Gordon Quinn<GQUINN@aol.com> Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997
Dear Mr. Broski,
In 1964 I made a film with Mike Shea and Howard Alk "and this is free..."about the Maxwell St. Market. I was distressed when the Market was closed.
I now hope that a Maxwell Street Historic Preservation District can be incorporated into the University of Illinois plans for the commercial redevelopment of the area. The market represents a spontaneous place where the different groups that make up the city can come together. It represented what was best about Chicago in the past and if the city is to have a dynamic future we must learn form it, and find a way to reintroduce it's values.
Gordon Quinn
P.S. Just a historical note you may already be aware of:
Many of the white Blues and Rock Musicians first heard the music live on Maxwell St.. When we made the movie "And this is Free..." it was a young Kid named Mike Bloomfeild who introduced Mike Shea to the Musicians. They sometimes let Bloomfeild sit in and in the scene with Robert Nighthawk in the film, Mike is actually playing in one of the numbers, but Shea, a purest, framed him out of the picture. Of course he then went on to be come famous as part of the Butterfield Blues Band and on the Super Sessions with Al Kooper. He also had several bands of his own including The Electric Flag. Another young musician I remember encountering was Charlie Musselwhite. I'm sure there were many others.
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