The Chess Label
Part I (1950-1952)

Revision note: We are steadily upgrading the entire early Chess story. Stay tuned.

On June 3, 1950, Leonard and Phil Chess, now the sole owners of Aristocrat Recording Corporation, changed the name of the label to Chess. They launched a new series of releases at number 1425, commemorating their family's first home in Chicago, which was located at 1425 South Karlov Street.

Of the first 8 releases on the new label (Chess 1425 through 1432), 6 used material recorded in June 1950 or earlier; they mark a transitional phase from Aristocrat to Chess. During the new label's first two years, its proprietors dipped continually, but not very systematically, into the Aristocrat archives. Meanwhile, the Aristocrat records that they had in stock kept on being distributed until January 13, 1951, when the old label was officially discontinued. Leonard and Phil Chess made ample use of older Gene Ammons sides, reissuing several of his Aristocrat singles, but showed no apparent interest in older Muddy Waters performances. Muddy's only Aristocrat-era side to be reissued on Chess during this period was his 1948 hit "I Can't Be Satisfied," hastily retitled to serve as the flip side to Chess 1514. After the middle of 1952, Aristocrat material ceased to be of interest; it would not draw attention again until Chess took up the LP in 1956.

Our first table displays material recorded for Aristocrat, up through the founding of Chess Records on June 3, 1950. Every session for Aristocrat is included that led to releases on Chess singles. Through the middle of 1952, when they lost interest in the back catalog, the Chess brothers mined it for 27 sides. When the material was previously released on Aristocrat, we give the Aristocrat release number in square brackets, but the release dates are for the Chess incarnations only. You can find the Aristocrat release dates on our Aristocrat page.

We mark matrix numbers in bold when we have been able to verify them from the actual releases.

The Chess brothers continued to book studio sessions at Universal Recording in Chicago. Universal would, in fact, remain their studio of choice during this entire period; they did not acquire the ability to make even crude recordings in their offices until 1954, and the renowned Chess studios wouldn't open until May 1957. But their operation was on the tightest of budgets. In the U7000 series that Chess inherited from Aristocrat, just 31 new sides were newly recorded at Universal Recording in Chicago--and that's if we assume that the missing U7257 and U7258, U7273 and U7274 were actually made. Two further sides by The Dozier Boys were cut at United Broadcasting Studios in August; the rapidity with which these items were released indicates that they were done for Chess, not for the Premium label which regularly used that studio and eventually sold most of its remnants to the Chess brothers. Besides, Aristocrat had used United Broadcasting Studios on several occasions in 1948 and 1949. Chess also cut two Claude McLin sides at Modern Recording Studio (a studio used by such rival indies as JOB and Seymour). These bring the total to a measly 35.

The first session done under the auspices of the new label consisted of six sides by two artists already established on the Aristocrat roster. Uptown blues singer Andrew Tibbs had been responsible for no fewer than 7 releases on the predecessor label. Through the middle of 1949 he had been the company's most reliable seller. Sax Mallard had released three singles of his own and accompanied Tibbs and the Dozier Boys. What's more, when the session was cut, Mallard was a featured soloist in the all-star jazz band that Al Benson had put together for a Saturday night TV show on WBKB. Mallard seems to have used several of his band mates on the session, to which he contributed subtly Ellingtonian arrangements. Whatever its attractions to jazz fans today, this was not the sound that most record buyers wanted. Just one single was released from the session; despite the expenses the Chess brothers had sunk into recording them, the rest remain unissued to this day. Tibbs, whose own popularity was eroding, was addicted to heroin, and his habit would soon get him into trouble; although he made a few more records, they would all be done for other companies.

The Chess brothers' next move was to bring Claude McLin back into the studio. They knew the tenor saxophonist from his frequent participation in jam sessions at the Macomba Lounge. In March 1949, his band was in residence there while Tom Archia temporarily worked the Congo Club, and he recorded for Aristocrat behind singer and pianist Laura Rucker. The idea on this occasion was to get Claude McLin to follow Gene Ammons' lead by recording a popular ballad. The tune selected was "Mona Lisa," which had been a big hit for Nat "King" Cole; a violinist and a steel guitarist sweetened McLin's regular combo sound on this number only. The flip side, "Benny's Bounce," was more typical McLin fare, though a mystery second tenor saxophonist joined in. We don't know for sure whether two further sides were made, as was customary at the time, or the allotted 3 hours were consumed getting "Mona Lisa" and "Benny's Bounce" right.

"Mona Lisa" sold well enough to keep Claude McLin in Chicago for another year and a half; he had been scuffling for gigs since late 1949, but his fortunes improved temporarily now that he had a record out.

The Chess brothers were eager to record their top-selling artist, Gene Ammons, whose May session had produced "My Foolish Heart," the label's biggest hit of the year. Jug entered the studio in August to cut four sides with the latest version of his working group: Bill Massey on trumpet, Mattthew Gee on trombone, Junior Mance at the piano, Gene Wright, bass, and Wes Landers, drums. He even got his celebrity front-line partner Sonny Stitt to participate, on baritone sax. All four sides were promptly released on two singles.

Another high priority was gettingMuddy Waters back in the studio. Since two sides from Muddy's second session for Aristocrat scored a local hit in the summer of 1948, he had become an increasingly valuable asset to the label, and the Chess brothers intended to build on what he had already accomplished. They had been challenged, earlier in the year, by Muddy's moonlighting on a session for the short-lived Parkway label that featured his regular band with Little Walter and Baby Face Leroy Foster. Foster had left after his Parkway sides were released, but Leonard and Phil Chess finally ended their holdout and decided to include Little Walter on a Muddy Waters session. Four sides were made at an unclear date--most likely August 15, 1950, when the two sides featuring Jimmy Rogers are known to have been made. The results, enriched by Walter's harmonica playing, were impressive. The company still fell short, however, of including Waters' full band; the only other participant on the session was bassist Big Crawford.

