Customer Reviews

Today's Chicago Blues

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This book is different than other books about Chicago blues. Its journalistic style covers a lot of ground in less than 250 pages. It is contemporary in the sense that it captures the Chicago Blues scene today, not as it existed fifty or even five years ago.

"Today's Chicago Blues" serves a dual audience. First of all it is a "must have" for out-of town blues fans who wants to maximize their trip to the Blues Mecca known as Chicago. The book not only contains a detailed guide to the many blues venues in the Chicago area, but it also includes little known items like the location of grave-sites for blues legends like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Jimmy Rogers. Hanson also reveals the addresses of blues landmarks like Muddy's residences, the site of the old Chess Records studio now been restored by the Blues Heaven Foundation, the historic Maxwell Street Market, and the Leyland Hotel in Aurora. A visitor from out of town would benefit greatly from the encyclopedic treatment of everything from Blues Fest to the local radio stations that play blues to the blues jamming venues for visitors who want to bring their ax. Of course, the author gives extensive biographical treatment to the blues musicians who keep the great music alive.

But "Today's Chicago Blues" is not just for out-of-towners. Even the most devoted Chicago based blues fan will learn little-known facts and blues history. For me I was astounded to learn that WOPA's legendary blues radio tradition continues today at 1490 AM dial (the same frequency that broadcast Big Bill Hill) with host John Gorny from midnight to 5 am on Monday's. In addition to the facts and history, there were countless blues bars and juke joints listed by the author which I never knew existed. And maybe I'll drop Hubert Sumlin an email from the address that Hanson gives along with her biography of the renowned guitarist.

Greg Freerksen, host Blues Edition WDCB Public Radio, Glen Ellyn, Illinois

This book is a fairly comprehensive and encyclopedic glossary of Chicago blues artists and clubs. The descriptions of clubs and festivals are mundane and factual, and for the most part they don't try too hard to capture the essence or soul of the blues through descriptions of live events. While the artist directory (featuring 80 or so musicians) does make some effort at painting the scene's many colorful characters through artist spotlights and anecdotes (e.g. Eddie "the Chief" Clearwater discovering his trademark headdress at a friend's house party), the description of the Chicago blues festival is particularly inane ("bring... if rain seems possible, an umbrella") and like the rest of the book reads more like a tourist brochure than a critical review or a narrative description.

If that's all the book is aiming for, that's understandable. Unfortunately, though this book was just published in 2007, it is already becoming a bit dated- many of the clubs (particularly the smaller bars) have closed down and a third of the listed artist websites are broken links. Interestingly, it's still got a better track record than most websites I could find and I'd actually find this material to be useful if it were still 2006 or the content of the book were moved to the web and kept up to date. That said, if you're new to the Chicago blues scene, this is worth skimming (I actually read most of it straight through and found it tedious)- if and like the previous reviewer noted, even the most seasoned blues fan would learn a few things.