From John Lee Cooker to Kansas Joe McCoy going by Hamfoot Ham, learn why some of the greats did so much recording under blues nicknames.
If the Blues is about love and loss then Etta James recorded the soundtrack. She was the greatest female vocalist ever to record for Chess Records and her catalogue of recordings is...
One of the great careers in soul music was launched on Smokey's 18th birthday with an answer record.
Son of Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess, Marshall Chess offers an exclusive guide to the Chicago label that helped invent rock’n’roll.
In a career that has lasted well over fifty years, Buddy Guy has played with everyone who matters and everyone who cares about the Blues.
The man who was billed later in his career as 'The 500% Man' had a guitar sound like no other and one that influenced The Rolling Stones early in their career.
On 4 February 1967, just over six months short of his 50th birthday, John Lee's name appeared on the UK album chart for the first time, with 'House Of The Blues.'
From blues and jazz to rock'n'roll and soul, here are the 50 best Chess Records singles to discuss and debate, but mainly to hear and consider.
On 30 January 1965, the soul chart made its comeback in the pages of Billboard, and Motown ruled the roost.
Willie Dixon was a fixer, arranger, talent scout, boxer, performer and songwriter, who did more to shape the sound of post war Chicago blues than any other.
uDiscover Music's playlist tribute to an artist who had one of the definitive R&B-blues voices.
A milestone in jazz, ‘At The Pershing: But Not For Me’ became “one of the biggest records in the history of Chess”. Ahmad Jamal recalls how that happened.
The 20-song, previously unreleased, set is culled from four shows (London, Brighton, Sheffield and Newcastle) during an early 1977 tour across the UK.
'See You Later, Alligator,' written by Robert Guidry, seized on a catchphrase of the era and became a rock 'n' roll favourite.
The 1960s were in their dying days when Little Milton made another entry on Billboard's soul singles chart on 27 December 1969 with If Walls Could Talk.
The 14 honorees for 2020 span almost a century of music, with nods for a wide range of artists from Victoria Spivey to Bettye Lavette.