The strong release on Chess 1434 paired two of Muddy's best slow blues, "Sad Letter Blues" and "You're Gonna Need My Help, I Said" (a title that got a creative parsing on the label). The record was not a hit, but the groundwork for future sides was laid. The other two sides from the session were both released within a year.

Another delayed reaction to Parkway activity was signing Jimmy Rogers, who had been playing second guitar in Muddy's working band for quite some time. Rogers had sung on sessions for Ora Nelle (1947), Tempo-Tone (1949), JOB (1949), and Parkway (1950)--without getting sides released from any of them. On August 15, he was called in to cut two titles of his own, both already tried and tested. "That's All Right" had been on his JOB session; before that he had played behind Othum Brown's released rendition of the same song when it was called "Ora Nelle Blues." "Ludella" was Rogers' only side for Parkway. On each, his vocals and guitar enjoyed sterling backing from this bandmates: Little Walter on harmonica, and Big Crawford on string bass. It must have been gratifying to get "Ludella" out on the radio and onto the retail shelves; meanwhile, "That's All Right" was a substantial hit.

Next came the Dozier Boys, who had been the most active vocal harmony group on Aristocrat. Apparently just two sides were done, at United Broadcasting studio instead of Universal. The resulting single effectively contrasted a jump, "You Got to Get It," with a ballad, "Pretty Eyes," but the release is very scarce today and obviously didn't sell well. King Fleming was the session pianist for the date, and a horn section was added for "Got to Get It." The company dropped the group, whose next contract would be with OKeh's revived Chicago operation (they did a session in 1951, and were listed in advertisements for the label, but their sides were never released). The Doziers would fare better with a new indepedent called United, where they recorded in 1952 and 1953.

Two months went by without more studio recording. Leonard Chess still operated the Macomba Lounge, though now that he bore primary responsibility for the record company, club management was largely delegated to Phil. But four years of club ownership and its attendant burdens ended when the Macomba Lounge was badly damaged by fire. Nadine Cohodas's book places the fire in August, but the lists of contracts accepted and filed by Musicians Union Local 208 indicate that the end came later, probably in early October. The Chess brothers made no effort to open another club; they were now irrevocably committed to the record company.

When recording resumed on October 23, it was with another session by Muddy Waters' band, again with Walter and Crawford. Only two of the six sides featured Muddy's vocals, but one of these, "Louisiana Blues," turned out to be a classic. It's flip, "Evan Shuffle," was an enjoyably rustic instrumental featuring Walter's harmonica. Two more were features for Jimmy Rogers, accompanied by Muddy, Walter, and Crawford; "Going Away Baby" is a close relation to "Louisiana Blues." The final two were vehicles for guest guitarist and singer Johnny Shines, who was making his debut for Chess, with accompaniment by Walter, Rogers, and Crawford. The Shines sides were of the same superb quality as the rest of the material recorded that day, but they were reportedly never released, despite being listed in a Chess catalogue. Apparently Leonard Chess developed second thoughts, on the grounds that Shines's declamatory vocal style was too likely to compete with Muddy Waters'. Shines wouldn't get another opportunity until Joe Brown recorded him in April 1952.

Aristocrat had carried three piano trios on its roster, under the leadership of Prince Cooper, Jimmy Bell, and Duke Groner. Though each trio remained active, and all three would record again, the Chess brothers had lost interest in them. Instead, they decided to pick up pianist and singerCalvin Bostick, whose unit had been working steadily in the South Side clubs for a year. He was born Calvin Thomas Bostick on July 4, 1928, in Anniston, Alabama. He began playing piano when he was four years old, and attended secondary school at the Mary Potter Academy, in Oxford, North Carolina. He majored in music at Lincoln University, in Jefferson City, Missouri, studying under the famed composer R. Nathaniel Dett. There Bostick wrote “People Will Talk about You” and “All of My Life.” Upon graduation in 1947 he moved to Chicago, but did not join Local 208 until October 18, 1949.

C. T. Bostick showed up right away on the Local 208 contract list on October 20, 1949, when he posted a contract for 3 nights at Square's. He drew well enough to rate another week there (contract accepted and filed November 3, under the name "Cal Bostick"). On January 19, 1950, he posted an "indefinite" contract with the 113 Club, which featured piano trios. In April he moved to the 411 Club (3 month contract filed on April 6). In July, he extended his residency there for another six months (contract posted on July 20). The 411 Club was a cocktail lounge, where Bostic's classically trained tinkling posed no threat of stretching the boundaries of jazz.

Bostick cut his first single for Chess in October, while still resident at the 411. An item in the October 14 Chicago Defender, titled “Calvin Cuts 2 New Sides,” claimed that the sides were “currently on tryout with local disk jockeys.” “People Will Talk about You” was described as a “novelty blues,” and “All of My Life” was described as a ”blues ballad.”

Bostick was drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953 and served in the Special Services Branch in Korea until his discharge in late 1955. Returning to Chicago, he began a long two-year residency at the 411 Club from October 1955 through much of 1957, but now largely accompanying himself on organ. In June 1957, Bostick completed his formal music education, getting his degree from the Chicago Conservatory of Music. On June 12, 1958, he posted an indefinite contract at the Nocturne. He continued to perform throughout the Midwest, and reportedly recorded for Fraternity, RCA, and "Canadian" (probably Canadian-American) Records. He composed songs for Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole, among others. Beginning in 1963, Bostic began an 11-year career as a lounge act for the Holiday Inn circuit. Around 1970, he settled in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he died on April 9, 1974.

Sources: “Calvin Cuts 2 New Sides,” Chicago Defender, 14 October 1950; “Calvin T. Bostick, 45, Musican, Songwriter,” Erie Times, 11 April 1974; Chicago Public Library's Musician Death Files.

Around the same time, the company urgently wanted a sequel to "Mona Lisa." Claude McLin and his band cut two sides at Modern Recording Studio. This time, the chosen vehicle was "Tennessee Waltz," which had been a monster hit for Patti Page. Although the material was worthy, and McLin's rendition, unhampered by the added violin, was eloquent, a new Chicago-based competitor called Chance had had the same idea, and Schoolboy Porter's version trounced McLin's at the cash register. Most listeners today would prefer McLin's jazz balladeering to Schoolboy's deliberately square enunciation of the melody. But Chess never reissued "Tennessee Waltz," or its flip, a surprisingly substantial improvisation on "Pop Goes the Weasel."

