We’re no fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball club (still maintaining loyalty to the team firmly entrenched at the complete opposite end of the National League Central standings, and thus forced to glory in championships of a far more distant time, when giants with names such as Clemente, Stargell, Mazeroski and Parker graced the field, but we digress) but we can cheer for the Cubs’ recent collaboration with Delmark Records, a fresh take from the Delmark All-Stars on a blues classic that pays homage to the city’s blues roots like no other can: “Sweet Home Chicago”.
Mike Wheeler and Buddy Guy’s daughter Carlisle Guy take the lead on vocals, with nonagenarian Bob Stroger also chiming in on the chorus, backed by a truly all-star band of others that includes Dave Specter on guitar, Roosevelt Purifoy Jr. on keys, Larry Williams on bass, and Melvin “Pooky Styx” Carlisle on drums, with Wheeler also on guitar.
Available from Delmark as a 45 single, backed with a remix version from BBQJr (Johnny Iguana & JQ), the track was featured as part of a video paying tribute to the history of the electric blues that the Cubs premiered at an April game at Wrigley Field, during which Stroger also threw out the ceremonial first pitch, the Delmark All-Stars performed before and after the game, and the Cubs unveiled an alternate baby blue jersey with electric blues-inspired typography and a guitar pick-shaped “Chicago” sleeve patch with a lightning bolt inside (to symbolize how the blues transformed from an acoustic to an electrified sound after blues musicians migrated to Chicago from the Mississippi Delta). The video will also be shown as players take the field for other games that the baby blue jerseys are worn.
Kudos to Delmark and the Cubs on this cool and thoughful partnership that helps bring the blues into the ballpark (and certainly seems to be bringing the Cubbies plenty of good mojo in the first half of the season). While Chicago certainly has the more storied history musically when it comes to the blues (and it’s great to see individuals and businesses in the city continuing to embrace and celebrate that history), we’re thinking the N.L. Central team for which we root might have a strong case for introducing a similar blues-focused campaign, since fans here may actually have a lot more blues these days, at least in regards to those division standings!