Phil Chess
Philip Chess was a Polish-born American record company executive, the founder of Chess Records alongside his brother Leonard.
Early life
Chess was born to a Polish-Jewish family in the village of Motal, then in eastern Poland and now part of Belarus. He and his brother Lejzor, sister Malka and mother followed their father to Chicago in 1928. The family name was changed to Chess, with Lejzor becoming Leonard and Fiszel becoming Philip.Career
Chess served in the army during World War II. In 1946, after leaving the Army, Phil joined Leonard in running a popular club, the Macomba Lounge. Two years later, Leonard became a partner in Aristocrat Records, a local company that recorded a wide range of music, and Phil joined in 1950. The company then changed its name to Chess Records, and began concentrating on R&B music, signing and recording artists such as Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, "Sonny Boy Williamson", Robert Lockwood Jr., Etta James, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf and Chuck Berry. Phil Chess was actively involved in producing many of their blues and rock and roll recordings. The company expanded successfully through the 1950s and early 1960s, until it was sold to GRT in 1969.Chess was also a co-founder with his brother of L & P Broadcasting, which operated radio station WSDM.