Shining a light on Cleveland's overlooked soul music history
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A supreme era of music. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Cleveland may be the birthplace of rock 'n' roll, but often lost in the recounting of influential figures like Alan Freed, Belkin Productions and WMMS is the city's rich soul music history.
Driving the news: The book "Invisible Soul," released this summer, examines Cleveland's underground Black entertainment scene from the Chitlin' Circuit through the 1980s.
Why it matters: In the early 1950s, the city's east side earned the nickname "Cleveland's Harlem," as it became a thriving hub for Black musicians.
Flashback: Venues like Gleason's Musical Bar, Circle Theater and the Chatterbox hosted jazz and blues performers like Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner and Dizzy Gillespie in the early 1950s.
The intrigue: The scene entered its peak when Leo's Casino opened on Euclid Avenue in 1963 and became an outpost for Detroit's Motown Records to test emerging acts like Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder.
- Other regulars at Leo's included John Coltrane, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, who gave his final performance there on Dec. 9, 1967, before dying in a plane crash the next day.
Yes, but: With all those venues gone, the stories of "Cleveland's Harlem" have become overshadowed by the stadium rock renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s.
- The east side is now home to Cleveland Clinic's large campus, which is surrounded by neighborhoods of extreme poverty.
What they're saying: "It's a period pushed aside because of the power structure, segregation and the hangover of racism," Carlo Wolff, author of "Invisible Soul," tells Axios.
- "The music was confined to the ghetto, and there wasn't a figure like Berry Gordy here to promote what was going on. But there's certainly a power and cultural force to these stories that should live on."
Worth your time: Wolff will be doing a free-to-attend book signing at Visible Voice Books at 7pm Friday.