Another symptom of tightness in the finances was the company's decision to record no Christmas numbers in 1950. Instead, Tom Archia and Gene Ammons' seasonal medley from 1948 was recycled under the new title "Boppin' for Santa." The flip of Chess 1445 was consisted of "Talk of the Town" from the same session (not retitled). The credits were changed to draw attention to Jug's presence on both sides. Leonard Chess used the occasion to test out his new system for putting reverb on recordings: it consisted of a 3-foot length of concrete sewer pipe with a speaker at one end and a microphone at the other. The results on "Boppin' for Santa" were underwhelming (as was the fake applause dubbed in at the beginning) but Leonard would soon learn how to put his homemade equipment to better use.

Matrix	Artist	Title	Release Number	Recording Date	Release Date
U-7251	Sax Mallard and his sextet | Vocal by Andrew Tibbs	You Can't Win	Chess 1430	July 1950	August 1950
U-7252	Sax Mallard and his sextet | Vocal by Andrew Tibbs	Aching Heart	Chess 1430	July 1950	August 1950
U7253	Sax Mallard and his sextet (vocal by Andrew Tibbs)	She's My Baby	unissued	July 1950
U7254	Sax Mallard and his sextet (vocal by Andrew Tibbs)	Crying the Blues	unissued	July 1950
U7255	Sax Mallard and his sextet (vocal by Andrew Tibbs)	Boogie	unissued	July 1950
U7256	Sax Mallard and his sextet (vocal by Andrew Tibbs)	Blues in Hawaii	unissued	July 1950
U7257	Claude McLin?
U7258	Claude McLin?
U-7259	Claude McLin and his Sextet	Mona Lisa	Chess 1432	July 21, 1950	August 1950
U-7260	Claude McLin and his Sextet	Benny's Bounce	Chess 1432	July 21, 1950	August 1950
U-7261	Muddy Waters | Vocal Muddy Waters	Your [sic] Gonna Need My Help "I Said"	Chess 1434	prob. August 15, 1950	September 1950
U-7262	Muddy Waters | Vocal Muddy Waters	Sad Letter Blues	Chess 1434	prob. August 15, 1950	September 1950
U-7263	Muddy Waters and His Guitar	Early Morning Blues	Chess 1490	prob. August 15, 1950	December 1951
U-7264	Muddy Waters and his Guitar	Appealing Blues	Chess 1468	prob. August 15, 1950	July 1951
U-7265	Gene Ammons and his Orchestra	Jug Head Ramble	Chess 1433	August 1950	September 1950
U-7266	Gene Ammons and his Orchestra	Can Anyone Explain? (No! No! No!)	Chess 1433	August 1950	September 1950
U-7267	Gene Ammons Orchestra	Don't Do Me Wrong	Chess 1450	August 1950	February 1951
U-7268	Gene Ammons Orchestra	Prelude to a Kiss	Chess 1450	August 1950	February 1951
U-7269	Jimmy Rogers and his Trio | Vocal Jimmy Rogers	That's All Right	Chess 1435	August 15, 1950	October 1950
U-7270	Jimmy Rogers and his Trio | Vocal Jimmy Rogers	Ludella	Chess 1435	August 15, 1950	October 1950
U7270-2	Jimmy Rogers	Ludella [alt.]	(Boogie Disease LP 101/102)	August 15, 1950
UB50-817	Vocal by the Dozier Boys	You Got to Get It	Chess 1436	c. August 1950	October 1950
UB50-818	Vocal by the Dozier Boys	Pretty Eyes	Chess 1436	c. August 1950	October 1950
U7271	and	U7272	See	Purchased	Material
U7273
U7274
U-7275	Muddy Waters	Louisiana Blues	Chess 1441	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U-7276	Muddy Waters	Evan's Shuffle	Chess 1441	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U-7277	Vocal by Jimmy Rogers	Going Away Baby	Chess 1442	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U-7278	Vocal by Jimmy Rogers	Today, Today, Blues	Chess 1442	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U7279	Shoe Shine Johnny	Joliet Blues	Chess 1443	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U7280	Shoe Shine Johnny	So Glad I Found You	Chess 1443	October 23, 1950	November 1950
U-7281	Calvin Bostic [sic] Trio | Vocal by Calvin Bostic	All of My Life	Chess 1444	October 1950	December 1950
U-7282	Calvin Bostic Trio	People Will Talk about You	Chess 1444	October 1950	December 1950
U7283	Calvin Bostic Trio	Danny Boy		October 1950
AR-30451	Claude McLin and his Orchestra	Tennessee Waltz	Chess 1446	October or November 1950	December 1950
AR-30452	Claude McLin and his Orchestra	Pop Goes the Weasel	Chess 1446	October or November 1950	December 1950

Confirming our hypothesis that they were keeping a close watch on every penny, the Chess brothers leased or purchased a very modest amount of material in 1950. Two sides by jazz tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson, one of which featured a vocal by Thelma Thompson, came from an unidentified label in the New York City area.

Chess also acquired two sides by blues singer Doc Pomus (who would gain fame later on as a songwriter). Accompaniment to the Doctor's raspy vocals was provided by a jump band with a tenor saxophone soloist whom the singer addressed as "Ray."Pomus recalled in an interview that Leonard Chess had actually traveled to New York to record the session; this seems unlikely, but at least there's no dubiety about the location. The Thompson sides are said by Ruppli to have matrix numbers with a CR prefix; the Pomus sides as released have the CR prefix in the wax, though not on the label. The CR could stand for the name of another record company; it could also merely indicate Chess Records.

Finally, the brothers picked up two sides by Guy Blakeman and His Blue Grass Serenaders. If Leonard and Phil really got them in August 1950 (as suggested by the U7000 matrix numbers that the sides ended up with) they felt no urgency about releasing them. The Blakeman record didn't appear until November 1952, on one of the two singles (!) that were given the number Chess 1525. In total, there were 6 sides purchased in 1950, only 4 of which saw release that year.

