The Vault

CHICAGO (CBS) ― For the past 23 years, local and tourists have flocked to Grant Park to celebrate the music that shouts Chicago more than any other sound – the blues.

Here is a look at the history of that festival, and as the living legends and institutions of Chicago blues today.

The Blues Festival: Drawing Stars For 23 Years
The Blues Festival is now the largest event of its kind in the world, drawing 750,000 people to Grant Park last year.

When it first began in 1984, it was held to celebrate the memory of one of the world's most revered blues legends, Muddy Waters, who had died a year earlier.

Two years later, it had already grown substantially, and a cast of legends of both blues and early rock music descended on three stages in Grant Park.

The Blues Festival in 1986 was headlined by Chuck Berry, who took the stage with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones for an evening so legendary in itself that the Mayor's Office of Special Events' own history of the festival continues to highlight it.

Also at the festival that year was Bo Diddley, a pioneer of early rock 'n' roll in the 1950s, who turned a sound check into a jam session for the small crowd lucky enough to be in Grant Park that Friday afternoon.

Stars have continued to appear at the Blues Festival in years since. The festival has featured James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Bobby "Blue" Bland, and this year was headlined by Koko Taylor.

And meanwhile, the festival itself has expanded even more, now with five stages – including one on which fans can try out different Gibson guitars while listening to their favorite artists in the background.

This year's Blues Festival has continued to honor the history of the art form, as is the festival's tradition.

On Friday, Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues reunited, 30 years after their initial appearance together at the first Berlin Jazz Festival. This year's Blues Festival is also paying tribute to what would be the 100th birthdays of Sunnyland Slim and Albert Ammons, both blues pianists, and the legendary Howlin' Wolf, who would have turned 97 on Sunday.

The Blues Festival continues through 9:30 p.m. Sunday night.

Blues Remains Chicago's Music
While many of the names most associated with Chicago blues are historical, blues is still easy to find anywhere in the city – even if you miss the Blues Festival.

Buddy Guy continues to operate his Legends Club, at 754 S. Wabash Ave., although he plans to move the club soon to make way for a student center at nearby Columbia College. But as it is, he still makes appearances there himself, and John Mayer and Eric Clapton have been among the performers.

The Checkerboard Lounge hosted Guy, B.B. King, Junior Wells and even the Rolling Stones in its former location on 43rd Street in Bronzeville. Blues and jazz continue to be heard at its current location, at 5201 S. Harper Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

On the city's North Side, Kingston Mines at 2548 N. Halsted St. bills itself as the city's "oldest and largest real blues club" and has hosted a wide roster of blues legends. Down the street at B.L.U.E.S., at 2519 N. Halsted St., local blues bands play in front of tables a matter of feet from the stage.

These are only a few of the places where blues can be heard today, but it's not just in the nightclubs where the blues survive.

Muddy Waters, harmonica master Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon and Chuck Berry, among others, all recorded their blues and rock classics at Chess Records, at 2120 S. Michigan Ave.

The Chess Brothers, Phil and Leonard, bought the former auto parts factory in 1957, and moved their studio there from 47th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. For the next 10 years, hundreds of legendary blues recordings were made there. Experts said it was at Chess where blues music broke its regional limits to become part of worldwide popular culture.

The Rolling Stones also got together at Chess Records and made an instrumental record called 2120 S. Michigan Ave.

"Blues is as endemic to Chicago as any music," said realtor and author Dempsey Travis. "I would say it's probably a birthplace, along with jazz."

The Chess building is now home to the Willie Dixon Blues Heaven Foundation, which was founded by the late blues singer and bass player to help document and promote the blues and support blues artists.

Over the course of the four day fest, an estimated 800,000 people attended Blues Fest in 2007. The Mayor's Office attributes the record number to excellent weather.

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