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Chicago 1966, Maxwell Street Gig

Left image: I am the bassist behind the dancing man. This was in the Maxwell Street area of Chicago. The actual spot is on Sagamon Steet near 14th. This is the same spot where lots of people used to play for tips, including Robert Nighthawk, John Wrencher, and many others.

Photo courtesy of Chicago Historical Society, iCH-35009 by James Newberry.

Note that the same image also appears on page 92 of the Maxwell Street book (2002 Edition). Book cover is the rightmost image above.

The guitarist is a guy named Little Nick, a good player, with whom I also played at the Silver Dollar lounge on Ogden Avenue on Chicago's bluesy West Side. The drummer's name escapes me, unfortunately. The part I do remember is that when we picked him up for gigs, we realized that he kept all his drums & drumkit stuff stashed behind his furniture & hidden under blankets at his apartment so nobody would steal them.

I am playing my first electric stringed instrument, a short necked Kay Bass that I got at a pawn shop on State Street. My late friend Marty Anderson helped me pick out one that worked and had good action.