Let’s try cashing in on our rich heritage
Friday, Jan 20, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Crain’s…
Though Chicago dwarfs New Orleans, Memphis and St. Louis in population and economic might, a weekend in any of those places drives home the missed opportunities back home. All three cities have museums dedicated to telling the music’s story; tours and branded districts where people can walk in the footsteps of legends; airports, parks and streets named in their honor, life-size statues for tourist selfies; and, of course, an abundance of live music clubs that all three cities actively help promote throughout the year.
Chicago’s failure to acknowledge seminal figures who were born or made their most influential recordings here—Muddy Waters, Curtis Mayfield, the Staple Singers, Jimmy Reed, Mahalia Jackson, Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Sam Cooke, Thomas Dorsey and Benny Goodman—has become an opportunity elsewhere.
Memphis brands itself as “Home of the Blues and Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll”; New Orleans claims native son Louis Armstrong with an airport and downtown park named in his honor though he made his most influential recordings in Chicago; and last year St. Louis opened the National Blues Museum, a $13 million, 23,000-square-foot institution revitalizing its downtown riverfront.
Chicago has none of that. No museum, no statues, no official tours, no markers of the vital clubs that existed on 43rd Street, 59th Street, Stony Island Avenue, West Madison Street, Roosevelt Road or Lake Street, most of which the city allowed to be razed; that includes the historic Maxwell Street Market, a fundamental endpoint for the Great Migration where musicians from the South gathered outdoors and the blues were inevitably electrified. Even the Muddy Waters home in Bronzeville is abandoned and in disrepair.
This city that boasts of a world-class image has failed to promote its best-known international attraction, says Janice Monti, a sociologist at Dominican University in River Forest who heads the school’s annual Blues & the Spirit Symposium. “European and Asian tourists come to Chicago, and the first thing they ask is where can they learn about the music, and they’re surprised there is no place to go,” she says. “We never seem to have the collective will to move any of this forward.”
Before it closed, I was a semi-regular at Lee’s Unleaded, one of, if not the last Chicago blues clubs to feature mostly black artists playing for a mostly black crowd. Man, that South Side place was something else. Interestingly enough, a lot of the musicians were from the West Side.
I went to the Underground Wonderbar for New Year’s Eve and had a blast. It’s got a very loyal (and integrated) customer base and never disappoints. They mix in some jazz, but it’s always hot. ADDING: I didn’t see this on the site when I got the link, but the Wonderbar is closing next month. This is a huge loss for Chicago. Ugh.
My brother Devin has played at Rosa’s Lounge, and I’ve seen plenty of good shows there. And there’s always Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines, where you’ll see more tourists.
So, there are places to go, but everything is pretty spread out. The city would definitely benefit from a music district like they have in Memphis (and which, according to the above article, has helped spike tourism to a “$3.2 billion industry that attracts 11 million visitors a year and supports 20,000 jobs”). The mayor has spoken about it in the past, but he hasn’t yet made it happen.
- chi - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:38 pm:
Amen. And the redevelopment of “McCormick Square”/Motor Row offers the perfect opportunity for this, not far from original landmarks like Chess Records, Sunset Cafe, etc.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:41 pm:
Don’t forget The Green Mill where all the greats played.
- Jabes - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:45 pm:
According to their website, the Underground Wonder Bar is closing in mid-February.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:47 pm:
===The Green Mill where all the greats played===
Yeah, but now it’s jazz and poetry slams. Don’t get me wrong, love that stuff, but it’s not really a blues bar.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:51 pm:
Thanks for that info Jabes. I’m now officially depressed.
I mean, where else can you see an African-American trans person sing sizzling hot blues in Chicago?
- Daniel Plainview - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:55 pm:
Rahm has been too busy trying to land a billionaire’s toy collection and mulling over painting speed bumps white (they already have white stripes) so that his struggling friend Grif doesn’t have to plunk down $10k every time he plays Dukes of Hazard on a side street.
Have some sense of proportion, Rich.
- downstate commissioner - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 1:59 pm:
Chicago: Meatpacker for(to)the World!
- allknowingmasterofracoondom - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:01 pm:
Blue Chicago on Clark/Ohio still does a pretty good job with the blues.
- downstate commissioner - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:01 pm:
Chicago Cubs! “nuff said”
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:07 pm:
===Blue Chicago on Clark/Ohio===
Yeah, but not exactly a bluesy neighborhood.
- City Zen - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:07 pm:
Underground Wonder Bar appeared on Bar Rescue awhile back\ and he attempted to re-brand it “Clear Bar”:
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150217/river-north/river-north-barkeep-after-bar-rescue-i-wouldnt-treat-my-dog-that-way
- Rogue Roni - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:11 pm:
Brace yourself for the storm of “There’s more to Illinois than Chicago” comments
- notsosure - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:14 pm:
Bring back the original Checkerboard Lounge!
- Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:19 pm:
I Got the Lack of a $50 Million Blues Museum Blues.
- Illinois O'Malley - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:25 pm:
I’ve always thought that the Chess records/Willie Dixon blues building should go back a recording studio and serve as a starting point to focus on ‘blues’ tourism and recording. Maybe Rahm can work a deal???
- Amalia - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:32 pm:
well, once things close down, it’s hard to open up again. and that means the cachet is lost. there is kind of a division in the music world here, jazz gets corporate dough, but not the festival, blues the festival and not the corporate dough.
actually, I think there is way more promise in another kind of music being honored here. Steve Albini records here, for god’s sake. the Pumpkins wanted to do a free concert in Grant Park and it was turned down by the short sighted City Hall folks. there is a huge rock tradition here that is smart and edgy. watch the first episode of the Dave Grohl HBO show and you will see how inspired he was coming here as a child. go with that.
- Emily Booth - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:38 pm:
That’s not what Rahm’s 30 year old assistants listen to.
- W Flag - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 2:49 pm:
I agree one hundred percent. Even in the near South Loop where Chess Records used to have its recording studios there is virtually nothing to that memorializes what was once such a vibrant part of the musical scene.
- Anon - Friday, Jan 20, 17 @ 3:05 pm:
Springfield’s got all those nice markers to remind folks of the race riot and lynchings that lead to the creation of the NAACP.
Maybe Chicago needs a tour of all of the awful things that Chicago’s Finest have done to folks over the years? Start with a visit to Fred Hampton’s apartment, you know, something really classy.