Spinning Blues into Gold
Subtitle: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: April 2, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 358
ISBN-13: 9780312261337
Subjects: Biography: film, television & music; Blues; Music industry; Black Musicians And Their Music; Music/Songbooks; Music; Business Aspects; Genres & Styles - Blues; History & Criticism - General; Music / Blues; 1917-; 1921-; Biography; Chess, Leonard,; Chess, Phil,; Sound recording executives and; Sound recording executives and producers; Sound recording industry; United States
First sentence: brother, and his nephew-in-law, Yasef, her husband. The men began their trip to America at the end of November.
Description: "The great artists who sang the blues made their mark with Leonard and Phil Chess, whose Chess Records was synonymous with the sound that swept up from the South, embraced Chicago, and spread out into mid-century America. Spinning Blues Into Gold is the impeccably researched story of the men behind the music and the remarkable company they created." "Chess Records - and later Checker, Argo, and Cadet - was built by Polish immigrant Jews, brothers who saw the blues as a unique business opportunity.".

"The book portrays the rich and volatile mix of race, Jews, and music. Cohodas takes us deep into the world of independent record producers, men who were sometimes abrasive and always aggressive, striving to succeed. Leonard and Phil worked hand-in-glove with disenfranchised black artists, and the intermittent charges of exploitation were balanced by the reality of a common purpose that brought them fame.

From beginning to end, the lives of the Chesses were entwined with those of the artists - socially, financially, and creatively."--BOOK JACKET.