Chess Records: Private Tour and Reception at Chicago’s legendary recording studio

Where: Chess Records, 2120 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago

When: Sunday, May 26, 3-5pm

Tickets: $60/per person; includes a private tour of Chess Records, a copy of the book Best Hits on the Blues Highway, and light refreshments.

All event proceeds support the Blues Heaven Foundation.

The legendary Blues Highway has played a key role in the lives of countless musicians. Running from Nashville, Tennessee, to New Orleans, Louisiana, there’s music around every bend. From the two-room home where “the King” was born to the original Heartbreak Hotel to the crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil for fame, every stop has a story to tell. Inspiring, practical, and entertaining, The Best Hits on the Blues Highway is the premier guide to all the off-the-radar stops along America’s Blues Highway that you simply must not miss. Author Amy Bizzarri, road trip expert and author of the bestselling guide to the Mother Road, The Best Hits on Route 66, provides a comprehensive list of 100 unique stops that you’ll want to take a moment to explore as you journey along the fascinating, 730-mile route from Nashville to New Orleans.

To celebrate the release of The Best Hits on the Blues Highway, Chicago-based author Amy Bizzarri is hosting an afternoon reception featuring private tours of Chicago’s Iconic Chess Records. Tickets are $60/per personand include a private tour of Chess Records, a copy of the book Best Hits on the Blues Highway, and light refreshments.

Founded in Chicago by brothers Phil and Leonard Chess in 1950, Chess Records recorded some of the most beloved LPs in music history. In addition to bringing the Blues of Muddy Waters, Etta James, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, and Howlin’ Wolf to the world’s attention, the label shaped the future of American-born music by inspiring and recording songs by rock and roll artists, including The Rolling Stones, who recorded 2120 South Michigan Avenue, a song named after Chess Records address, at the storied studio in June 1964.

Event proceeds will benefit Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, whose mission is to help artists and musicians obtain what is rightfully theirs and to educate both adults and children on the history of the blues and the business of music.