Chicago's Legenday Maxwell Street

[3db]

I watched this DVD tonight while waiting for my mirrored file systems to sync on a server I'm working on. Initially, I thought this was going to be about the "blues" but it turned out to be so much more. There is a lot of blues and gospel music in the first half of it but the second half talks about about the key families whose grand parents or great grand parents immigrated from Europe to eek out a living. Its a very colorful history and its very sad that the University of Illinois expropriated the property to expand their facilities. Its kind of ironic that an institution such as a university that is supposed to promote learning would come down an tear a vibrant living fabric of humanity and wipe out a culture that once thrived there.

Mods,
Please feel free to move this post where you see fit. Maybe it should have gone under the Steam Vent?

 

[davidtwotrees]

My dad always talked fondly of Maxwell St. I don't know much about it, though. He always talked of it as an outdoor market where you could buy anything and everything. People selling things from their trunks, food vendors...a spot you could bring the family to.......now the only thing left of Maxwell St. is the famous Maxwell St. Polish...........a polish sausage with grilled onions and mustard on french bread........
He did say the St. went downhill in the 70s. Kind of like Times Square in NY- a lot of unsavory characters, drugs, prostitution. Many welcomed the University take over.

 

[3db]

My dad always talked fondly of Maxwell St. I don't know much about it, though. He always talked of it as an outdoor market where you could buy anything and everything. People selling things from their trunks, food vendors...a spot you could bring the family to.......now the only thing left of Maxwell St. is the famous Maxwell St. Polish...........a polish sausage with grilled onions and mustard on french bread........
He did say the St. went downhill in the 70s. Kind of like Times Square in NY- a lot of unsavory characters, drugs, prostitution. Many welcomed the University take over.

You should watch this video based on what your dad told you. I really think you would enjoy it.

 

[3db]

I watched the first Blues Brother's movie last night... its still such a great classic even though some of the musicians can't act worth a dam ... makes it very entertaining. One thing I didn't notice until last night was the reference made to Maxwell Street in the flick when they went in to rescue (rescue being a POV ) Matt Guitar Murphy and Lou Marino (sax player) while you heard John Lee Hooker sing Boom Boom Boom .

 

[Swerd]

I'm glad you mentioned the Maxwell St. scene in the Blues Brothers. When I saw the title of your thread, I thought of that, as its the only thing I knew about Maxwell St.

I'll look for that DVD.