Author: Robert Loerzel

The Chicago Stomping Grounds of Tom Waits

I wrote for Chicago magazine last week about the new Mavis Staples cover of the Tom Waits song “Chicago”—one of the great songs about our city, in either version. Writing this essay gave me a gave me a chance to dig a little bit into Waits’s Chicago connections. Here’s more. When Waits performed in 2006… Continue reading The Chicago Stomping Grounds of Tom Waits

“The Uptown” Media Coverage

The Uptown: Chicago’s Endangered Movie Palace, the new book by Robert Loerzel and James A. Pierce, is getting attention from TV, radio, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, and websites. Here’s a rundown of the media coverage: WTTW’s Chicago Tonight — Nick Blumberg interviews Loerzel, Pierce, theater owner Jerry Mickelson, and theater caretaker David Syfczak—with new footage filmed inside… Continue reading “The Uptown” Media Coverage

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The Lounge Lived On: The Green Mill After Prohibition

CHAPTER 44 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS There’s a legend about how Steve Brend got his first job at the Green Mill. Brend, who eventually became the owner, said that he’d landed his first job at the… Continue reading The Lounge Lived On: The Green Mill After Prohibition

Bullets, Flames, Lawsuits, and Votes: The End of an Era

CHAPTER 43 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER Five months after he vanished from Chicago, Ted Newberry finally turned up. The North Side mobster, who was said to be the Green Mill’s boss, hadn’t been killed,… Continue reading Bullets, Flames, Lawsuits, and Votes: The End of an Era

1930 Photos of Lawrence Avenue in Uptown

AN ADDENDUM TO THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN These photos show what Lawrence Avenue looked like in Uptown in 1930. Some of them were taken that February, when Texas Guinan was headlining at the Green Mill, and others were taken in June, after the… Continue reading 1930 Photos of Lawrence Avenue in Uptown

Texas Guinan’s Bang-Up Green Mill Show

CHAPTER 42 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER It was a big deal when Texas Guinan took over the Green Mill in December 1929. “If Prohibition had a queen, she was Texas Guinan,” Chicago Daily Tribune… Continue reading Texas Guinan’s Bang-Up Green Mill Show

Uptown “Hell Holes” and the Red Hot Mamma

CHAPTER 41 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER The Green Mill kept going out of business, but it never stayed dark for very long. As 1927 ended, the nightclub seemed to be in trouble. It had… Continue reading Uptown “Hell Holes” and the Red Hot Mamma

Joe and Jack, Part 4: “The Man the Gangsters Couldn’t Kill”

CHAPTER 39 of THE COOLEST SPOT IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY OF GREEN MILL GARDENS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF UPTOWN PREVIOUS CHAPTER / TABLE OF CONTENTS / NEXT CHAPTER (If you haven’t read the earlier “Joe and Jack” chapters, start with Part 1 of this four-part story.) Joe Lewis was released from the hospital sometime in December,… Continue reading Joe and Jack, Part 4: “The Man the Gangsters Couldn’t Kill”