Tag Archives: Chess Records

Rev. C.L. Franklin – The Father of Aretha Recorded, Quite Successfully, For Chess Records, By John Siscoe

Of the galaxy of stars at Chess Records, the grandmaster of them all was Rev. C.L. Franklin, pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (1915-84) was one of the greatest black ministers of the post-war era, a civil rights activist, and a friend of Martin Luther King. Many consider …

Howlin’ Wolf – Spoonful (Chess 1960, 2:45), by Tom Kipp

Howlin’ Wolf—“Spoonful” (Chess 1960, 2:45) The day before I flew home to Montana from Providence (23 May 1982) I found a very useful, cartoon-jacketed, budget-line blues sampler—America’s Musical Roots—that contained many of the most famous singles ever to appear on Chess Records, this one foremost among them. Nothing about the chundering roar of Cream’s infamous …