The Night Chicago Died

Ever have one of those songs that keep bouncing around in your head? It's called an ear worm.

There is a song by a group called Paper Lace called "The Night Chicago Died". Been bouncing around in my head for about 6 days now.

A lot of interesting information in this song. Let me take you through some of the lyrics and explain who and what.

First two sentences. "Daddy was a cop on the East Side of Chicago". I didn't know Lake Michigan had cops. Actually there is no "East Side" of Chicago. North, South, and West yes, East Side nope.

"When the Town of Chicago Died, they talk about it still". More on this later.

"When a man named Al Capone tried to make that town his own". Yup he sure did.

"He called his gang to war with the forces of the law". He was always at odds with the forces of the law.

"And the sound of the battle rang through the streets of the old East Side". Nope, no streets in Lake Michigan.

When confronted, Paper Lace just said, doesn't every city have an East Side? They had never been to Chicago. They were a band from England.

So what was "The Night Chicago Died"?

Some think it was the St. Valentine's day massacre 2/14/1929.  It was between Al Capone's Southside gang and George "Bugs" Moran's Northside gang.

St. Valentine's day massacre

Nobody knows for sure who the killers were, but suspect a gang working for Al Capone and members of the Chicago Police Force seeking revenge for the killing of a police officer's son.

It's believed that a guy named "Three Fingers" William Jack White was the organizer of the St. Valentine's day Massacre based on the letter from investigator Frank Farrell to FBI Director Edgar J Hoover in 1935, but was later generally discarded, mainly on the grounds that there is strong evidence that White had still been in jail at the time of the massacre. A lot of events have been orchestrated by people in jail. Every year near Valentine's day, this happening seems to surface. 

My dad was in his early 20's during this time and as a resident of Kenosha, Wisconsin spent time in Chicago. One of the guys he was acquainted with was Three Finger Jack White. Not many people can say that their dad was a friend of one of Al Capone's mobsters.   

So that's the story of "The Night Chicago Died". If you want to listed to the song, here's the link to the YouTube video. If it doesn't connect with just a click, just copy and paste.

Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVhqvmSlqgM