By The Chicago History Museum
The Chicago History Museum announces the release of the Raeburn Flerlage archives, a collection of more than 45,000 photographic images and papers related to the photographer’s life and professional career, to researchers and the general public.
Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, BB King, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan are just some of the artists captured by the remarkable and relatively unknown Chicago blues and American music photographer Raeburn Flerlage.
“The Raeburn Flerlage archives captured a critical moment in the development of Chicago blues,” said John Russick, vice president of interpretation and education at the Chicago History Museum. “His camera was framed on the artists, fans and clubs that fueled the newly electrified Southern Blues sound as it transformed into a loud more muscular urban form – influencing musicians around the world and changing the face of Chicago music.”
Magic Sam at Sound Studios in Chicago, September 23, 1968
Flerlage spent nearly two decades in Chicago, beginning in the late 1950s, photographing some of the city and nation’s most important blues artists. He is one of only a handful of photographers who documented the electrification of the city’s blues scene. Though most well remembered for his blues music photography, he also captured emerging jazz and folk artists. His involvement with the Chicago music scene extended to his radio programs, music reviews, lectures and his record distribution business.
Flerlage’s depictions of blues music in Chicago is the inspiration for the Museum’s upcoming exhibition, “Amplified: Chicago Blues,” that opens to the public on Saturday, April 7. The exhibition tells the story of how Chicago blues captured the attention of musicians and music enthusiasts worldwide, through interactives, photographs, visual material and objects.
This collection is now accessible to the public through the Museum’s Research Center, which serves the Museum’s archives, manuscripts, prints and photographs and more. A curated selection of more than 1,000 of Raeburn Flerlage’s photographs is available online at Chicago History Museum Images. Images will continue to be added to the site during the course of the exhibition and beyond.
Jackie Wilson at the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago, 1964
In addition to early images of Chicago blues legends, notable items from the collection include:
- Flerlage’s freelance photography for recording artists and record companies, such as Folkways, Delmark, Prestige and Testament.
- Photographs of Southside Chicago community events, like the annual Bud Billiken Parade.
- A collection of Flerlage’s journals, day planners and personal correspondences that reveal his thoughts and feelings about his work in the Chicago music scene and personal relationships.
- Record album covers, serials, newspaper clippings, posters and other published materials using Flerlage’s photographs or writings.
More information on Flerlage and the Raeburn Flerlage archives is available at the Research Center’s online finding aid.
Bob Dylan at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, December 27, 1963
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Posted on February 14, 2018