Free concerts in the park to highlight the Great Migration's impact on Chicago blues

Born in Mississippi in 1914, blues pianist Eddie Boyd eventually made his way to Chicago in search of better opportunities.

For half a decade, he toiled in a steel mill, bringing his paycheck home to his girlfriend every Friday — until she kicked him out.

At least that’s the story he tells in “Five Long Years.”

Covered by the likes of Buddy Guy and B.B. King, the 1952 blues standard will be heard in the upcoming free concert series, “Chicago Bound: The Great Migration of the Blues.” A number-one hit on the R&B chart, the song likely resonated with African Americans who had traveled from the segregated South to pursue factory work in northern cities. And Boyd was just one of many blues artists who brought the music from Mississippi and other southern states to the South and West Sides of Chicago.

“His song is really emblematic of what this whole show is about,” said Cheryl Corley, NPR's Midwest Bureau Chief, who is the show’s writer and narrator.

As part of the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks program, the concerts will take place July 6 at Ellis Park, Aug. 3 at Ada Park, and Sept. 6 at Warren Park. Singer Lucy Smith and her quintet will perform selections from Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor and more. Corley, who grew up on the South Side, will share stories about the artists and their contributions to the Chicago blues sound. (Corley and Smith previously presented the show in 2013 and 2016.)

“Doing these kinds of shows really gives us an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Chicago communities, and some you don't necessarily hear good things [about],” said Smith, who also grew up on the South Side.

Smith praised the Chicago Park District for making the programming accessible to residents.

“They don't have to come downtown,” she said. “They can leave their houses, walk to the park, and hear some of the best of the best. And it might be music that actually originated in their own communities.”

Smith was exposed to local blues growing up in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Her parents would take her to the historic Maxwell Street Market on the Near West Side, where blues musicians began playing in the 1930s. Recognizing that they needed to plug in their instruments to be heard among the crowds, the musicians helped transform acoustic blues into a new, electric sound.

As an adult, Smith would also get a chance to pay homage to and perform alongside the late KoKo Taylor, whose song, “Voodoo Woman,” is featured in “Chicago Bound.”

“I had to maintain my professionalism, but I was like a little kid inside,” Smith said.

Both Smith and Corley said it was important for them to highlight women singers, given the barriers they faced in the music industry.

Among the featured artists is Mississippi native Lillian "Lil" Green. Many people don't know Green co-wrote and recorded "Why Don't You Do Right," a song that has been associated with white artists Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman, they said.

Including the song in "Chicago Bound" is an opportunity to show where the music really comes from, Smith added.

Smith will also perform a song by Memphis Minnie.

“She really made this massive contribution to the blues,” Corley said. "She was known for her singing, she was known for her songwriting, and she was known for being a fantastic guitar player. And she wrote hundreds of songs. She was considered a premier artist at the time, in a field that was really dominated by men.”

Running for 90 minutes, the show is organized to show the chronological development of blues.

"There are some portions early on where I sing stuff a cappella because spirituals are the original blues," Smith said. "The blues is 'Lord, have mercy' without the 'Lord.'”

Today, the blues not only lives on in other genres of music, but the art form is being preserved by young players, who are quick to cite their influences, said Smith and Corley.

And shows like "Chicago Bound" also help the cause, they added.

"I'm optimistic because the audiences are almost always intergenerational," Smith said. "Some of them are older, but they're there with their grandchildren."

And technology also allows young people to be exposed to musical predecessors, including blues artists, Smith said.

"Their tastes are so wonderfully eclectic. They're listening to the Clash, but they also know who B.B. King is and who Bobby Bland is. So, I'm really encouraged by that."