Chess Studios
| Chess Records | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1950 |
| Founder |
Leonard Chess Phil Chess |
| Defunct | 1975 |
| Status | Inactive |
| Distributor(s) | Geffen |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
Chess Records was an American record company, founded in 1950 in Chicago and specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. Over time it expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess, Checker, Argo, and Cadet labels. The Chess catalogue is currently owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records.
Founded and run by Jewish immigrant brothers from Poland, Leonard and Phil Chess, the company produced and released many singles and albums regarded as central to the rock music canon. The musician and critic Cub Koda described Chess as "America's greatest blues label."
Chess was based at several different locations on the south side of Chicago, initially at two different locations on South Cottage Grove Ave. The most famous location was 2120 S. Michigan Avenue from around 1956 to 1965, immortalized by the Rolling Stones in "2120 South Michigan Avenue", an instrumental recorded there during the group's first U.S. tour in 1964. The Stones recorded at Chess Studios on two more occasions. The building is now the home of Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation. In the mid-1960s, Chess relocated to a much larger building, at 320 E. 21st Street, the label's final Chicago home.
Leonard bought a stake in in 1947. in 1950, he brought his brother, Phil, into the operation, and they became the sole owners of the company. In the same year they brought in a third partner, Evelyn Aron, and renamed the company Chess Records.
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