Between 1975 and 1977, Michael Abramson hit Chicago’s South Side night clubs – Perv’s House, Pepper’s Hideout, The High Chaparral, The Patio Lounge, and The Showcase Lounge, not to capture the artists on stage, but to shoot the lively, mostly black, mostly youngish crowd. These were inner city, working mans clubs. Dancin’, drinkin’ and fightin’ was the weekend norm, and then back to work on Monday. These photos were first published in Abramsom’s thesis Black Night Clubs of Chicago’s South Side. Many of these were later published in a photography book / 2 LP record set entitled Light on the South Side (2009), The collection of music featured on the LPs are blues songs by mostly Chicago recording artists, and reflect what was actually playing on the jukeboxes in these clubs at the time.
