Siegel Schwall Band

Siegel Schwall Band - The Siegel-Schwall Reunion Concert - 1988 - Alligator

"Few groups in the world can match The Siegel-Schwall Band for the sheer joy of their music" - Chicago Sun-Times

One of Chicago's great blues groups. From the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, The Siegel-Schwall Band released ten acclaimed albums, constantly toured , and shared the bill with artists like The Allman Brothers, Janis Joplin, and Jefferson Airplane. In 1987, the group reformed for this reunion concert for the popular Chicago radio station, WXRT. Billboard magazine called this "Reunion" album "a stellar live outing." The Chicago Tribune stated that the recording was "...something to celebrate". Some critics maintain that the live concert album lacks the feel of the band's studio albums. Judge for yourself. This is sparkling Chicago blues with country and Soul from this great band. Buy the band's "Sleepy Hollow" album, and listen to their great "Flash Forward" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

You Don't Love Me Like That - Jim Schwall
Devil - Corky Siegel
Leavin'- Jim Schwall
Hey, Billie Jean - Corky Siegel, Jim Post
I Wanna Love Ya - Rollo Radford
I Think It Was The Wine -- Jim Schwall
I Don't Want You To Be My Girl - Corky Siegel
When I've Been Drinkin' - Big Bill Broonzy
Hush, Hush - Jimmy Reed
Got My Mojo Working - Preston Foster

MUSICIANS

Corky Siegel (Vocals), (Piano),(Harmonica)
Jim Schwall (Vocals), (Guitar)
Rollo Radford (Bass)
Sam Lay (Vocals), (Drums)
Alejo Poveda (Percussion)
Rollo Radford (Vocals)

BIO

Paul Butterfield and Elvin Bishop were not the only white dudes who formed a blues band in Chicago in the early '60s. Siegel and Jim Schwall formed the Siegel-Schwall Band in the mid-'60s in Chicago and worked as a duo playing blues clubs like Pepper's Lounge, where they were the house band. All of the great blues players would sit in -- all the time. Corky Siegel played harp and electric Wurlizter piano, with an abbreviated drum set stashed under the piano; Jim Schwall played guitar and mandolin. Both sang. Corky Siegel was born in Chicago on October 24, 1943; Jim Schwall was born on November 11, 1942, also in Chicago. Siegel met Schwall in 1964, when they were both music students at Roosevelt University -- Schwall studying guitar, Siegel studying classical saxophone and playing in the University Jazz Big Band. Siegel first became interested in the blues that same year. Schwall's background ran more to country and bluegrass. The Siegel-Schwall Band approach to music (and blues) was lighter than groups like Butterfield or Musselwhite, representing somewhat more of a fusion of blues and more country-oriented material. They seldom played at high volume, while stressing group cooperation and sharing the solo spotlight. When the Butterfield band left their in gig at Big Johns on Chicago's North Side, it was the Siegel-Schwall Band that took their place. Signed by Vanguard scout Sam Charters in 1965, they released their first album in 1966, the first of five they would do with that label. Bass player Jack Dawson, formerly of the Prime Movers Blues Band joined the band in 1967. In 1969 the band toured playing the Fillmore West, blues/folk festivals, and many club dates -- one of several white blues bands that introduced the blues genre to millions of Americans during that era. They were, however, the first blues band to play with a full orchestra, performing "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra" in 1968 with the San Francisco Orchestra. The band later signed with RCA (Wooden Nickel) and produced five albums in the next several years. The band broke up in 1974. In 1987, the band re-formed and produced a live album on Alligator, The Siegel-Schwall Reunion Concert. Jim Schwall is a university professor of music and lives in Madison, WI. Corky Siegel has been involved in many projects over the years that fuse classical music with blues, including his current group, Chamber Blues -- a string quartet with a percussionist (tabla) and Siegel on piano and harmonica. And on rare occasions, the old band still gets together and performs. © Michael Erlewine, All Music Guide