PRESS - Siegel-Schwall
In the beginning, Siegel teamed with his friend and guitarist, Jim Schwall to form the Siegel/ Schwall Band. They were signed overnight by Vanguard Records, and later RCA/Wooden Nickel. During the late 1960's and early 70's the band drew capacity crowds to the most popular clubs and auditoriums in the U.S., while their records received world acclaim. - David Prescott-Deutsche (Chicago Tribune) Grammophon liner notes
Siegel/Schwall puts everything they've got into live concerts.. They knock everybody flat! ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
Out of the groups nurtured by the Chicago tradition, one of the finest is certainly Siegel/Schwall. The guiding genius is Corky Siegel. - BOSTON GLOBE-1967
Favorite performers of the Newport Folk Festival - Leonard Cohen, Siegel/Schwall, and Joni Mitchell. BROADSIDE MAGAZINE-BOSTON
Tremendously exciting. Spectacularly virtuostic on harmonica. There was more creativity in Siegel's music than in a lot of works of more academic pretension I have heard. Even so, that doesn't explain the spell he casts. Engaging melodic appeal of Siegel's music is leagues ahead of any thump and jump. soul and roll group I have ever heard. THE PROVINCE- Vancouver-classical music critic
A quartet of young Chicagoans who have been raised on the blues and assimilated it with surprising depth. They have excitement and they swing. which is the raison d'ete of it all. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Ralph Gleason (67)
The most recent style to develop out of the Chicago blues scene, The Siegel/Schwall Band; a young group with a distinctive and personal blues sound. The latest addition to the list of great South side perforners that has included Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Chuck Berry. BILLBOARD (66)
One of the best of the new blues groups. Consistently excellent. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Siegel's harmonica playing is a function of his soul, as his solo ended the audience was silent for a couple of seconds and then applauded wildly. BROADSIDE-Boston
For solid, well-crafted blues, this album is unsurpassed by any white city blues band. BROADSIDE MAGAZINE-Boston Ralph Earle 1st record
Say Siegel/Schwall contains some surprises which once faded, leave the realization that this record represents a level of responsi-bilty and artistry rare in the recording industry...Two things are clear about the Siegel/Schwall Band; they have distilled the essence of a form of music into a clean, clear, unified sound and are rapidly refining their work to the point where it has become an art form which must be judged on its own terms and not be compared with that of other groups. An out standing recorded performance. BROADSIDE-Boston
Corky Siegel is the best blues performer I have ever seen - masterful sense of timing and theatrics. The first time I saw him was opening night at the Western Front in San Francisco. All the Frisco heavies were there. Bill Graham, Chet Helms.. on the bill were the Airplane, the Dead, Big Brother (with Janis)..a lot of great music went down that night, none so beautiful as Corky's. The whole crowd even Janis Joplin, I was standing right next to her) freaked right out. MORE! MORE! MORE! the crowd screamed and cheered. I came back to Vancouver a devoted fan, and watched the rave reviews Corky got at the Filmore, and the Avalon. Siegel/Schwall got to more heads than all the acid or psychadelic music could. For 3 months Corky played his heart out in the bay area. POPIN MAGAZINE- Editor (Roger shiffer)
Siegel/Schwall puts everything they've got into live concerts.. They knock everybody flat! ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
Chicago's finest musical tea-sure, (for those of you who can't afford the symphony). CHICAGO EXPRESS
Siegel/Schwall Band stunned an audience of Chicago kids who by all odds had never bothered to hear them before. They got an education. CHICAGO SUN TIMES
Siegel/Schwall overwhelmed the audience with a good time sound based on, but certainly not bound to the blues. CHICAGO SUN TIMES
SiegelSchwall served up an astounding sound storm. MILWAUKEE SENTINEL
Tremendous potential for climbing the charts of the nation. The compositions are so artfully constructed that the sounds come over with refreshing appeal. BILLBOARD -Album picks
You have to stand in line to be one of their (Siegel/Schwall) tans, but I can think of very few lines Id rather be in. CHICAGO DAILY NEWS-Wayne Crawford
Siegel as a harp virtuoso is all soul and all emotion. In taste and esthetics the band shines, with out standing performances. BOSTON GLOBE
Siegel gets on the harmonica and wails. He is most extraordinary On this instrument. - THE TELEGRAM-Toronto
Siegel/Schwall band over-whelmed the audience in the teeming, Coliseum with Corky Siegel playing a rollicking piano and nearly blowing out his lungs on mouth harp. CHICAGO SUN TIMES -Al Rudis
The Siegel/Schwall Band is one of the best visual acts in America today, and thankfully the group also has the music to back up the visual excitement. BILLBOARD
Of special merit, Siegel/ Schwall Band. RCA Wooden Nickel. Performance-glorious. Go get this album quick; it's great. They play blues joyously, they swing and their arrangements are fresh. Siegel's outstanding har monica solo is alone worth the price of the album. It is one of the best harp solos ever recorded by ANYBODY. Corky is also a jolly good keyboard man. STEREO REVIEW
Few groups in the world can match them in making an audience feel good through the sheer joy of their music. Siegel/Schwall, RCA/Wooden Nickel CHICAGO SUN TIMES-Showcase
A monstious LP. all the cuts pack a lot of impact. Should be the biggest seller ever! BILLBOARD -Album Picks
Richly orchestrated sound uncommon to blues music-with a touch of jazz sophistication; fun to listen to. CRAWDADDY MAGAZINE
The new album (Sleepy Hollow) is a ball. I love it. If you never heard Siegel/Schwall it's your own fault. If you like the record, go see them. If you see them you'll want the rec-ord; either way you come out ahead in the deal. CHICAGO EXPRESS
Siegel/Schwall 70 has dominated my record player for two solid weeks now, and each time I listen to it I get further engrossed by its unusual capacity to move me. CHICAGO DAILY NEWS
953 West - Much more than just another first rate record from Chicago's premier rock n' roll band. This is the best Siegel/ Schwall album since the last one and until the next one. CHICAGO TRIBUNE- Dave Witz
Pick up their latest album if you want to be rocked happily to sleep by their infectious rhythms. CHICAGO DAILY NEWS-Townley (I think this is Ray Townley who founded Alice’s revisited in Chicago)
Last Summer-Most of the songs are steady rockers, boasting that precise, powerful Siegel/Schwall throb. "Hey Billie Jean" will probably go down as one of the Siegel/Schwall masterpieces. CHICAGO DAILY NEWS- Wald
Cheers for Siegel/Schwall (Headline) The blues just sort of slide off the tongue of Corky Siegel on his vocals and when he tries something different like "Off to Denver. with just piano and voice, he carries off the jolly irony beau-tifully. Corky is concentrating more than ever on his keyboard work on 953 West, and it is outstanding. One thing wrong with it is that you tend to forget that he is absolutely the best rock and blues mouth harp player around. CHICAGO TRIBUNE-Showcase-Al Rudis
While a member of the Siegel/ Schwall band from 1965-74, Siegel developed a national reputation as one of the country's leading blues musicians. CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1984 - D. Prescott
A bed-rock of white blues rock for the decade of 1965-1975, the Siegel/Schwall band was a national favorite. PERFORMANCE MAGAZINE-New York
Dearly Loved. (Headline) DENVER POST
Rock Group Splits but Sings No Blues (Headine - Front and back page pictorial.) They had a faithful following that spanned several age groups. The news that after one final tour of the midwest they would disband was met with genuine sadness. They will leave their Milwaukee audiences with a wealth of warm feelings. MILWAUKEE JOURNAL- D. Jacques Jan. 29, 1974)