Background
This song was written and recorded by Jimmie Lee Robinson to inspire the fight for historic preservation of the old Maxwell Street. Jimmie Lee was a regular playing on Maxwell Street in the 1940s before Muddy Waters played there. You can read his description of life on Maxwell Street by reading his Save Maxwell St. plea to UIC Chancellor Broski.
Blues guitarist Jimmie Robinson, born 1931 in Chicago, has been called the "Picasso of the blues." He grew up near Maxwell Street and his earliest collaborations were with musicians in that neighborhood. Click here for a picture of young Jimmie Lee in knickers (59K). Click here for a contemporary picture of Jimmie Lee on Halsted near Maxwell Street in front of Heritage Blues-Bus Music (87K).
Most of the family came from around Hillhouse, Mississippi. Jimmie knew his great grandfather Mose Jenkins, who was born a slave and whose job was water boy. After emancipation, Mose became a preacher circuit rider. Jimmie Lee remembers walking with his great grandfather and grandfather on Maxwell Street. Mose died at age 91 in Chicago in 1935. Mose had a daughter, Celia (Jimmie's Grandmother); Celia's mother was a Choctaw Indian.
Jimmie spent a lot of time with his grandparents: Celia and Elijah Jackson. Celia was called "Little Mama" and Elijah was called "Big Daddy" because they took care of everyone. Elijah worked as a barber and a factory worker at McCormick Farm Equipment. Jimmie remembers Celia making sweet potato and apple pies that his grandfather Elijah would sell at work as a sideline activity.
Jimmie's parents were Almor Smith and Emma Robinson. Almor was a construction worker, worked for the WPA and also as junkman. Emma also had a boyfriend, Jack Palmer, a communist who was friends with Paul Robeson. Jack Palmer was the father of Jimmie's half brother, Eddie Lee Robinson.
In 1948, Jimmie met the now legendary singer/guitarist Eddie Taylor and they played the Chicago club scene until1952. Robinson, who played with Freddie King in a band called "The Every Hour Blues Boys," would go on to share the stage with Little Walter and B.B. King. He was in demand at classic Chess and Veejay recording sessions. He did lead guitar work on Little Walter's 1957 Ah'w Baby, rhythm guitar on the 1958 The Toddle, and bass guitar on the 1958 Confessin the Blues.
He also gained fame as a sideman for other blues legends such as Sunnyland Slim in the '60s and Howlin' Wolf in the '70s. By the '80s, however, he had virtually disappeared from the blues scene. He has made a come back in the '90s, when he signed with the Delmark label. His CD, Guns, Gangs, and Drugs, is a timely mixture of poetry and blues.
Mr. Robinson presented the song, Maxwell Street Tear Down Blues, at a Maxwell Street protest rally, April 4, 1998 on Maxwell and Halsted Streets, his old home turf.
"Maxwell Street Tear Down Blues" is in Jimmie Lee's new CD: Maxwell Street Blues, which is available from Amina Records, Ph: 773-778-1476; Fax: 773-778-1476.
Permission is granted to reproduce the words or music to this Blues for educational, advocacy, or journalistic purposes only. - SB
I'm talking about Maxwell Street, that's right
A place of many lives, many dreams
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Since you've Started with that wrecking ball
Our lives, our dreams have all began to fall
You've took our houses and our homes
Now there's nothing left for us to do but roam
UIC, that wasn't smart at all
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I remember when we use to go to the 12th Street Store
There was the Earvin, Bertells, Levetts and Smoky Joe's
You may be big now and financially tall
But guess what, one day you may fall
UIC, are you smart at all
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I use to take my family shopping down in Jewtown*
And walk down that great street know as Maxwell Street
Here it is again, that wrecking ball
What, now you want to take it all
UIC, I guess you aren't so smart after all
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Since you've started with that damn wrecking ball
Our lives, our dreams, our needs will continue to fall
The great history of this area, which one stood proud and tall
Guess what UIC, you've managed to destroy it all
The word Jewtown is meant as a term of respect. For Southern African-Americans, the Postwar years in Chicago was both an opportunity ($25 a week working in the stock yards vs $6 a week picking cotton) and a frustration, finding prejudice and bigotry in the North as well. However, there was one neighborhood where race mixing was allowed; where people of all races, classes, religions, and nationalities could socialize with each other; where the folkways and culture of the rural Black South were welcome. That unique neighborhood and outdoor market was one where Jewish people lived and set up businesses to serve the newly arrived migrants. Many white shopkeepers throughout Chicago didn't cater to Blacks but the Jews welcomed their business. Hence, it became known as Jewtown. It was the presence of Jewish people and their willingness to treat the newcomers with respect, Sunday shopping, and discount prices that so captured the attention of Southern African-Americans, that it was made a regular part of life in the North.
Several businesses were formed out of partnerships between Blacks and Jews. Ethnic food and cultural music were traded too. This is not to say that there never was any conflict between Jews and Blacks on Maxwell Street but it was minor compared to the tarnished human relations faced by Blacks with other white ethnics. For many Eastern Europeans Jews, Mexicans, and Southern Blacks, Maxwell Street was a friendly place that felt more like home than any other place in Chicago. - SB
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