After a few commercial successes in 1950, Leonard and Phil Chess were prepared to step up their recording activity in 1951.

The very first session (by Sax Mallard) was held for release for more than a year, when two sides were used to open the new Checker subsidiary. Perhaps the tunes were held back because Mallard followed the pattern of so many Aristocrat sessions, contrasting R&B jump numbers with lounge ballads. One of the released sides featured ballad singing by drummer Osie Johnson--so, apparently, did two further tracks that are still unreleased. A blues-based instrumental like "Slow Caboose" held a lot more commercial promise in 1951.

On release, "Slow Caboose" carried composer credits to Alan Freed, the influential Cleveland-based disk jockey, and to one Carl Germany. Although the Chess brothers did not engage in the wholesale production of bogus composing credits that was standard operating procedure for some of their competitors, they did toss occasional writing credits in Freed's direction as an enticement to play their records. Just who Carl Germany was, and why it was important to reward him, is yet to be revealed. One suggestion is that he was Leonard Chess under a pseudonym...

A big gap in the U7000 series comes right after the Mallard session--no known sides between U7288 and U7299. Not counting the missing items (which could simply have been skipped in the master book) 94 new cuts were recorded for Chess during the year, nearly all at Universal Recording.

Apparently Calvin Bostick's first release was doing well enough to warrant a second session. In mid-January, Bostick and trio laid down four sides, two of which appeared on Chess 1451. Blessedly, the company refrained from studio gimmickry (no speeded up piano lines this time). The released sides were a relaxed blues, sung in a style influenced by Nat King Cole but not blatantly imitative, and a better than average lounge ballad. Bostick sang both in a smooth baritone. The gentility quotient was high, as might be expected, but the solid musicianship made Bostick's trio one of the very best plying its trade in Chicago during the period.

Next, the Chess brothers brought Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers back into the studio on January 23. This time, Muddy and band recorded a full session, followed by Jimmy Rogers with his own band for three sides. Then Rogers' pianist, Eddie Ware, got to do five more of his own.

Three of the the four sides laid down by Muddy (with Little Walter, harmonica, and Big Crawford, bass) were promptly released. On "Honey Bee," Little Walter played second guitar, as he had previously done on the Parkway session. A fourth side was of comparable quality, but once the Chess brothers added a certain Memphis-based performer to their roster later in the year promoting a number titled "Howlin' Wolf" wouldn't have made for the best marketing strategy.

Rogers used Ernest Cotton, tenor sax, and Eddie Ware, piano, along with Crawford and for his three sides. They were joined by Muddy's regular drummer, Elga Edmonds (still not recording on Muddy's own sides). (It seems odd that Rogers would use a different tenor saxophonist from Eddie Ware, when all of the sides were done in succession, but discographies usually credit Ernest Cotton, a veteran of Memphis Slim's House Rockers who also worked with Sunnyland Slim. And the sax work sound like Cotton's.)

Finally, Eddie Ware made five cuts of his own, three of which were released. Eddie Chamblee played tenor sax on these cuts, and was responsible for the incorrectly credited vocal on "Lima Beans." Little Walter, who had stuck around from Muddy's session, ended up playing second guitar on some of the numbers.

After testing the water with two sides that they bought from Joe Von Battle (see below, under purchased sessions), the Chess brothers decided to bring John Lee Hooker to Chicago for a session at Universal. The session of April 26 was previously said (for instance, in Michel Ruppli's Chess Discography) to have been done in Detroit and sold to Chess, but the latest research indicates otherwise. The outing was highly productive, leading to three singles on Chess. Because Hooker was still under contract to Bernie Besman in Detroit, the pseudonym "John Lee Booker" was applied, fooling precisely no one. Particularly when the company didn't even bother to use the "Booker" handle in the composer credits...

On May 3, Chess got a final opportunity to record Gene Ammons and his combo. This time Jug's tenor sax was accompanied by his regular rhythm section: Junior Mance (piano), Gene Wright (bass), and Teddy Stewart (drums). Two sides from May 3 were promptly released on Chess 1464. The other two would gather dust until the company put them on an LP. (See below for two sides by Gene's old front-line partner Sonny Stitt, which have been incorrectly associated with this session; they were recorded around the same time, but by Premium rather than Chess.)

Considering Ammons' importance to the company (he practically kept Chess afloat in 1950) and his continuing commercial potential (the company was in a hurry to put his music on LP once it adopted that medium), we are not sure why and how he fell off the roster. Ammons may have had some obligation to Prestige, but that presumably expired after his November 1951 session with that label. During 1952 and 1953, he recorded in New York for Decca, then in Chicago for United. Could Leonard Chess have lost out to Lew Simpkins and Leonard Allen, or had his interest in Ammons somehow diminished? In November 1954, however, Ammons resumed recording for Prestige, remaining under long-term contract to the company for the rest of his life. The Chess brothers would learn about this the hard way; in 1961 and 1962 they recorded a couple of quickie Ammons LPs for their Argo subsidiary, only to be compelled to hand over the masters, along with monetary damages, after Presige sued them.

U7339 and U7340 by tenor saxophonist Robert Caffery and his combo were recorded in New Orleans, some time later in May; just to confuse matters, two of the same matrix numbers has already been used on the last Gene Ammons session.

The next session in Chicago featured a singer named Lou Blackwell. The rest of the lineup remains unknown, as the sides have never been released. The Chess brothers may have found Blackwell's suave baritone too uptown for their tastes. Blackwell would turn in some respectable stand-up blues singing with Tab Smith's combo, on an October 1951 session for United, but he had no better luck getting those sides released. His third and last session, for Chance in November or December 1952, finally produced a single.

