Chicago in Mind

During the first half of the 20th century, the sprawling industrial metropolis of Chicago was a favored destination for thousands of individuals from all points of the compass who flocked to the Great Lakes region in search of steady employment. While an influx of New Orleans musicians created and fueled a tremendous jazz scene, by the middle '20s the Windy City had also become a major epicenter of barrelhouse, boogie, and blues recording activity. In 2000, Catfish records released Chicago in Mind, a 23-track mini-history of classic blues that traces a chronological progression extending from 1923 to 1948. Beginning with "Chicago Bound Blues" by Ida Cox, this excellent core sample follows a logical progression of vintage recordings by artists who virtually defined the idiom over a quarter-century of social and musical evolution. There are numerous references to the city and its thoroughfares. The collection gets its name from the title of a beautiful piano solo recorded by Albert Ammons on January 6, 1939, the day on which the Blue Note record label was inaugurated. Pianist Jimmy Blythe's "Chicago Stomp" and banjoist Papa Charlie Jackson's "Maxwell Street Blues" are straight-up from the bedrock of the tradition, along with Cow Cow Davenport's "State Street Jive," Tampa Red's "Chicago Moan Blues," "Chicago's Too Much for Me" as presented by the Sparks Brothers; "Windy City" by Arnold "Doc" Wiley, and the thundering "Chicago Breakdown" by blues and boogie master Big Maceo Merriweather. This well-conceived and sensibly selected anthology of great Chicago blues also includes essential contributions by Priscilla Stewart, Big Bill Broonzy, Washboard Sam, the original Sonny Boy Williamson, and screaming Sunnyland Slim, whose "Johnson Machine Gun" contains a frightening reference to murderous rage acted out over large portions of Southern lower Michigan, from Saginaw down to Highway 94. There are no dullards in this collection. Scratch beneath the surface and you'll discover noteworthy undercover participants like Lovie Austin, Ransom Knowling, Blind John Davis, George Barnes, and Willie Dixon. Further early modern participants, representing how the blues grew up during and after the Second World War, include Baby Face Leroy Foster, Snooky Pryor, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Tommy McClennon, Little Walter, Robert Nighthawk, and Muddy Waters. As an entertaining and insightful anthology of historic recordings, Catfish's Chicago in Mind is highly recommended for anyone seeking a better understanding of what this kind of music is all about.