The
History of the Illinois Central Blues Club
By Judy Burgess, Secretary, ICBC
Fellow
ICBC Members, we have a rich heritage.
We are blessed to be reaping the rewards of the devotion and the hard
work of those who had a vision back in the 1970s, and who formed the club, as we
know it, in February 1986.
The
roots of the Springfield Blues Community go back to Sangamon State University,
now the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Professor Dan Knapp had a student in his class who had a passion for the
blues. That
student was Dan Bringman.
He also had a friend, another professor by the name of Bob Sipe, who
talked about the blues a lot.
Dan Knapp decided that he should get these two men together.
He arranged a meeting, and Bob and Dan immediately knew that they had
found kindred spirits.
There
was a student activity fund available at Sangamon State, and Dan and Bob decided
to see if that fund could be used to bring blues artists to the campus.
They took a trip to Chicago, where they met Bruce Iglaur, who had just
founded Alligator Records.
Bruce took them on a tour of the blues clubs and introduced them to some
of his recording artists, including Son Seals, who was getting ready to record
his first album, and Hound Dog Taylor who had recorded his first album with
Alligator Records in 1971.
The first blues event at Sangamon State took place January 12, 1973, and
featured these two blues artists.
The event was held in the Cafeteria of Sangamon State; admission was
$1.50, and students got in free.
This first event was a huge success, and led to regular blues
performances that lasted for several years.
In
1977, several people, including Bob Sipe, bought the old Crow’s Mill School,
and opened that as a blues venue.
Bob told me, “Everybody who was anybody in the blues scene played in
Springfield.”
When Crow’s Mill School was sold in 1981, the community lost its main
venue for live blues.
Meanwhile,
another professor at Sangamon State also was instrumental in getting the local
blues community organized.
Dr. Michael Townsend taught several community outreach classes in the
’70s. Through his classes, an event called Blacks White and Blues Festival
began. This
was a blues festival held on Springfield’s east side.
The first venue was the Hay Homes Housing Project.
Later, it was moved to a nearby park.
These events continued for many years, ending in 1985.
Dr. Townsend’s classes also started a group called “Streetside Boosters” which was a cooperative venture of neighbors, primarily on Springfield’s east side, and students. One of the aims of the group was to learn how to get grants to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods. Through this group, a grant was secured to begin a “Blues in the Schools” program. They obtained a grant to bring a blues artist in residence to Springfield for three month sessions on a yearly basis. The first artist chosen was Fenton Robinson. Fenton is described as “a bluesman’s bluesman” and a “giant in the international blues community”. Fenton came to Springfield three years. He taught music classes three times a week at Lanphier High in 1979, and at Springfield High in 1980. He also taught one night a week at the East Side Neighborhood Facility. In his third year of “Blues in the Schools”, Robinson and special guest players offered jam sessions at Sangamon State University. Fenton enjoyed his time in Springfield so much that he moved here for several years.
Vicki Biddle moved to Springfield in the 80s. In her own words, from an article written in 1984, “It gets kind of lonesome being a musician, especially a blues musician, especially a woman who’s a blues musician.” Vicki met Mike Townsend through a class at Sangamon State. She went to the blues events, and met Dan Bringman and Bob Sipe, and other musicians and music lovers. She was from Davenport, Iowa, where there was an active blues community. The timing was right for all of these people to be in the same place at the same time.
On
January 26, 1986, Vicki sent out a letter to all the blues enthusiasts that she
was aware of, announcing a meeting to discuss organizing a blues club for
central Illinois.
The goal of the club was “to keep the blues alive”.
The meeting was set for February 5, 1986, at the home of Mike King.
“Founding members”, or those who attended that first meeting and
joined at that time were Vicki Biddle, Dan Bringman, Bob Sipe, Mike Townsend,
David Balmer, Mike Beatty, David Benner, John Corbett, Bill Engle, Pat Hickey,
Dick Hofman, Fred Johnson, and Mike King.
Within a month, these thirteen founding members had found thirty-three
more members, and the club was on its way.
The
original Articles of Incorporation were filed February 18, 1986, listing the
directors’ names as Vicki Biddle, Dan Bringman, Fred Johnson, and David
Benner. On
March 14, 1986, a Certificate of Amendment was filed changing the name from
Central Illinois Blues Club to Illinois Central Blues Club.
The club was renamed to reflect the influence of the Illinois Central
Railroad, which was incorporated in 1851, and ran through Springfield connecting
Chicago to Alabama and Louisiana.
The rich history of the railroad was a fitting symbol for the rich
history of the blues, and for our town, which played a part in this connection.
An
article written by Dave Bakke for the Illinois times March 14, 1986, edition,
announced the “Re-birth of the Blues”, at Bruce’s Tavern, under the
sponsorship of the “new Illinois Central Blues Club”.
It was a “re-birth” because almost a decade before, Springfield’s
“Cicero Slim Blues Band” had held their own Blue Mondays at Bruce’s Tavern
with good results. The article stated that “Blue Mondays” would last at
least 4 weeks, and that “Springfield Shaky will be the host band, plus there
will be jam sessions for local blues musicians.” Here
we are twenty years later
- or approximately 7,300 Blue Mondays later!!
The Alamo II, at 115 North 5th Street, has been the home of
Blue Monday for the last few years.
Springfield Shaky will be the opening band for the evening session of
this year’s birthday party.
In
an article written by Rich Shereikis and published in Illinois Times May 26, 1988, Rich Bruce, who owned Bruce’s Tavern
at the time, said that Blue Mondays began on St Patrick’s Day 1986, and
usually drew around 100 people.
The article describes the mixed crowd of black and white, old and young,
“left-over hippies and would-be yuppies,” all drawn together by the power of
the music. Shereikis
adds, “You could drive a thousand miles and not hear any better blues sounds
than you’ll hear at Bruce’s on most Monday nights, or on those weekends when
a legend comes by, unannounced…Get there on the right night, and you’ll feel
lucky to live here.”
The
first special event that the newly formed ICBC hosted featured James Cotton’s
Big Band Blues with special guest The Shoal Creek Blues Band.
The event was held on Friday, May 8, 1986.
The event was held at the cafeteria of Sangamon State University.
The newly formed club blanketed the city with flyers announcing the
upcoming show. Local
businesses helped sell tickets:
Recycled Records, Walko Music, Appletree Records, JR’s Music Shop and
Bruce’s Tavern. Tickets were sold in Jacksonville at Front Row Records,
Dave’s Music Store, and Shay’s Tune Shop.
There was a contest to see which member could sell the most tickets, and
tickets also were sold at the door.
When the big night came, more than 550 people showed up.