Il soul di Richard nella Chicago nera Anni '30

E' scomparso nel 2007 all'età di 101 anni e ora la University of Illinois Press gli dedica una biografia co-firmata dal docente universitario che lo ha intervistato. Richard Stamz , The Prince of Soul, non si è limitato a scrivere un pezzo di storia della musica soul con il suo leggendario programma "Open the door, Richard", dalle frequenze in onde medie di WGES di Chicago (oggi si chiama WGRB ed è una gospel station su 1390 kHz), ma con il suo attivismo in politica ha molto contribuito alla storia identitaria della comunità nera della sua città. Questo un breve clip con il necrologio di Richard curato da Chicago Public Radio

Give 'Em Soul Richard
Race, Radio, and Rhythm and Blues in Chicago
Author: Richard E. Stamz with Patrick A. Roberts
Foreword by Robert Pruter

An insightful account of a radio legend amid milestones of African American history

As either observer or participant, radio deejay and political activist Richard E. Stamz witnessed every significant period in the history of blues and jazz in the last century. From performing first-hand as a minstrel in the 1920s to broadcasting Negro League baseball games in a converted 1934 Chrysler to breaking into Chicago radio and activist politics and hosting his own television variety show, the remarkable story of his life also is a window into milestones of African American history throughout the twentieth century.
Dominating the airwaves with his radio show "Open the Door, Richard" on WGES in Chicago, Stamz cultivated friendships with countless music legends, including Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Memphis Slim, and Leonard Chess. The pioneering Chicago broadcaster and activist known as "The Crown Prince of Soul" died in 2007 at the age of 101, but not before he related the details of his life and career to college professor Patrick A. Roberts. Give 'Em Soul, Richard! surrounds Stamz's memories of race records, juke joints, and political action in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood with insights on the larger historical trends that were unfolding around him in radio and American history.
Narrated by Stamz, this entertaining and insightful chronicle includes commentary by Roberts as well as reflections on the unlikely friendship and collaboration between a black radio legend and a white academic that resulted in one of the few existing first-hand accounts of Chicago's post-war radio scene.