Time: 50:16
Size: 115.1 MB
Styles: Chicago blues
Year: 2008
Art: Front
[2:26] 1. J.B. Hutto - Pet Cream Man
[3:11] 2. Floyd Jones - Dark Road
[2:44] 3. Baby Face Leroy Trio - Rollin' & Tumblin' Part 1
[2:50] 4. Snooky Pryor - Cryin' Shame
[3:01] 5. Robert Nighthawk - Prowling Nighthawk
[3:42] 6. Arvella Gray - John Henry
[2:32] 7. Johnny Young - Money Taking Woman
[4:13] 8. Big John Wrencher - Maxwell Street Alley Blues
[2:49] 9. Daddy Stovepipe - The Spasm
[2:35] 10. Johnny Williams - Worried Man Blues
[2:51] 11. John Lee Granderson - Hard Luck John
[2:43] 12. John Henry Barbee - Against My Will
[3:06] 13. Boll Weevil - Christmas Time Blues
[2:56] 14. Baby Face Leroy Trio - Rollin' & Tumblin' Part 2
[2:50] 15. Papa Charlie Jackson - Maxwell Street Blues
[2:33] 16. Jimmy Rogers - Little Store Blues
[3:06] 17. Blind Percy - Fourteenth St. Blues
Probably every major American city has a seedy, shady yet colorful neighborhood that isn't missed until it's gone. For Boston, that neighborhood was the lively, raunchy Scollay Square; only after the area was razed in the name of urban renewal in the 1970s were its honky-tonk dives and burlesque joints celebrated. In New York City in the 1970s, politicians vowed to clean up Times Square, but now, the influx of chain stores and upscale mini-malls around 42nd Street has people reminiscing about the good, bad old days.
Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street on the city's Near West Side was one of those places that people love to remember – an open-air marketplace for bargain hunters and hustlers, for street musicians and sidewalk preachers, for someone shopping for shoes, for another seeking to save souls. In the early 1900s, the area near Halsted Street became the place for immigrants to begin their search for the American dream by running large open-air stores and flea markets as well as restaurants, delicatessens and other businesses. Then it was dubbed Jew Town -- in those politically incorrect days, a label considered no more insulting than Chinatown is today. Later, African-Americans moving north found Maxwell Street a haven for commercial activities, entertainment and music, as blues and gospel singers filled the street with song and salvation. By the early 1960s, the seven-block area was a bustling carnival of all kinds of commerce, legal, illicit and somewhere in between. By the 1990s, the market was moved to accommodate expansion of the University of Illinois and an era seemed to be over, much mourned by long-time Chicagoans.
That era is revived in And This is Free, a new "MultiPac" published by Shanachie Entertainment, which features a DVD, CD and booklet chronicling Maxwell's colorful history. The DVD contains several documentaries, starting with Mike Shea's 1964 film, "And This is Free," an exquisitely shot, black-and-white tribute to the market's unique flavor. Kicking the DVD off with Shea's 50-minute feature is a bit of a gamble. This documentary contains no narrative; Shea just takes you to the street and lets the story unfold, something with the potential to bewilder the non-Chicagoan watcher. ~Stephanie Schorow
Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street on the city's Near West Side was one of those places that people love to remember – an open-air marketplace for bargain hunters and hustlers, for street musicians and sidewalk preachers, for someone shopping for shoes, for another seeking to save souls. In the early 1900s, the area near Halsted Street became the place for immigrants to begin their search for the American dream by running large open-air stores and flea markets as well as restaurants, delicatessens and other businesses. Then it was dubbed Jew Town -- in those politically incorrect days, a label considered no more insulting than Chinatown is today. Later, African-Americans moving north found Maxwell Street a haven for commercial activities, entertainment and music, as blues and gospel singers filled the street with song and salvation. By the early 1960s, the seven-block area was a bustling carnival of all kinds of commerce, legal, illicit and somewhere in between. By the 1990s, the market was moved to accommodate expansion of the University of Illinois and an era seemed to be over, much mourned by long-time Chicagoans.
That era is revived in And This is Free, a new "MultiPac" published by Shanachie Entertainment, which features a DVD, CD and booklet chronicling Maxwell's colorful history. The DVD contains several documentaries, starting with Mike Shea's 1964 film, "And This is Free," an exquisitely shot, black-and-white tribute to the market's unique flavor. Kicking the DVD off with Shea's 50-minute feature is a bit of a gamble. This documentary contains no narrative; Shea just takes you to the street and lets the story unfold, something with the potential to bewilder the non-Chicagoan watcher. ~Stephanie Schorow
And This Is Free: The Life And Times Of Chicago's Legendary Maxwell Street mc
And This Is Free: The Life And Times Of Chicago's Legendary Maxwell Street zippy