Biography

March 27, 1921 · Motol, Poland

October 18, 2016 · Tucson, Arizona, USA

Fiszel Czyz

Was co-owner with brother Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Leonard's son Marshall Chess then ran it for a while, before founding Rolling Stones Records.

Founded, with brother Leonard Chess, Checker Records (1952-69).

He and his brother, Leonard Chess, founded the Chess record label in 1950, recording blues artists such as Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin' Wolf, and Buddy Guy. In 1951, the label released what some consider to be the first rock-and-roll record: "Rocket '88," by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats.

Brothers Phil and Leonard Chess founded Chess Records in 1950. The label recorded not only blues artists but also the early rock 'n' roll of Chuck Berry, and Etta James' rich vocal stylings. It was Chess Records that helped raise the city of Chicago to its status as the capital of blues, recalled musician Buddy Guy. "Phil and Leonard were cutting the type of music nobody else was paying attention to - 'Muddy, Howling' Wolf,' 'Little Walter,' 'Sonny Boy,' 'Jimmy Rogers,' I could go on and on," Buddy Guy, who recorded at Chess Records reported in a L.A. Times, Wednesday, September 19th, 2016 interview statement. The Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, started out with a liquor store, then ran the Macomba Lounge night-club and music venue and eventually got into the music recording business, though neither had ever played an instrument. Chess Records' first release was a Gene Ammons version of "My Foolish Heart." Then came Muddy Waters' "Rollin' Stone" - a song so influential it inspired the name of the British rock band and the magazine publication.

Phil Chess was born Fiszel Czyz in Motor, Poland, on April 5, 1921. He changed his name after the family immigrated to the United States. Phil served in the U.S. Army during World War II. When Phil returned home, he joined his elder brother Leonard working the bar and later forming Chess Records. For the next nineteen years, the brothers recorded a staggering lineup of America's greatest blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll musicians out of a two-story building at 2120 South Michigan Avenue, which still stands. The brothers focused on a variety of genres - jazz saxophone, minimalist blues, the seeds of rock 'n' roll through artists like "Ike Turner," who's Chess Records tune "Rocket 88" is considered by some to be the "rock song." Keith Richards called 2120 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, - "hallowed ground" - it's where the Rolling Stones in 1964 recorded "It's All Over Now" - their first number one (#1) vinyl recording hit. "Neither brother played an instrument. Neither had even a bent for music," author Nadine Cohodas wrote of the Chess brothers in her 2000 book "Spinning Blues Into Gold: The Chess Brothers and the Legendary Chess Records." Nadine Cohodas wrote - "But they were entrepreneurs, and through the indigenous sounds of America - blues and it progeny, jazz, rock and roll, and soul - they found their fortune." Leonard Chess died of a heart attack in 1969. That year, Chess Records was sold and Phil moved to Arizona, where he worked in radio. Leonard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and both brothers are in the Blues Hall of Fame.