Chess Records co-founder Phil Chess dies aged 95
Phil Chess, co-founder of legendary Chicago imprint Chess Records, has died at the age of 95.
The influential record producer and company executive died at his 30-acre ranch in Tucson, Arizona on Tuesday (18th October), his nephew Craig Glicken has confirmed.
Born Fiszel Czyż in Częstochowa, Poland in 1921, after emigrating to Chicago aged seven, Phil co-founded Chess Records with his older brother Leonard (previously named Lejzor) in 1950.
The label proved to be the Launchpad for a host of iconic blues acts including Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson, Robert Lockwood Jr., Etta James, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and Chuck Berry.
As well as signing and nurturing the acts, Phil produced many of their records and has been cited as being pivotal in the emergence of rock and roll. Â
The imprint’s second release, Muddy Waters’ ‘Rollin Stone’ in 1950, famously gave its name to both The Rolling Stones and the American music magazine.
The Rolling Stones’ 1964 track ‘2120 S Michigan Avenue’ refers to the address of Chess Records in Chicago, while Keith Richards revealed in his autobiography that he reconnected with former schoolmate Mick Jagger when he spotted him holding some Chess Records LPs.
RIP Phil Chess.