In June, John Peek and his band made their only session for the company. The single that was released, Chess 1471, featured the vocals of Erline Harris. The singer had been active on the recording scene for a couple of years. She made her debut with "Rock and Roll Blues," recorded in New York City for DeLuxe in April 1949. She next surfaced in New Orleans, recording for Regal with Plas and Ray Johnson's combo in July of that year. In April 1950 she cut four sides for DeLuxe in Cincinnati, with backing from a band led by jazz saxophonist Joe Thomas. When she joined the Chess roster, Harris had been featured in Chicago clubs for more than a year; during a run at Ralph's Club (2159 West Madison) from April through June 1950 she was duly billed as "Erline (Rockin and Rollin) Harris." At Ralph's Harris had been accompanied by tenor saxophonist Epp James and his band; who Peek was and why he was selected for this record date we don't know. We also don't know why the session for Chess was her last.

July would prove to be a busy month in the studio. First Chess welcomed baritone saxophonist Leo Parker to Universal Recording. Parker had first attracted attention as a member of Billy Eckstine's band in 1944. By this time, he had recorded for several labels, and become as well known on the R&B scene as in the jazz world; he had also acquired a drug habit, and a reputation for unreliability. Parker was accompanied by a group of Chicago-based musicians: Eddie Johnson on tenor sax, Claude Jones at the piano (and an auxiliary doodad called the Lowrey Organo), Johnny Pate on bass, and Al Williams on the drum stool. Except for Williams, all had previously appeared on an Eddie South session recorded by Al Benson back in March (see below) and subsequently purchased by the company.

Next Leonard Chess brought Muddy Waters in for a powerhouse session on July 11. The four tunes laid down that day are instantly recognizable from the heavy tread of the bass drum, played by Leonard Chess himself. Elga Edmonds wasn't getting the backbeat that Chess wanted, so he chased Edmonds off the stool and applied himself to the foot pedal. We doubt that he advertised his presence on the records to Local 208... "My Own Fault" and "Still a Fool" appeared on Chess 1480, in October; within a year, the other two sides were also on Chess singles.

Besides, the brothers had found a new jazz tenor saxophonist who they believed had major jukebox potential. Eddie Johnson had been on the Chicago scene since the late 1930s, and it's most unlikely that Leonard and Phil had not crossed paths with him at some point during the 1940s. But the brothers' attention was apparently piqued by the March 1951 Eddie South session (see below) that they'd acquired from Al Benson. In October 1951, they gave Johnson and his combo another hit song to work with (in this case, it was "Cold Cold Heart" by Hank Williams); Chess 1488 was rushed into release and given a strong advertising push. It didn't meet the elevated sales targets that such activity implied, but the brothers persevered with Johnson, who would be their standard-bearer on tenor sax for the next year or so.

Also in October, Chess invited Eddie Boyd in for a session with his working trio (piano, guitar, and bass). Boyd suspected that the company was more interested in obtaining songs for its established blues artists than in adding him to the roster, even though he had been on the Chicago scene since the early 1940s and had recorded several sessions as a leader, going back to 1947. Boyd turned out to be right: there was no effort to release anything from the session. But after his second session for JOB in May 1952 produced a massive hit in "Five Long Years," the Chess brothers rethought their decision. However, the fact that "Five Long Years" used a larger combo with tenor sax and drums discouraged any belated releases from the October 1951 outing, which had to bide its time until the 1970s reissue programs.

Cbess also returned to studio recordings of gospel music, as a group generically referred to as the Gospel Singers laid down six sides. We can say nothing further, as none have ever been released.

Later in October (well, maybe it was November), the Chess brothers tried pop music, waxing four tracks by a group called Two Honeys and a Cone. The response to the group's single, on Chess 1500, obviously did not encourage further explorations of this particular market.

In mid-December, Chess sought to follow up on the success of "Rocket 88" (see below, under purchased recordings) by bringing Jackie Brenston to Chicago to record his own session. Much was obviously expected, as the singer and baritone saxophonist laid down no fewer than 8 sides. But just four were released, and the sales of Chess 1496 and 1532 must not have been up to expectations. The full band personnel for the session is not known, but two Memphis stalwarts were on hand--Phineas Newborn Jr. at the piano and his brother Calvin Newborn on guitar--along with an alto sax, a tenor sax, bass, drums, and guest singer Edna McRaney (who appeared on "88 Boogie" and "Lovin' Time Blues" as well as "Hi Ho Baby").

The final session of the year took place on December 29. The main attraction was Muddy Waters. Despite the session's high productivity, however, just one of Muddy's sides was released--a stark, eerie rendition of "All Night Long" that put Leonard Chess's sewer-pipe reverb to good use. Two other takes of the same piece survive, noticeably different in ambience from the issued version. It is easy to understand why the Chess brothers passed on a number titled "Howlin' Wolf" once they had added an artist by that name to the roster. But nothing else from the session seemed to interest the company, not even a masterpiece on the order of "They Call Me Muddy Waters." The neglected tracks would prove a treasure trove for reissuers, starting in the early 1970s.

The December 29 session included no follow-on for Jimmy Rogers; instead the Chess brothers brought in Floyd Jones to make another four numbers with the band. This was a bit of a reunion, as Floyd Jones, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, and Elga Edmonds had all worked on the Tempo-Tone sessions back in May 1949. (At least we think Elga Edmonds was the drummer; some sources claim that one Willie Coven was on this date in his place.)

Despite the lack of continuity, F1006 and F1007, "Dark Road" and "Big World" by Floyd Jones, were cut at the same session as U7417 and U7418, "Playhouse" and "Overseas." Some misdirection may been have been involved in the decision to put these two items in the 1000 series previously reserved for material recorded elsehwere. Floyd Jones had done "Dark Road" and "Big World" on March 22, 1951 with a Sunnyland Slim unit, results duly released on JOB 1001. The ensuing single was the JOB's label's best seller up to that time. The Chess versions, remade with Muddy Waters' band, were as stark and eerie as their session-mate "All Night Long." Highly esteemed by blues fans today, they probably outsold the JOBs on the strength of superior distribution. Chess's decision made any prospects of future cooperation with Joe Brown remote; Chess and JOB would not work together again until 1958. "Playhouse" and "Overseas," which were nearly as good, stayed in the vaults until the early 1970s.

