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Born in Chicago
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Wikipedia article
"'Born in Chicago'" is a blues song written by Nick Gravenites. It was the opening track on the self-titled debut album by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1965 and has since become a blues standard.
Gravenites, who was born in Chicago, first performed the song when in a duo with guitarist Mike Bloomfield, playing in clubs in the city in the early 1960s. When Bloomfield joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he insisted that the band record it.[https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/06/16/born-in-chicago-vocalist-nick-gravenites-reunites-with-blues-greats/ Tim Simmers, "Born in Chicago vocalist Nick Gravenites reunites with blues greats", 'East Bay Times', June 16, 2006]. Retrieved 1 May 2020 Although Butterfield was at first reluctant to sing the song, the initial recording took place in the Mastertone Studio in New York City in April 1965, produced by Paul Rothchild for Elektra Records.[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nKywDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137&lpg=PA137&dq=butterfield+rothchild+new+york&source=bl&ots=qjRZsZ6PIh&sig=ACfU3U2BCQxw_iIPPz6pahYwb7h3GZVXQQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiVxqT7sZPpAhVzRRUIHa6JA2AQ6AEwDXoECBIQAQ#v=onepage&q=butterfield%20&f=false David Dann, 'Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues', University of Texas Press, 2019, pp.143, 208] The track was included on an Elektra Records sampler album, 'Folksong '65'.
The popularity of the track led to Rothchild requiring a revised version, for inclusion on the band's debut album. The second recording, with additional organ by Mark Naftalin, additional choruses and solos, and using better recording equipment, took place in September 1965. The album was released in October 1965, and became successful as one of the first in the U.S. to present blues material to a predominantly white rock audience.[http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~sawyer/bwf.html Charles Sawyer, "Blues With A Feeling: A Biography of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band", 'Never Be The Same Again']. Retrieved May 1, 2020
"Born in Chicago" was later recorded by a wide range of artists, including Jesse Colin Young (1972), Pixies (1990), George Thorogood (1991), Joe Louis Walker (2003), and Tom Petty (2004). In 2016, critic Jay Gentile wrote of the song: "...[It] could not be more relevant today. With lyrics that run though young friends who went down presumably to gun violence, the song could serve as a soundtrack to todays gun violence debate."[https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/chicago/the-best-songs-about-chicago-ever-recorded Jay Gentile, "The 15 Most 'Chicago' Songs Ever Recorded", 'Thrillist.com', January 25, 2016]. Retrieved May 1, 2020
References
Category:1965 songs
Category:Blues songs
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