of Chicagos Harold Washington Library, and are likely also to be found in the Bluesoterica archive of former editor Jim ONeal. Long pause. He played all over Tennessee and Arkansas before a 1958 car crash left him with only one arm. A Jewish woman, Hilda Satt Polacheck was born in Poland circa 1885 and migrated to Chicago with her family in 1892. He taught himself harmonica hearing his upstairs Chicago neighbor, Little Walter Jacobs, practicing. 312-413-3938. The suspect was standing by the counter where at least five other people were getting . So our margins are being squeezed, but more important than that is the loss of late-night customers. Although music has no boundaries, weve outlined five historical eras. They found the street thronged with people of all kinds. What do you think makes Chicago street food special? It's also where scores of blues greats, from Junior Wells to Bo . Hildas daughter, Dena Epstein, generously provided the manuscript assembled after Hildas death with editorial comments and family photos. Next to Mrs. Cousins soul food place on Peoria Street, Swain reported, fiery young Melvin Taylor had just set up a new band, after learning guitar from another Maxwell Street regular, Lil Pat Rushing. Oops. (James Mayo, Chicago Tribune), A typical food stand on Maxwell Street on Sunday, Feb. 3, 1974. Dick brought the Maxwell St. Polish to the menu so everyone could enjoy the taste of Maxwell Street at Portillo . On Maxwell Street, a picture in Mike Rowes book Chicago Blues shows he played with John Embry, Long John Wrencher, J.B. Hutto and Jewtown Jimmy Davis. Abstract. It can only be purchased at our stand and cannot be found in any other stand or store. During the 1970s blues revival, got invited to play in college towns. Arthur settled on the West Side and played with Maxwell Street/West Side musicians like Earl Hooker, Little Willie Foster, Floyd Jones and Jimmy Reed, who greatly influenced his style. John Henry Barbee sings Against My Will, c. 1936, on the And This Is Free CD. (Gerald West, Chicago Tribune), On Maxwell Street on May 15, 1985, you could walk up to a window and order a sandwich, a hamburger, or fried dough stuffed with meat. http://www.bluesmusicnow.com/dollar.html Writers were awed by his stories and his presence http://blindman.fr.yuku.com/topic/14477/JOHNNY-DOLLAR-TRIBUTE-NIGHT, Johnny played with Magic Sam, and in the Soundmasters R&B band with lineup with the Fisher brothers Thomas, Charles, Eddie and Jim. (773) 941-5857. His international reputation was enhanced through a late 90s recording contract with Wolf Records in Austria. Inspired by both Sonny Boy Williamsons and Little Walter Jacobs, Charles Edwards, born in 1933 in Tuscaloosa AL, began playing harp shortly after hitting Chicago in 1949. Is that aria hes singing from the second act of La Traviata? He hardly moved. He held down regular Sunday nights at Lees Unleaded and appeared on Maxwell Street, joining the 2001 protest against demolition. McCarthy, who ran for president five times, was just one of the many politicians who visited Maxwell Street. Moving to the Maxwell Street area in Chicago, he played harmonica and drums and sang blues on the street. Known as a goodtime party guy, in 1947 he joined with the fabled Headhunters, including Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers, who would musically cut the heads of any players foolish enough to challenge them on stage. Site for pioneering medical research at schools and hospitals in the West Side medical center. Born in Indianola, MS, raised on the same Woodburn Plantation as B.B. The original owner, James "Jimmy" Stefanovic, operated a little stand at the northwest corner of Maxwell and Halsted streets, beginning in 1939. 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. While working for IBM, Motorola, Zenith, and other companies, he began repairing computers and started his own V&J Services in 1995. People still identify the Old Maxwell Street Market with the sweet smell of onions that emanated from Jim's stand. 10/01/2014 - Medley Maxwell Street is awesome. These faded edifices still stand along Halsted Street, the offspring of Maxwell Street merchants. Delivery & Pickup Options - 19 reviews of Maxwell Street Express "this place is located in the parking lot of a stop-n-rob. (Charles Osgood, Chicago Tribune), A woman gives a Sunday morning serenade at Maxwell Street and Newberry Avenue in Chicago, circa October 1990. A Maxwell Street vendor tries to entice late Christmas shoppers with ornaments and dolls on Dec. 24, 1944. He performed in the Delta with his early idol Sonny Boy Williamson No. Pete Welding was the producer and Norm Dayron was the engineer. Recordings have preserved some of the sound and the history, but the thread of connection, through friendships, marriages, and kinships, is best known among the musicians themselves. A world-wise travel writer with roots in Mississippi, she introduces the rapidly-changing club scene and profiles several musicians http://www.rosalindcummingsyeates.com/exploring-chicago-blues/, For info on the current Chicago blues scene, always check out Lori Low-reen Lewis, who plays guitar or bass in the Maxwell Street Market Band with Paul Petraitis, Stewart Rashid, and Jimmi Mayes. (Robert MacKay, Chicago Tribune), The scene at 14th Street shows the size of a Sunday crowd at Maxwell Street Market in February 1965. Bloomfield was instrumental in helping Mike OShea produce the Maxwell Street documentary in 1964, And This is Free. The Original Maxwell Street Polish Sausage Stand Southwest Corner of Union and James Rochford Streets. Jim's was so well-known and has so consistently served . (Walter Kale, Chicago Tribune), Hubcaps, rakes, brooms, shovels and more can be found at Maxwell Street's open-air market on Feb. 3, 1974. In 2003 he suffered a stroke on-stage, finished the set with one hand, and slowly recovered enough to play occasional festivals after 2010. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/matt-guitar-murphy-mn0000327100, This modern pyro-technical blues guitarist born in Jackson, MS, came to Chicago with his family at age 3 and started playing on Maxwell Street at age 11. http://www.mikebloomfield.com, The documentary Born in Chicago shows the white guys who learned from Chicago African American blues men and often became more famous than their teachers. He started playing keyboard onstage in self-defense, he says, because other musicians often didnt know the keys to play his songs. **Evening parking allows access between the hours of 3pm-8am Monday through Friday and 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday. For more than 100 years, Maxwell Street has preserved a bit of Old World culture within sight of the Loop's skyscrapers. It centered on three independent cities: New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Robert Nighthawk on the And This Is FreeCD sings Prowlin Nighthawk, c. 1937. For twenty years Hildas mother made a go of supporting the family, continually moving addresses in the Maxwell Street area in response to the cost of rent and limited family resources.