Curtis Mayfield. Etta James. The Chi-Lites. Chess Records. Jerry Butler. Fontella Bass. Chicago was soul music from the late 1950s through the late 1970s. Chicago Soul chronicles the emergence of Chicago soul music out of the city's thriving rhythm-and-blues industry and shows how it took the world by storm. The performers, A & R men, producers, distributors, deejays, studios, and labels that made it all happen take center stage. Robert Pruter packs each page with painstakingly detailed information sure to enlighten the fan and satisfy the obsessive. Recognized for almost thirty years as an unparalleled history of the subject, Chicago Soul documents the stunning rise and success of the Windy City as a center of the soul music business.

Robert Pruter is the retired rhythm-and-blues editor for Goldmine. His books include Doowop: The Chicago Scene.