After years of delays, Lee's Unleaded Blues reopening and vowing to celebrate musicmakers and the community
Warren Berger, owner of Lee’s Unleaded Blues, will celebrate his newly renovated bar on Chicago’s South Side with a reopening event Friday.
Jim Vondruska/Sun-Times
When Chicago blues musician Toronzo Cannon played Lee’s Unleaded Blues in the 2000s, the beloved South Side club seemed frozen in an earlier time.
“It was like you were transported back into the ‘70s,” said Cannon, 56, of Edgewater. “They had a shag rug on the wall. They had Christmas lights strategically placed.”
Cannon also described a familial atmosphere in the cozy club, which opened at 7401 S. South Chicago Ave. as Queen Bee’s in the 1970s, and then Lee’s beginning in 1983.
“You could actually hit a cymbal as you went to the bathroom because it was right by the stage,” Cannon said. “It was like you were in someone’s living room.”
After closing in 2015, the venue will make its long-awaited return with a soft reopening Friday, featuring two performances by Chicago bluesman John Primer and the Real Deal. Though the decor has been updated, new owner Warren Berger and manager Jennifer Littleton vow to preserve the same sense of community that the club brought to the South Side. And they both stressed the importance of keeping the music alive in the area, which has seen multiple blues clubs close over the years.
“There's a demand for it, which is why we're really excited to open it,” said Littleton, 55, of Logan Square, who previously managed B.L.U.E.S. On Halsted in Lincoln Park. “People constantly ask me, ‘When are you guys going to open?’ The musicians really need a place to go.”
Previous patrons will notice several changes, including a new bar, walnut drink rails and remodeled bathrooms. The club’s walls have been painted blue, and the original tin ceiling has been replaced. The reconfiguring of furniture has allowed the venue to accommodate about 110 guests instead of 49.
Berger, 77, of Lincoln Park, took over the club in 2018 and originally planned to reopen in 2021, but was delayed by city regulations.
“It's just exciting,” said Berger, who also owns Club Escape on the South Side. “At my age, I do this because I want to do it. I like working every day. We're going to pack the place out, and we’re going to do it right.”
After hosting Primer on Friday and again on Saturday, Lee’s will shut down for a couple weeks and officially reopen in mid-May. The venue will continue to focus on booking Chicago acts, Littleton said.
“I just love the history of Chicago blues,” she added. “I love the older people that came up from Mississippi. We used to have a lot more of them, and they're passing away, but we still have some links to that.”
Mississippi native and former Chicago resident Johnny Drummer expressed a desire to play Lee’s again; he first performed at the club when it was owned by Queen Bee.
“She was a nice lady,” said Drummer, 86, who now lives in Horn Lake, Mississippi. “She was really good with her customers. A customer would start going out the door, and she'd go out there and bring the customer back in. She knew how to promote.”
Following Queen Bee’s tenure, Ray and Leola “Lee” Grey, Lee’s original owners, bought the club. Before Berger took ownership, Yvonne Davis had taken the reins from her husband, retired police officer Stanley “Sarge” Davis, who died in 2010.
Drummer remained a fixture through it all.
“The crowd of people, the atmosphere — I just enjoyed it,” he said. “I never had any problems. I never saw a fight in that place.”
Arkansas native and South Side resident Loye Macon was a regular in the audience at the club.
“Lee’s was about the hottest place in town,” said Macon, 82, who once lived one block over from Muddy Waters and remembers standing outside juke joints as a teenager, listening to the legendary bluesman play. “Everybody is going to be excited to know that it’s opening up. … I’ll be there with bells on.”
Cannon said he was happy to see Berger preserving Lee's legacy on the South Side, which, in his opinion, has a different blues sound and sensibility than the clubs frequented by tourists on the North Side.
“There's a leaning toward soul blues on the South Side,” he said. “I'm just happy that there's another blues club opening up in Chicago so people can come from different parts of the world and enjoy blues with the locals.”
Cannon also expressed enthusiasm about Littleton's involvement in the club.
“I call her the mother hen of the blues scene,” he said.
Littleton said she hopes to engage with the South Side through outdoor festivals and other initiatives.
“Exposing younger people to blues is really important,” she added. “It goes back to community, like having the older musicians talk to them about the history.”
Citing financial considerations and city requirements, Berger stressed that running a blues club in Chicago is hard work.
“You’ve got to love what you do,” he said. “Part of it for me is just the excitement of putting something together and seeing people who get pleasure out of it. That's worth it."