Rating: 
Summary: Great read for Blues fans!
Review: As a newbie Blues music fan, I found Ms. Cohadas' book very informative and enjoyable. Thoroughly researched, she does a great job of explaining the factors that led to the growth of the Chicago music scene, and many of the men and women who made it possible.When I listen to a recording of a song, I tend to think about the "creative" talent involved in making it, i.e. the writer, arranger and performers. It's easy to forget, however, that there are a lot of creative talents involved in producing, marketing and distributing the music, and their contributions are as important. The Chess brothers were clearly a central force in bringing a lot of great music to the public. One aspect of the book that I found particularly interesting and well-researched was the author's description of the economics behind the music business. What seems like a simple business is actually pretty complex. While the author does not excuse practices such as royalty sharing arrangements and the informal way the Chess brothers paid their artists, she manages to show how these could be interpreted in the context of the industry at the time. If nothing else, this book prompted me to purchase several of the great Chess reissues which are now available on CD.
Rating:
Summary: Great read for Blues fans!
Review: As a newbie Blues music fan, I found Ms. Cohadas' book very informative and enjoyable. Thoroughly researched, she does a great job of explaining the factors that led to the growth of the Chicago music scene, and many of the men and women who made it possible. When I listen to a recording of a song, I tend to think about the "creative" talent involved in making it, i.e. the writer, arranger and performers. It's easy to forget, however, that there are a lot of creative talents involved in producing, marketing and distributing the music, and their contributions are as important. The Chess brothers were clearly a central force in bringing a lot of great music to the public. One aspect of the book that I found particularly interesting and well-researched was the author's description of the economics behind the music business. What seems like a simple business is actually pretty complex. While the author does not excuse practices such as royalty sharing arrangements and the informal way the Chess brothers paid their artists, she manages to show how these could be interpreted in the context of the industry at the time. If nothing else, this book prompted me to purchase several of the great Chess reissues which are now available on CD.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Book Details the Legendary Chess Records
Review: Author Nadine Cohodas has meticulously detailed the fascinating story behind the rise of one of America's greatest institutions-Chess Records and the musicians who created its legacy. Unlike other books on the subject, this book is no cut and paste work. Rather Cohodas, a noted political writer has conducted extensive interviews, was given exclusive access to internal company documents and exhaustively reviewed contemporary accounts of the company and the larger than life figures that are associated with it. The result is a compelling read, essential to anyone who ever listened to a Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf tune.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you want to break out the 45s
Review: Cohodas has done an amazing job of researching and telling the story behind the roots of rock! This proves that sometimes what's behind the scenes is often more interesting and entertaining than what's playing on the jukebox!
Rating:
Summary: A truly great book!
Review: I grew up in Chicago and am JUST old enough to recall going to the South Side when there was still an operative Chess Records. My awareness of Chess has changed my life profoundly. This book details the rise and fall of Chess in great detail, and is truly a page turner. I have decided to read it slowly -- a chapter a night -- as to best savor it. For a second generation American native with Eastern European Jewish ancestors, and knowing all the Chicago and suburban spots (from taverns to deli's) referred to here, this is more than the story of the most important label in blues and rock history. Even though my father was quite different than Leonard Chess, it's the story of my people in the new land -- Jewish immigrants working together with African-American immigrants from the South in a new place for all...creating something that changed the world for the better.
Rating: 
Summary: Only half the story
Review: I was excited to see a new book about this great record label. Unfortunately this is a rather one-sided affair based on the extensive interviews with the white label owners who got rich off the hard work of black musicians. Sadly, the legendary stars of Chess are almost all dead so the author depends on some very minor players to tell that side. And as another reviewer noted, the bibliography fails to mention an earlier history of the company, plus it also leaves out the Living Blues magazine history on Chess, which came out a few years ago. This is a good try but uneven.
Rating: 
Summary: Blues Snooze
Review: I've probably read three dozen books on blues music and artists and can honestly say this was one of the most tedious. The author is clearly proud of her access to the Chess family, but there's little else in this book that makes it worth buying. Her analysis of the music itself is perhaps the weakest part of her text. Was she even familiar with the Chess catalog before working on this thing? Having read about the author's past career, I'd say she should stick to covering ("yawn") congressional committee hearings and leave the story of blues music to someone familiar with it.
Rating: 
Summary: An Amazing Book on Chess Records
Review: Ms. Nadine Cohodas has written a great book on the history of Chess Records and the Chess brothers. Her ability to combine a Jewish family history, the history of the record business in the 1940-1965 period, and the rise of black rock 'n' roll is a difficult task, but for her, an achievable one. Anyone who loves rhythm and blues records including those of the famous Chess, Checker, and Argo (mostly jazz) labels, whose rosters included Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Etta James, Ahmad Jamal, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and many others, will devour this book with great pleasure. I do find it interesting that the author's first name is Nadine, which is the title of a famous Check Berry record...and I also learned, for the Coronets on Chess Records. One notable, to me anyway, omission comes in the author's'otherwise excellent bibliography. She does not site what is supposed to be 'the first book devoted to the Chess story', that is: THE STORY OF CHESS RECORDS, by John Collis, published by Bloomsbury Press in 1998. My father distributed Chess/Checker/Agro records in the St. Louis area during the 1950's and got me interested in the history of this, and other R & B companies. Thanks to Ms. Cohodas and her book, SPINNING BLUES INTO GOLD, for the old and many new memories.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book on Chess Records
Review: Ms. Nadine Cohodas has written a great book on the history of Chess Records and the Chess brothers. Her ability to combine a Jewish family history, the history of the record business in the 1940-1965 period, and the rise of black rock 'n' roll is a difficult task, but for her, an achievable one. Anyone who loves rhythm and blues records including those of the famous Chess, Checker, and Argo (mostly jazz) labels, whose rosters included Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Etta James, Ahmad Jamal, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and many others, will devour this book with great pleasure. I do find it interesting that the author's first name is Nadine, which is the title of a famous Check Berry record...and I also learned, for the Coronets on Chess Records. One notable, to me anyway, omission comes in the author's'otherwise excellent bibliography. She does not site what is supposed to be 'the first book devoted to the Chess story', that is: THE STORY OF CHESS RECORDS, by John Collis, published by Bloomsbury Press in 1998. My father distributed Chess/Checker/Agro records in the St. Louis area during the 1950's and got me interested in the history of this, and other R & B companies. Thanks to Ms. Cohodas and her book, SPINNING BLUES INTO GOLD, for the old and many new memories.
Rating: 
Summary: Read on, blues fans
Review: My recommendation to serious fans is to buy and read <<Spinning Blues into Gold>>, then go on to other sources that greatly add color and substance to Ms. Cohodas' rather spare narrative. By all means check out <<Chicago Blues: The City and the Music>> by Mike Rowe, <<I Am the Blues>> by Willie Dixon, and <<A Life in Rhythm and the Blues>> by Jerry Wexler. The key contributions of the Cohodas book are 1) its fresh emphasis on the marketing and production aspects of the Chess operation, and 2) its attempt to debunk some widely accepted derogatory tales about Leonard Chess. For example, she has several sources to refute Keith Richards' famous story about Muddy Waters painting the ceiling. Thought-provoking stuff.
| 
