Leonard Chess

Record-company executive and music-industry giant Leonard Chess was born Lejzor Czyz in a Jewish ghetto in Motel, Poland, in 1917. His father emigrated to the US, settling in Chicago and getting into the liquor business, and when he had established himself there he sent for the rest of his family in 1928. The family name was changed to Chess and Lejzor became Leonard. His brother, Fiszel, became Phil Chess, who later joined Leonard in the music business. In 1938 Leonard and Phil bought several taverns in Chicago, including the Macomba Lounge on the city's South Side, which featured many jazz and blues players. Noticing that the artists in their clubs had no place to record, in 1947 Leonard invested in a start-up record label, Aristocrat Records. By 1950 he had bought out his partners, and he and brother Phil became sole owners and renamed the label Chess Records. They signed such artists as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson and Chuck Berry, among others. The label eventually expanded its scope from blues and jazz artists to include rock, R&B, gospel, spoken-word and even comedy artists. Leonard and Phil built Chess Records (and its subsidiary labels Checker, Argo and Cadet) into one of the biggest and most respected independent labels in the business. Leonard Chess died of a heart attack in 1969.