Sylvio's or Silvio's?
Karen Hanson
told two locations - Lake and Kedzie (the most referred to) and
farther east at Lake and Oakley.
--
Karen Hanson
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Scott
wrote:
>Same club, different vowel? Which is the correct spelling? I've been
>told two locations - Lake and Kedzie (the most referred to) and
>farther east at Lake and Oakley.
>
According to the advertisments placed in the Chicago Defender, it was
Silvio's with an "i". See here:
http://www.maywoodreunion.com/littlewalter/Defender_ads
The proprietor was Silvio Corozza (or Corozzo, or Corraza, or one of
several other similar spellings that showed up in musicians union
documents.) Silvio's first opened c. late 1940s. I'm not certain, but I
believe that the earlier location at Lake and Oakley (the one in the ads at
the link above, at 2254 W. Lake) was the place where Ray Flerlage's famous
photos of Howlin' Wolf were shot (see here:
http://www.bluesworld.com/RFlerlageOne.html ); that's certainly the place
that was in action throughout the heyday of the Chicago Blues scene in
the '50s. I don't know when Silvio's moved to the location at Lake &
Kedzie, but that's where it was when the doors closed around 1970 or so.
Scott
Karen Hanson
that raised the question in my mind.
You said "closed its doors" - but wasn't the club burned down in 1968
in the riots following the assassination of MLK?
Karen
(By the way, Scott, it somehow escaped by consciousness until now that
it was Flerlage who had taken the now-famous shot of LW playing guitar
on Maxwell Street. Interesting!)
Scott
wrote:
>Thanks for into - It was browsing through Flerlage's book this morning
>that raised the question in my mind.
>
>You said "closed its doors" - but wasn't the club burned down in 1968
>in the riots following the assassination of MLK?
>
I don't think so - if I recall correctly, Silvio's was open until at least
1970, and possibly a little later. I definitely recall a story about the
members of Fleetwood Mac going there when they were in town doing
the "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago" sessions (someone tried to take Peter
Green's guitar from him after he exited the club, but one of the musicians
he'd just played inside with came out and intervened), and that was in
1969.
Karen Hanson
Silvio's burned down in 1968. Here's a review of the book that also
mentions it: http://www.smokebox.net/archives/music/mosher205.html
(That review also lists Wolf as a co-owner, but I don't remember
reading that before.)
I just Googled Blues-L and found a note by Dick Waterman also saying
the club burned. Dick, what say ye?
I wonder the owners rebuilt and reopened it? Or moved? Does that
explain the second location?
Karen
On 6/28/05, Scott <check...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dick Waterman
> I just Googled Blues-L and found a note by Dick Waterman also saying
> the club burned. Dick, what say ye?
>
I don't remember posting about Silvio's but, then again, at my age I don't
remember a lot of things.
It is my recollection that it was torched by an angry mob that took to the
streets after MLK's assassination. That would have been April 4, 1968.
I assume that the Wolf biographers would have a better evaluation of the
facts through their research.
Dick Waterman
Oxford, MS
www.dickwaterman.com
Twist Turner
last time I worked there was with Johnny Littlejohn and Little Johnny
Christian so it's been a while(like maybe late 70's or very early 80's)
Now that I think about it that club had a different name which escapes
me right now but it had been Silvio's previously or it was Silvios then
and had been Big Dukes previously, I"m not sure. It was one of the
rougher clubs on Lake Street except for the illegal afterhours places
where if someone got shot they just threw the body out in the alley
because they couldn't call the police.
I do remember my friend Oakland Fats nearly getting us killed in there
one night. For some reason we were talking to this guy at the bar about
his Dobbs hat. Fat's asked if it was waterproof and the guy said yeah
the rain runs right off it. This wasn't good enough for Fat's he had to
test it by pouring beer in the brim of the guys $100 hat. Luckily the
guy thought it was funny and didn't kill us.
Last time I drove by the building had collapsed.
Twist Turner
http://members.tripod.com/~Twist_Turner/index.html
Scott
wrote:
>The bio about Howlin' Wolf, Moaning at Midnight, mentions that
>Silvio's burned down in 1968. Here's a review of the book that also
>mentions it: http://www.smokebox.net/archives/music/mosher205.html
>(That review also lists Wolf as a co-owner, but I don't remember
>reading that before.)
Neither do I. I *have* heard that Wolf had something to do with the 1815
Club, but that doesn't really fit with this story since I KNOW that place
didn't burn down - last time I drove past it, the building was still
standing (it's a church now I think).
>I just Googled Blues-L and found a note by Dick Waterman also saying
>the club burned. Dick, what say ye?
>
>I wonder the owners rebuilt and reopened it? Or moved? Does that
>explain the second location?
That makes sense. Like I said, I don't know when the Lake & Kedzie
location opened, but it was there c. 1969/'70, and apparently later under a
different name according to Twist. BTW, last time I drove by Lake & Kedzie
(Bossman's Blues Center is just a few blocks away), the collapsed remains
of Silvio's had been cleared away, so it's just a vacant corner lot now.
Scott
Karen Hanson
On 6/28/05, Scott <check...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Twist Turner
Kedzie, but no name of the club, but I played there as late as Dec. 12,
1982.
This was the club on the Northwest corner of Lake and Kedzie, which
would make it 3200 W. Lake St.
If I recall correctly after 25 years there was a 4 o'clock bar across
the street called the Poinsiana which had a bar shaped like a piano.
Kansas City Red Mad Dog Lester and Arthur Rail Head Saunders used to
play there quite a bit. That and the Majestic M(which used to be the L
& A) were the only 2 legal late joints on the west side in the late 70's
early 80's.
I"m my days of knowing Silvio's they only had music on Sundays.
Twist Turner
http://members.tripod.com/~Twist_Turner/index.html
Twist Turner
It was called the Riviera when I used to go there.
Walter Potter
fact that I can't remember what he told me the name of the place was.
--
maxdog
Scott
wrote:
>I wonder the owners rebuilt and reopened it? Or moved? Does that
>explain the second location?
I just received an e-mail from a friend who told me that Living Blues
issue #1 contains a mention of the new Silvio's opening in November of
1969 after the first location was burned down in the riots following the
assasination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Karen Hanson
Story" on Starz in Black (a cable channel). The film contained
extensive footage of home movies by Sam Lay taken at Silvio's! There's
even a part where Lay takes the filmmakers to the place where Silvio's
used to be - now an empty lot.
I know I've seen this film before, I just never noticed the clubs before.
http://www.howlinwolf.com/dvd/dvd.htm
Karen