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PHIL CHESS,
1921-2016

Phil Chess, co-founder of Chicago’s leading blues label Chess Records, which made stars of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry and Etta James, died in Wednesday Tucson, Ariz., at the age of 95. No cause has been given.

Considered the premier blues label of its day, Chess surged from the “race” marketplace where it was having success with Little Walter, Waters, Howlin Wolf, Jimmy Rogers and others into the mainstream when Chuck Berry crossed over onto the Pop, Country and R&B charts in the summer of 1955. Within four years, Berry would chart a dozen Top 10 R&B hits. Simultaneously, hey also registered hits with vocal groups such as The Moonglows and The Flamingos.

Starting in 1960, James delivered 14 R&B Top 40 hits in four years, just about the time The Rolling Stones and The Animals were reviving interest in Chess acts such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Waters, Diddley and Wolf.

Philip Chess, born Fiszel Czyż in Poland, moved to Chicago in 1928 with his family, and after a stint in the Army, joined his brother in running the Macomba Lounge. Leonard became a partner in Aristocrat Records in 1948; Phil joined him in ‘50 and the label changed its name to Chess. A single by tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons was their first release; their second was Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone,” which went to #10 on the R&B sales chart.

Considered the jovial young brother to the more driven Leonard, Phil and Leonard operated Chess Records as a two-man tag team—one watched the office on Chicago’s Southside while the other traveled the country to get records in stores and on air.

Neither brother knew much about music or copyrights—they didn’t get into publishing until 1953 when they formed Arc with Benny Goodman’s brothers—so they went with hunches when recording and signing artists. They told Cash Box in the early 1950s, “the key to a hit is to give the people what they want to hear.” Buddy Guy, who came up through Waters’ band before being signed as a solo artist on Chess, has said the Chess brothers specialized in recording music that no one else was putting out at the time.

The label was largely singles-oriented until the end of the 1950s as both Chess brothers were wary of the LP format. Once they got on board with albums, Phil become an important producer for the label. With Leonard, he produced Berry’s debut album After School Session and James’ At Last, and on his own, two of the label’s landmark jazz albums, James Moody’s Moody’s Mood for Love and Ahmad Jamal’s At the Pershing: But Not for Me.

Besides Chess, the brothers had two offshoot labels, Checker and Argo, which eventually was renamed Cadet.

The Chess brothers sold the label to tape manufacturer GRT in 1968—Leonard died a year later—and Phil retired to Arizona in 1972. The brothers were inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1995 and honored with a Recording Academy Trustees Award in 2013.

Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow issued the following statement:

A 2013 recipient of The Recording Academy Trustees Award, Phil Chess was a pioneering music industry executive who helped make Chicago the Blues Capital of the World. With his brother Leonard, he co-founded the legendary Chess Records, and signed historically significant artists including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Muddy Waters, and many more. In addition to their executive roles at the label, the Chess brothers often served as producers for their artists' recordings. Today we celebrate Phil’s multi-faceted talents and his many contributions to the music community. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, and creative collaborators.

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