The Buckinghams in Concert

Various Artists By Brent DiCrescenzo 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60’s Garage & Psychedelia from U.S.A. and Destination Records (Sundazed) At 2120 South Michigan Avenue, a monument and museum honor the home of Chess Records. Across the street sprout fresh cement foundations for urban condos. But four decades back, another modest music studio and label sat on that block. Paul Glass started U.S.A. Records as an extension of his distribution biz and hired music promoter and part-time law student Jim Golden to sniff out hip teen acts to cash in on Beatlemania. With an ear for a radio hit, Golden successfully scoured suburban garages and farmland sock hops for the hottest garage rock on the Lake Michigan plain. Well, the ones that weren’t already big enough for Chicago’s larger rock imprint, Dunwich. 2131 South Michigan Avenue beautifully collects forgotten beat bands that probably ruled as pop gods in their corn towns... As with most any good collection of dusty grooves, the anecdotes a...