Chicago -
By Don Jacobson
In this edition:
Little Ole Wine Drinker Me / Dean Martin
The Woman Downstairs / Handsome Family
Even though Dean Martin never lived here, he and Chicago really go together. It probably comes from the fact that Dino spent so many nights here in the ’50s and ’60s playing gigs in mob-owned nightclubs, ostensibly paying back his early-career gambling debts.
Posted on November 16, 2006
By Don Jacobson
When Manitoba, Milwaukee, and the rest of the world aren’t treating you right, you wanna go North, South, or just plain Home to Chicago. In this edition of Chicago In Song – Chicago as escape hatch to mend your broken heart.
Posted on September 24, 2006
By Don Jacobson
As we have seen in earlier installments of Chicago In Song, when it comes to our city’s treatment in popular song lyrics, there seems to be a hate-hate relationship going on. Why do they hate us? Why? We’re not really such a simmering hellhole, are we? If you judge by these common-man poets, that’s just what we are. This time around, we’ll look at a song that comes right out and tells us we’re crap; one that bemoans friends getting killed; one that associates the city with Big Brother mind-control; and one that actually kind of gets it right.
Wow. Had to look around some for that.
Posted on July 23, 2006
By Don Jacobson
Welcome back to Chicago In Song. This time around we’ll look at song references about the city that focus on marital discord, debauched children, the bad attitudes of its residents and its awful weather.
Just another day in the life of Chicago as portrayed in the world of music.
Posted on April 18, 2006
By Don Jacobson
Obscure as I thought the Eddie Cochran rockabilly epic “20 Flight Rock” was these days, there must be some kind of weird karma in the air because I just saw Paul McCartney perform it on PBS’s Great Performances.
And guess what? McCartney said it was the song that got him into the Beatles.
Posted on March 2, 2006
By Don Jacobson
How is Chicago portrayed in rock and popular music lyrics?
From the looks of things, songwriters have pigeonholed Chicago basically as the home of the blues–not too surprising, since this is what most of the country does, too. But is that all that is in the minds of songwriters? Are there any other aspects of the city that have inspired songcraft over the years?
Yep. Songwriters have identified the city with elevators, poverty, transportation, political protest, and drugs. Which, I think, is also pretty accurate. This is just a brief sample of what a search of lyrical mentions of Chicago has yielded–minus, of course, the obvious ones like “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” or any song by the band Chicago, Jim Croce, Liz Phair or Frank Sinatra.
Posted on February 26, 2006
