Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.
At the time Berkow was living in a tiny room at the Red Herring, run by campus arts and activism organization the Channing-Murray Foundation, which is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist church. Berkow had convinced a draft board that as a conscientious objector he’d do his alternative service at the coffeehouse (his adoptive father was also a minister at the church). The Red Herring had church services on its upper floor, and he convinced the owners to sell the pews and start hosting music.
At California State University at Chico, Berkow began teaching a class in guitar performance, which became hugely popular despite initial resistance from the chair of the music department, who didn’t think guitar was a “real” instrument. He also recruited the rhythm section from the school’s jazz band (plus sax player Ylonda Nickell, who went on to have a solo career) to form the new Peter Berkow & Friends. “It was a dance band, blending jazz, funk, and satire,” Berkow says. “Influences ranged from Tower of Power to Frank Zappa, Tom Waits to James Brown.” PB&F self-released two challenging LPs, 1976’s Faculty Recital and 1977’s Live at Cabo’s, recorded at the Chico club where they were the house band from ’76 till ’80.
When Berkow describes his duo with Tricia, he ends up simultaneously summarizing the musical diversity of his long career: “I’m not sure how to categorize what I do now?” he says. “Somewhere between Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks and Thelonious Monk (when Tricia is on piano). At my age, I prefer the acoustic stuff, though I do feel nostalgic for the experimental-rock days when I sounded closer to Zappa mixed with King Crimson.” v
