Chicago blues: Quick Facts

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Photos

Muddy Waters sits playing an electric guitar, looking slightly upward with a cigarette in his mouth, circa 1950.

Phil Chess, Etta James, and Ralph Bass pose together in Chess Records Studios, Chicago, 1960, with a microphone and recording equipment in front of them.

Music at the Maxwell Street Market

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Key People

Howlin Wolf, Chester Arthur Burnett, singing passionately into a microphone, 1964.

Howlin’ Wolf

American musician

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters

American musician

Junior Wells, 1996

Junior Wells

American blues singer and harmonica player

Sonny Boy Williamson II, c. 1960s

Sonny Boy Williamson

American musician

Elmore James, wearing a suit and tie, sits holding an electric guitar, looking slightly to the side in a black-and-white portrait.

Elmore James

American musician