There was also significant growth outside of Universal Recording; the Chess brothers were vastly accelerating their purchases. In 1951 they began a pact with Sam Phillips' operation in Memphis (probably 32 sides during the year). Phillips had begun operating his now-legendary studio in 1950; in the early going he recorded material for many independent labels, including 4 Star, Gilt-Edge, and Modern/RPM (for details, see John Boija's page on records that were done at the Sun studio from 1950 through 1952, at http://www.boija.com).

But they also acquired material from the Miracle operation in Chicago, which had gone belly-up in June 1950 (most notably, they obtained 8 Sunrise sides by Al Hibbler). And they picked up some of the remains of its successor, Premium, which quit recording in July 1951 (6 sides).

Around the beginning of 1951, the Chess brothers bought 6 masters from the blues-oriented Chicago independent JOB, two of which had already been released in 1950 on (the second incarnation of) JOB 100. Joe Brown's label was a mom-and-pop operation that lacked distribution, which probably explained the sales. The relationship with JOB did not last; by the end of the year Chess would rerecord two Floyd Jones sides that had already been released on JOB, poisoning relations between the companies for years. The Chess brothers also made their first purchase from Joe Von Battle's operation in Detroit (2 sides).

Disc jockey Al Benson, who had been the front man for the Old Swing-Master operation in 1949, was starting to do a little free-lance recording; he, too, sold a session to Chess (8 more sides).

Two more came in from the Hilltop label; Galen Gart says that Hilltop 701 was put out by a company in New York City, but he also lists a Hilltop in Cincinnati, run by one Robert Hill (who happens to be listed as the composer on both of the Hilltop-derived sides). It appears that Godfrey was a drummer; "Hey Little Girl" features some rather thin vocal harmonies from his trio, plus some prominent work by an Ornithological alto saxophonist.

The Felix Gross tracks were reportedly recorded in Los Angeles (we do know that Gross had previously recorded for Exclusive in LA, and a later session for Chess may have originated in Dallas). If these sides were cut in Los Angeles, they had to have been purchased from a small label there, as the Chess brothers were not recording anything in California at this early date. In all, 64 sides were purchased.

With these purchases, the Chess brothers felt a need to create a separate matrix series for purchased items (though they would never employ them with full consistency--some purchased material always leaked back into the original U7000 series). Starting at U60 and for U61 for two John Lee "Booker" sides from Detroit (originally issued by Joe Von Battle on the hyper-low circulation Gone 60/61), they found it useful to extend this series for the sides that began cascading in from Sam Phillips in Memphis.

The deal with Sam Phillips was critical to the future of the label, because it brought Howlin' Wolf to the Chess catalog for the first time. (Incidentally, he is nearly always referred to in New York Times style--as "The Howlin' Wolf"--on Chess labels from this era.) Tenor saxophonist and singer Jackie Brenston sang "Rocket 88" with Ike Turner's band, producing what some have called the first rock 'n roll record (whatever one thinks of that claim, the record did sport the first fuzz-tone guitar, and it was a hit).

The two aforementioned sides by John Lee Hooker were obtained from Joe Von Battle, who had recorded them in the back of his record store in Detroit; obviously they did well enough in the marketplace to justify transporting Hooker to Chicago for a lengthy session in April (see the preceding section) and releasing some John Lee "Booker" records.

Most important for the bottom line, though, was the acquisition of Al Hibbler's Sunrise sides, probably via Lee Egalnick of Miracle, whose company had participated in a joint venture with Sunrise. Most entrepreneurs would not anticipate big sales on a recording that was already 3 1/2 years old and had been a hit before. But the Chess brothers sold enough copies of Hibbler's "Trees" to finance a great many forays into jukebox jazz and down-home blues. In fact, when the Hibbler sides were ready for release in April 1951, the brothers skipped number 1454 in their release series, as if to set off the simultaneous unleashing of Chess 1455, 1456, and 1457, all by Hibbler. They never did get back to 1454. Later in the year, they managed to duplicate number 1475, which was more or less simultaneously applied to a gospel record by the Four-A Melody Men (excavated from unissued Aristocrat material) and to a White blues record by Harmonica Frank Floyd. Otherwise, however, the Chess release series proceeded unbroken.

As 1952 began, Leonard Chess had obviously made some commitments about musical direction. Now that the company had two of the top-selling down-home blues artists in its catalog (Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf) Chess continued its efforts in this genre. There was the inconvenience, however, of The Wolf's continuing to record for the Bihari brothers in Memphis as well as Sam Phillips; this was eventually resolved in a deal that committed the Wolf exclusively to Chess while the Biharis got Roscoe Gordon. Meanwhile, jazz was not getting much emphasis. Chess lost interest in Claude McLin when he left town for Los Angeles early in 1952. The label would presumably have liked to record Gene Ammons, but he moved first to Decca and then to the company's new Chicago-based rival, United. The most significant jazz artist that Chess recorded in 1952 was Eddie Johnson; clearly the hope was that numbers like "Twin Rock" would appeal to the R&B-consuming public. And Sax Mallard recorded another session for the label, but this was definitely an R&B effort; in the future, he would be restricted to accompanying singers and doo-wop groups.

The company had expanded far enough to justify opening a subsidiary. (Disc jockeys, even when well compensated for featuring the company's product, were reluctant to play too many items on the same label in a row.) The first releases on the Checker label, 750 and 751, were advertised in Cash Box on April 5, 1952. Checker 752 appears to have Arbee Stidham's debut as a guitarist (he had been a regular on RCA Victor, strictly as a singer); Stidham was accompanied by Andrew "Goon" Gardner (alto sax); Tommy "Mad Man" Jones (tenor sax); Eddie Ware (piano); Ransom Knowling (bass); and Judge Riley (drums). Gardner would cut some other blues sessions for Chess but the label unfortunately made no further use of Tommy Jones' bar-walking skills (frustrated by his lack of exposure on recordings, Jones would eventually launch his own Mad label). While the earliest Checkers, though musically interesting, obviously sold poorly and remain obscure, Checker justified its separate status in August 1952, when 758 (Little Walter's "Juke") was released; "Juke" grew into a tremendous hit, so quickly that Walter left Muddy Waters' band while it was still on the road in Louisiana, so he could to return to Chicago and organize his own combo.

