By David Whiteis
The truth is, though, that Spann’s agenda is slightly more complicated than his patter suggests. He’s promoting a big blues concert next Saturday at the UIC Pavilion. The show is billed as a tribute to his own 40th year in show business, but in fact that number refers only to his long and sometimes controversial tenure as a Chicago-based blues and soul promoter–he’s been a deejay here since the late 50s. Tickets cost between $35 and $59, ten acts are being advertised, and as an added attraction Spann has promised to “crown” several of them royalty for the new millennium, including B.B. King as King (naturally), Koko Taylor as Queen, and Bobby “Blue” Bland as Crown Prince.
Sunshine sounds a little slurry and her radio is feeding back into the telephone.
“Blues Man!”
“Spann?”
In the background, you can hear buttons being pushed.
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To hear Spann tell it, his success is a testament to puritan values: hard work, decency, and sobriety. He was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, in 1932. “We were in the city part of Itta Bena, not the suburb part,” he chuckles. “Before I left there, they had 500. When I left they had 499! I knew B.B. King, B.B. King’s sister, mother. He had a half brother, I knew him very well.”
