Chess New Orleans

THE COMPETITION amongst independent R&B labels after the post-World War II era was understandably fierce. Labels often lived from single to single – moving fast and staying on top of the tastes of an ever-changing, ever-expanding audience was mandatory for survival. Chess was no exception and suffered its shares of setbacks over the years – like the night Leonard Chess' plane was fogged in, a meteorological twist of fate that enabled King Records to get James Brown to sign on the dotted line.