Re: [Harp-L] Maxwell Street

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Dec 30, 2008, at 12:14 PM, David Brown wrote:
> Maxwell St. was "renovated" to expand the University of Illinois  
> campus.

That's what they wanted everyone to believe.

> Apparently the city felt the need to destroy a hundred year old  
> landmark of
> the city's history, and a historic landmark of blues and rock &  
> roll, so
> that university students would have places to get coffee and pita  
> bread (I'm
> getting old...and cynical).

It's a crime that the government does this in this country. This  
doesn't happen in other places (except Paris). Every city, town and  
village has a 'Dahn Tahn' section. Even a village has a place where  
'what's happenin now' is de rigeur. In Baltimore, it was Baltimore  
st., in Pgh, it was the Hill Dist. In Mayberry it was the barber shop  
and in Pixley, it was Drucker's general store.

Unfortunately, when a particular area seems to exude a particular  
level of crime, it is considered blighted and the paranoid city  
planners must do something about it. Sooo, instead of having the  
(admittedly) small number of resident riff raff all in one easy  
convenient location (where they can be watched), they are scattered  
about to 'seed' new neighborhoods. Yes, the govt. can't seem to do  
anything about the people who swindle and cheat us out of billions,  
but just let someone get taken in a shell game and holy hell, break  
out the Nat'l Guard.

Not only does that destroy the birthplaces of local culture and  
nurturing grounds of the indigenous music and art, but it causes more  
problems than it solves. They do this in the interest of safety.  
What? Part of growing up is to learn how to deal with every day  
events. I mean, would you bungee jump 666 feet from the tip of the  
999 foot Eiffel Tower? (consider the shape). Would you picknick on  
the lee side of the Tower of Pisa? (consider the plumbness). Would  
you swim in ANY Florida drainage canal? Would you run through the  
Oregon forests wearing a pork chop suit?

> They moved the famous polish suasage stands
> around the corner....but if you visit Chicago don't leave without  
> eating
> one.
> I miss the market. It is the first place I learned and played harp  
> in front
> of an audience. I wish every blues fan and harp player on this list  
> could
> have visited it. The wealth of blues played at that market was  
> unbelievable.
> I saw many myself and I wasn't even there during the heyday of the  
> 50's (I
> grew up in the early 70's)

I was there in 61. It was as good as you could get.
> The City moved the market across the expressway and cleaned it up  
> somewhat.
> The blues bus still sells blues and CDs, and you'll even catch a  
> harp in a
> street band sometimes, but without the ancient buildings, snappy  
> huckster
> salesmen, and stolen goods it just doesn't seem the same.

In other countries, the buildings are still there.
smo-joe

> The market is still open on Sundays and during business hours it is  
> more
> than reasonably safe. The location of the old market is as safe as  
> any other
> modern gentrified business district. Find the corner of Maxwell and  
> Halsted
> and consider it Mecca. Little Walter, Big Walter, and many many of the
> Chicago greats played within a half block of that intersection.  
> Muddy's
> first record ( and I think Little Walter's) was sold from a store a  
> stone's
> throw from that intersection too.
> The Chess Studio building is on a few blocks East of the market on  
> Michigan
> Ave.