The advent of Checker seems to have thrown some confusion into the matrix number series. Chess kept using the U7000 series from Universal Recording (though items not recorded at that venue were sometimes thrown into the series with no apparent consistency). Early in the year a 1000 series was opened for purchased material (most of it from the prolific Sam Phillips in Memphis); then the 1000s acquired a C prefix, and the series came to be used for material intended for the new Checker label--even though much of it was recorded back home at Universal in Chicago. Finally, a U4300 ledger was opened at Universal for the freelance recording operations of Al Benson, who was reguarly dealing material to Chess during the second half of 1952. (But after New Year's 1953, many native Chess sessions would be given U4300 series matrix numbers...)

During January 1952, the company undertook no new recording. Apparently the Chess brothers were too busy digesting the remains of Premium--around this time they were affixing new matrix numbers to two sides by tenor saxophonist Lynn Hope and alto saxophonist Tab Smith.

Activity resumed at Universal on February 11, with a session split between Jimmy Rogers and Eddie Ware.

Another classic Muddy Waters session took place on September 17. Little Walter was now leading his own band, so the red-hot amplified harmonica on these sides belongs to Amos "Junior" Wells, who was now working for Muddy even though he wouldn't turn 18 until December. Jimmy Rogers remained on second guitar, and Elga Edmonds on the drum stool. After four numbers had been concluded, Muddy turned over the lead guitar and vocal duties to Floyd Jones: note the close similarity between Floyd's "You Can't Live Long" and Muddy's "Standing Around Crying," both funereally slow, impassioned blues.

While Muddy's first release from the session was a hit, and Chess used a third side later on, sales of Floyd's release were disappointing and the company quickly dropped him from its roster. He would return to his former label, JOB, in January 1953.

Although Chess continued to keep its issue numbers in reasonably good order, the company dropped the ball in November 1952, when it skipped over Chess 1524 and put out two 1525s instead. One Chess 1525 was a country recording by Guy Blakeman and His Blue Grass Serenaders; the other was a jazz recording (one side reissued from 1949; the other in the vault since 1950) by Gene Ammons.

In all, there are 103 known sides newly recorded for Chess in 1952 (if we count known alternate takes, but do not include some unexplained gaps in the series, such as U7452 through U7456). Three sides were cut in Jackson, Mississippi, where Leonard Chess made a clandestine session with Big Boy Crudup (C1022 and C1023 plus an alternate; these were attributed to "Percy Lee" Crudup). The rest appear to be from Universal Recording in Chicago.

