Raeburn Flerlage was 44 years old when he finally found his vocation. One day in August 1959, a telegram arrived at his south-side home from Moses Asch, the founder of Folkways Records. Asch needed him to go to the Pershing Hotel to photograph blues pianist Memphis Slim for an upcoming album cover. Asch had seen samples of Flerlage’s work from the Institute of Design, where Flerlage was studying under Harry Callahan. He was good enough, and Asch knew he’d work cheap. But no one expected a set of legendary blues photos to emerge from the session. “People say those shots of Memphis Slim were as good as anything I’ve ever done,” Flerlage says now. “I guess I haven’t learned much since.”
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During the 60s and early 70s, Flerlage became the foremost photographer of the Chicago blues scene. He shot at the dumpiest of the west-side dumps and in the swankest ballrooms. He went to recording sessions and to Maxwell Street, and often visited Muddy Waters at home. His subjects ranged from the famous, like Son House and Howlin’ Wolf, to the now nearly forgotten. He photographed Martha Reeves, Jackie Wilson, and Little Walter. “Hell, I took pictures of B.B. King when he was still thin,” he says.
The resulting book, Chicago Blues: As Seen From the Inside, was published last month by Canada’s ECW Press. It combines Flerlage’s own writings with oral histories compiled by Cowdery and a collection of photos curated by Day. The photos are moving and funny, nostalgic and immediate. It is a comprehensive work. “I wanted a simpler book,” Flerlage says. “I wanted an easier book. I was old and I didn’t want to do all this writing, but Lisa Day kept saying that she wanted my voice. This is the book that she had in mind. Oh, is it wonderful!”
The last few years have seen a revival of interest. Fender Guitars is using several images of Muddy Waters in a poster. A club in New York is using his shots of B.B. King. There have been record reissues and blues-magazine retrospectives–and now the book. He is gratified.
