The Siegel–Schwall Band was an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

band from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. The band was formed in 1964 by

Corky Siegel Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and c ...

(piano, electric piano, harmonica, vocals) and

Jim Schwall Jim Schwall (November 12, 1942 – June 19, 2022) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and photographer. He was best known as a co-founder and member of the Siegel-Schwall Band. Musical career Jim Schwall was born in Evanston, Illinois ...

(guitar, mandolin, vocals). They played many live shows, and released ten albums. They disbanded in 1974. The Siegel-Schwall Band performed occasional concerts, and released two more albums, from 1987 to 2016.

History

Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall met each other when both were music students at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

. Siegel, originally a

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

, was interested in blues, while Schwall's background was mostly in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. They combined these two genres, producing a lighter sounding blues as compared to

Butterfield Blues Band Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

or John Mayall. The Siegel–Schwall Band included Shelly Plotkin on drums and Jos Davidson on bass. Davidson had previously played with Steve Miller and the Ardells. They were the house band at Pepper's Lounge on Chicago's South Side. Every important

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

musician sat in with Corky and Jim at Pepper's, including

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song " Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album '' Hoodoo Man Blues ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaugh ...

Billy Boy Arnold William "Billy Boy" Arnold (born September 16, 1935, Chicago, Illinois) AllMusic biography">AllMusic.html" ;"title="AllMusic">AllMusic biography/ref> is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Arnold is a self-taught harmonica p ...

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning hi ...

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

Magic Sam Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, Otis Spann,

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

Lazy Lester Leslie Johnson (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018), better known as Lazy Lester, was an American blues musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered swamp blues, and also played h ...

and

Sam Lay Samuel Julian Lay (March 20, 1935January 29, 2022) was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a blues and R&B musician alongside Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield, and many others. He was inducted into ...

, just to name a few. The band moved to Big John's in Old Town after the Butterfield Blues Band began touring and left a vacancy. In 1965, Sam Charters signed the band to

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

. In 1966, the band released their first

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous album, and began a national tour in 1969. While they weren't as commercially successful as Butterfield or Mayall, the band was still able to perform at large venues such as

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore Str ...

. Also around that time, the Siegel–Schwall Band became the first blues band to ever perform with a symphony. They performed "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra" with the San Francisco Symphony. The piece was written by William Russo and conducted by Seiji Ozawa. After four albums with Vanguard, the band signed with

Wooden Nickel In the United States, a wooden nickel is a wooden token coin, usually issued by a merchant or bank as a promotion, sometimes redeemable for a specific item such as a drink. Scrip and tokens have often been issued locally in times of severe econ ...

, a Chicago label distributed by

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. Their first release on the label won a

Grammy Award for Best Album Cover The Grammy Award for Best Recording Package is one of a series of Grammy Awards presented for the visual look of an album. It is presented to the art director of the winning album, not to the performer(s), unless the performer is also the art dire ...

in 1973. The band broke up in 1974 after releasing the album ''R.I.P. Siegel/Schwall'', and reunited in 1987.

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

signed them and released a live reunion album in 1988. The band continues to tour occasionally, usually during summer because Jim Schwall is now a professor of music. Schwall also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The Siegel–Schwall Band released a second album on Alligator Records in 2005, entitled ''Flash Forward'', which was a top 15 hit on the ''Billboard'' Blues Albums chart. In 1975, Siegel formed the Happy Year Band with drummer/vocalist

, Albert Joseph on guitar and Rollo Radford on bass. Siegel later formed the ensemble Chamber Blues with a string quartet, tabla and harmonica/piano. This unusual group features Frank Donaldson a veteran drummer who spent 20 years with jazz musician

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...

. Siegel continues to record, has earned several composing honors and is a regular performer and lecturer in the Chicago Public Schools. In 2007 he wrote a book, ''Let Your Music Soar: The Emotional Connection''. The Siegel-Schwall Band toured in 2014 with Corky, Jim, Rollo, Lay, and Sambo Arthur Irby. Lay died on January 29, 2022, in Chicago, aged 86. Jim Schwall died at age 79 on June 19, 2022, in Tucson, Arizona.

Discography

Studio and live albums *'' The Siegel–Schwall Band'' (1966,

Vanguard The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. History The vanguard derives fr ...

) *'' Say Siegel–Schwall'' (1967, Vanguard) *''

Shake! Shake! (formerly NGA, The Core and Milkshake FM) was a television programming block shown by United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 5, airing animated and live-action programmes aimed at children and teenagers age 8 to 15 year olds. History Befo ...

'' (1968, Vanguard) *'' Siegel–Schwall '70'' (1970, Vanguard) *'' The Siegel–Schwall Band'' (1971,

) *'' Sleepy Hollow'' (1972, Wooden Nickel) *'' 953 West'' (1973, Wooden Nickel) *'' Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra'' (1973,

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

) *'' Live: The Last Summer'' (1974, Wooden Nickel) *'' R.I.P. Siegel/Schwall'' (1974, Wooden Nickel) *'' The Siegel–Schwall Reunion Concert'' (1988,

Alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

) *''

Flash Forward A flashforward (also spelled flash-forward, and more formally known as prolepsis) is a scene that temporarily takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards a ...

'' (2005, Alligator) Compilation albums *''The Best of Siegel–Schwall'' (1974, Vanguard) *''Where We Walked (1966–1970)'' (1991, Vanguard) *''The Wooden Nickel Years (1971–1974)'' (1999,

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

) *''The Complete Vanguard Recordings and More'' (2001, Vanguard) *''Vanguard Visionaries'' (2007, Vanguard)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel-Schwall Band American blues musical groups Musical groups from Chicago Alligator Records artists Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 1964 establishments in Illinois 2016 disestablishments in Illinois