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Matrix	Artist	Title	Release Number	Recording Date	Release Date
U7419	through	U7422	See	Purchased	Material
U-7423	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	At Last	Chess 1503	early February 1952	April 1952
U-7424	Jimmy Rogers and His Rocking Four	Back Door Friend	Chess 1506	February 11, 1952	April 1952
U-7425	Eddie Ware and His Band	Jealous Women	Chess 1507	February 11, 1952	April 1952
	Eddie Ware and His Band	Failure Is My Destiny		February 11, 1952
	Eddie Ware and His Band	Lonesome and Forgotten		February 11, 1952
	Eddie Ware and His Band	Unlucky Gambler		February 11, 1952
	Jimmy Rogers and His Rocking Four	Crying Shame	(Chess 2ACMB207)	February 11, 1952
C-1016	"Big Boy' Spires and His Guitar	One of These Days	Checker 752	March 13, 1952	June 1952
C-1017	"Big Boy" Spires and His Guitar	Murmur Low	Checker 752	March 13, 1952	June 1952
C-1018	Arbee Stidham and His Orchestra	Some to Tell My Troubles To	Checker 751	March 13, 1952	April 1952
C-1019	Arbee Stidham and His Orchestra	Mr. Commissioner	Checker 751	March 13, 1952	April 1952
C-1019 [alt.]	Arbee Stidham	Mr. Commissioner	(Chess CHD4-9340)	March 13, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Knob on the Door		March 13, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Love You Give to Me		March 13, 1952
C-1020	Rocky Fuller and His Guitar	Soon One Morning	Checker 753	March 13, 1952	June 1952
C-1020 [alt.]	Rocky Fuller	Funeral Hearse at My Door	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
C-1021	Rocky Fuller and His Guitar	Come On Baby, Now	Checker 753	March 13, 1952	June 1952
C-1021 [alt.]	Rocky Fuller	Rock Me Baby [Come On Baby, Now]	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	Under a Neon Sign	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	Catch Me a Freight Train	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	Looking for the Mail Man	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	Gonna Leave This Town	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	The Moon Won't Go Down	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
	Rocky Fuller	Raining and Storming	(P-Vine Special Chess [J] PLP-6032)	March 13, 1952
C-1022	Percy Lee [Arthur 'Big Boy'] Crudup	Open Your Book (Daddy Wants to Read with You)	Checker 754	May 11, 1952 [Jackson, MS]	June 1952
C-1023	Percy Lee Crudup	Tears in My Eyes	Checker 754	May 11, 1952 [Jackson]	June 1952
C-1023 [alt.]	Percy Lee Crudup	Tears in My Eyes	(Genesis 2)	May 11, 1952 [Jackson]
U7426	and	U7427	See	Purchased	Material
U7428	Rev. Chambers	It's Praying Time	Chess 1511	March or April, 1952	May 1952
U7429	Rev. Chambers	Me and the Devil	Chess 1511	March or April, 1952	May 1952
U-7430	Eddie Johnson and His Orchestra	This Love of Mine	Chess 1512	c. April 1952	May 1952
7431	Eddie Johnson featuring Edna McRaney	Back-Up	Chess 1512	c. April 1952	May 1952
7432	and	7433	See	Purchased	Material
U-7434	Sax Mallard and His Orchestra	I'm Yours	Checker 755A	May 12, 1952	July 1952
U-7435	Sax Mallard and His Orchestra	Teen Town Strut!	Checker 755B	May 12, 1952	July 1952
U7436	Sax Mallard and His Orchestra	Left Alone		May 12, 1952
7437	Little Walter and His Night Cats	Juke	Checker 758	May 12, 1952	August 1952
U7347 [alt.]	Little Walter and His Night Cats	Juke	(Chess CHD-9330)	May 12, 1952
7438	Little Walter and his Night Cats	Can't Hold On Much Longer	Checker 758	May 12, 1952	August 1952
U7438 [alt.]	Little Walter and His Night Cats	Can't Hold Out Much Longer	(Chess CHD2-9357)	May 12, 1952
7439	Muddy Waters and his Guitar	Please Have Mercy	Chess 1514	May 12, 1952	June 1952
7440	Calvin Bostick	Four Eleven Boogie	Chess 1530 (Chess 1572)	May 27, 1952	December 1952 (prob. May 1954)
U7441	Calvin Bostick	Bang Bang Blues	Chess 1572	May 27, 1952	prob. May 1954
7442	Al Fats Thomas and Orchestra	Baby Please No No	Checker 759	June 13, 1952	August 1952
7443	Al Fats Thomas and Orchestra	Dog Days	Checker 759	June 13, 1952	August 1952
1024	Memphis Minnie with Little Joe and His Band	Broken Heart	Checker 771	July 11, 1952	May 1953
C1024 [alt.]	Memphis Minnie with Little Joe and his Band	Broken Heart [alt.]	(Chess CHD4-9340)	July 11, 1952
C1025	Memphis Minnie with Little Joe and his Band	Conjur Man	(Chess CHD4-9340)	July 11, 1952
C1026	Memphis Minnie with Little Joe and his Band	Lake Michigan	(Chess CHD-9330)	July 11, 1952
1027	Memphis Minnie with Little Joe and his Band	Me and My Chauffeur	Checker 771	July 11, 1952	May 1953
C1028 [U-1128]	Blue Smitty and his String Men	Crying	Chess 1522	July 11, 1952	October 1952
C1028 [alt.]	Blue Smitty and his String Men	Crying	(Chess LP 411)	July 11, 1952
C1029 [U-1129]	Blue Smitty and his String Men	Sad Story	Chess 1522	July 11, 1952	October 1952
C1030	Blue Smitty and his String Men	Elgin Movements	(Genesis 3)	July 11, 1952
C1031	Blue Smitty and his String Men	Date Bait	(Genesis 3)	July 11, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Blues	unissued	July 18, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Baby Stop the Clock	(Rarin' LP 777)	July 18, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Blues, Why Do You Pick on Me	(Rarin' LP 777)	July 18, 1952
	Arbee Stidham	Same Old Story	unissued	July 18, 1952
U7444	Jimmy Rogers	Mistreated Baby	(Chess 2ACMB207)	August 12, 1952
7445	Jimmy Rogers and His Rocking Four	The Last Time	Chess 1519	August 12, 1952	October 1952
U7446	Jimmy Rogers	What's the Matter	(Chess 2ACMB207)	August 12, 1952
7447	Jimmy Rogers and His Rocking Four	Out on the Road	Chess 1519	August 12, 1952	October 1952
U7448	Rev. Green	unidentified title		August 1952
U7449	Rev. Green	unidentified title		August 1952
U7450	Rev. Green	unidentified title		August 1952
U7451	Rev. Green	unidentified title		August 1952
U7452
U7453
U7454
U7455
U7456
U7457	unidentified artist	Hole in the Jug		c. August 1952
U7458	unidentified artist	Air Mail		c. August 1952
U7459	unidentified artist	Uncle Bill		c. August 1952
U7460	unidentified artist	Caravan		c. August 1952
U7461
U7462	and	U7463	See	Purchased	Material
U7464	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	Night and Day		early September 1952
U7465	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	unidentified title		early September 1952
U7466	Deck Good	Bo Beep (English)		early September 1952
U7467	Deck Good	Bo Beep (Jewish)		early September 1952
U-7468	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	Twin Rock	Chess 1544	September 12, 1952	July 1953
U-7469	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	I'm Just a Lucky So and So	(Chess CHV-415)	September 12, 1952
U-7470	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	Tiptoe	Chess 1544	September 12, 1952	July 1953
U-7470 [alt.]	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	Eddie's Boogie	(Chess CHV-415)	September 12, 1952	June 1953
U-7471	Eddie Johnson and his Orchestra	Cool Down Daddy		September 12, 1952
U7472
U7473
U7474
U7475
U7476	Muddy Waters	Who's Gonna Be Your Sweet Man	Chess 1542	September 17, 1952	May 1953
U7477	Muddy Waters	Standing Around Crying	Chess 1526	September 17, 1952	November 1952
U7478	Muddy Waters	Gone to Main Street	Chess 1526	September 17, 1952	November 1952
U7479	Muddy Waters	Iodine in My Coffee	(Chess [Br] 6641174)	September 17, 1952
U7480	Floyd Jones	You Can't Live Long	Chess 1527	September 17, 1952	November or December 1952
U7481	Floyd Jones	Early Morning	Chess 1527	September 17, 1952	November or December 1952
U7482	The Bayou Boys	September Song		September or October 1952
U7483	The Bayou Boys	Sweetheart		September or October 1952
U-7484	The Bayou Boys	Bambalaya	Checker 765	September or October 1952	December 1952
U-7485	The Bayou Boys	Dinah	Checker 765	September or October 1952	December 1952
U-7486	Eddie Boyd	24 Hours	Chess 1533	October 10, 1952	February 1953
U7487	Eddie Boyd	Hard Time Gettin' Started	(Chess CHD4-9340)	October 10, 1952
U7488	Eddie Boyd	Best I Could	(Chess [J] PLP 6019)	October 10, 1952
U-7489	Eddie Boyd	The Tickler	Chess 1533	October 10, 1952	February 1953
U7489 [alt.]	Eddie Boyd