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Chicago Mob Scene: A Folk Music Jam Session

Overview

Chicago Mob Scene: A Folk Music Jam Session --- 1957

White label with blue print and "reel & microphone" logo at top. Front cover, spine, and label do not credit an artist. The back cover liner notes list the performers, explaining: "Although they have been facetiously dubbed 'The South Side Six', the singers on this album have nothing in common beyond a passionate love for folk music and the happy coincidence that at the time these recordings were made they were all living on Chicago's South Side in the vicinity of the University of Chicago." "Samuel Hall" is described as "the pseudonym chosen to mark this pre-professional (though certainly not unworthy) effort by a young folksinger and banjoist who, shortly after this session, turned entirely to folkmusic performance as a career. Some listeners may easily recognize this fast-rising young star; others may be content merely to enjoy him." An Internet search reveals him to be Bob Gibson. Blind Bill Todd plays on most of these tracks. He apparently is not one of the featured artists but is described as "an old-time Chicago bass player of the gut-bucket variety, [who] provides the rhythm for many of the selections in this album." No songwriters are credited.