Ep534: Celebrating Chess Records with Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan discusses touring with John Batiste at Davos Economic Summit

He's producing Robert Cray's new album at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals

JayVee Records finishing Willie Mitchell documentary, The Verbs album, and Tony Joe White posthumous record

Chess Records called arguably the cornerstone of modern music

New vinyl reissue campaign marks first proper Chess reissues in decades

Steve's compilation "Let's Play Chess" features personally meaningful recordings

The Dells were his first Chess records—Chicago's hardcore R&B answer to Motown

Tommy Tucker's "High Heel Sneakers" on Checker was childhood obsession

British Invasion reintroduced American blues that establishment had suppressed racially

Etta James "At Last" originals fetch four to five hundred dollars

Universal fire destroyed masters; some duplicates recovered from Europe thankfully

Early stereo versions often poorly done with hard-panned instruments and fake echo

Chess building preserved physically but control room was completely stripped of gear

Steve brought API console and ribbon mics for 2010 session there

Correctly guessed drum placement; Hubert Sumlin confirmed the next day

Otis Spann's piano still vibrates sympathetically when musicians play the room

Jack Wiener designed Chess gear and later mastered recordings in basement

Mastering represents twenty-five percent of the mix, often overlooked historically

Jamie Krentz alerted Universal to Chess catalog's 75th anniversary reissue potential

Rarities campaign revealed extraordinary alternate takes including deep Lowell Fulsom version

Willie Mitchell spent years perfecting Royal Recording's signature snare drum sound

Keith Richards session led to lifelong friendship with Willie Mitchell

Willie gave Steve one of Al Jackson's tom-toms from Al Green recordings

Recording, overdubbing, and mixing in same room captures authentic studio sound

John Lennon was his white whale—missed meeting him by five minutes

Finally played with Paul McCartney on Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds album

Blues Brothers debuted on SNL's third season finale with Saturday Night Live band

Matt Guitar Murphy was a Chess session player—Steve's first Chess connection unknowingly

John Belushi educated Steve nightly on deep Chess catalog from his Chicago roots

Devo's SNL performance was a life-changing moment Steve witnessed firsthand

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