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Chicago 1950s overview
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Chicago 1950s overview

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Written by
Charlie Gillett
(d. 2010) Radio presenter and director, Oval Records and Music, London. Author of The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll; Making Tracks: Atlantic Records and the Growth of a Multi-billion-Dollar...
Charlie Gillett
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Article History

Then the second most populous city in the United States, Chicago had the potential talent and market to sustain a substantial music industry—but it rarely did so. The city did support a vibrant jazz scene during Prohibition and was the leading recording centre for artists supplying the “race” market during the 1930s: Big Bill Broonzy, Georgia Tom (who, as Thomas A. Dorsey, went on to even greater success as a gospel composer), Tampa Red, and many more. During the 1940s Mercury Records was founded from a Chicago base and emerged as a viable rival to the established major companies. But ...(100 of 154 words)

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