Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Lee Conley Bradley |
Also known as | Willie Broonzy, Big Bill Broonzy, Big Bill Broomsley |
Born | Lake Dick, Arkansas or Scott, Mississippi, U.S. | June 26, 1893 or 1903
Died | Chicago | August 14, 1958 (55 or 65)
Genres | Blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 1927–1958 |
Labels |
Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893
Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs, including adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in writing songs that reflected his rural-to-urban experiences.[5]
Life and career
Early years
Born Lee Conley Bradley,[4] he was one of the 17 children of Frank Broonzy (Bradley) and Mittie Belcher. The date and place of his birth are disputed. Broonzy claimed to have been born in Scott, Mississippi, but a body of emerging research compiled by the blues historian Robert Reisman suggests that he was born in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Broonzy claimed he was born in 1893,[6] and many sources report that year, but family records discovered after his death suggested that the year was 1903.[4]
Soon after his birth the family moved to an area called
On the understanding that he was born in 1898 rather than earlier or later, sources suggest that in 1915, 17-year-old Broonzy was married and working as a
It has been previously stated that in 1916 his crop and stock were wiped out by drought and he went to work locally until he was drafted into the Army in 1917,[9] that he served for two years in Europe during the First World War and that after his discharge from the Army in 1919, he left Pine Bluff and moved to the Little Rock area. However, biographer Bob Riesman, after examining Broonzy's family records, census records and local draft cards, concluded that Broonzy was only 14 in 1917 when the U.S. entered WW I and that Broonzy never actually served in the Army during World War I.[10] In 1920, Broonzy moved north to Chicago in search of opportunity.[6]
1920s
After arriving in Chicago, Broonzy switched from fiddle to guitar. He learned to play the guitar from the veteran minstrel and medicine show performer Papa Charlie Jackson, who began recording for Paramount Records in 1924.[11] Through the 1920s Broonzy worked at a string of odd jobs, including Pullman porter, cook, foundry worker and custodian, to supplement his income, but his main interest was music. He played regularly at rent parties and social gatherings, steadily improving his guitar playing. During this time he wrote one of his signature tunes, a solo guitar piece called "Saturday Night Rub".[12]
Thanks to his association with Jackson, Broonzy was able to get an audition with Paramount executive J. Mayo Williams. His initial test recordings, made with his friend John Thomas on vocals, were rejected, but Broonzy persisted, and his second try, a few months later, was more successful. His first record, "House Rent Stomp", backed with "Big Bill Blues", credited to Big Bill and Thomps (Paramount 12656), was released in 1927.[13] Although the recording was not well received, Paramount retained its new talent and in the next few years released more records by Big Bill and Thomas. The records sold poorly. Reviewers considered his style immature and derivative.[14]
1930s
In 1930, Paramount for the first time used Broonzy's full name on a recording, "Station Blues" – albeit misspelled as "Big Bill Broomsley". Record sales continued to be poor, and Broonzy was working at a grocery store. He was picked up by
In 1934 Broonzy moved to
Broonzy's reputation grew. In 1938 he was asked to fill in for the recently deceased
Broonzy's recorded output through the 1930s only partially reflects his importance to Chicago blues. His half-brother, Washboard Sam, and his friends Jazz Gillum and Tampa Red, also recorded for Bluebird. Broonzy was credited as the composer of many of their most popular recordings of that time. He reportedly played guitar on most of Washboard Sam's tracks. Because of his exclusive arrangements with his record label, Broonzy was careful to allow his name to appear on these artists' records only as a composer.[18]
1940s
Broonzy expanded his work during the 1940s as he honed his songwriting skills, which showed a knack for appealing to his more sophisticated city audience as well as people that shared his country roots. His work in this period shows he performed across a wider musical spectrum than almost any other bluesman before or since, including in his repertoire
In 1949, Broonzy became part of a touring
1950s
Broonzy left Chicago in 1950 to work as a janitor at Iowa State, having performed there and established relationships with a likely view to develop his own influence and craft.
In 1953, Vera (King) Morkovin and Studs Terkel took Broonzy to Circle Pines Center, a cooperative year-round camp in
In 1955, with the assistance of the Belgian writer Yannick Bruynoghe, Broonzy published his autobiography, Big Bill Blues.[7] He toured worldwide, traveling to Africa, South America, the Pacific] region, and across Europe into early 1956. In 1957 Broonzy was one of the founding faculty members of the Old Town School of Folk Music. On the school's opening night, December 1, he taught a class, "The Glory of Love".[28]
Illness and death
In the late 1940s, Big Bill Broonzy's doctor warned him that 20 years of constant traveling and living the lifestyle of an "itinerant musician" would have dangerous effects on his aging body and health. In June 1956, Broonzy began to feel "frazzled", explaining to Pim Van Isveldt that "his nerves might be bad".[29] From 1956 to 1957, as he was performing his last tour in Europe, Broonzy's condition worsened, and he was subsequently diagnosed with cancer in July 1957. Broonzy made his last recordings in Chicago from July 12 to 14, 1957.
In September 1957, Broonzy wrote to Van Isveldt that he recently underwent surgery that removed one of his lungs. Broonzy tried to convince her that he would return to London, but he never toured Europe again. A second surgery that took place in the fall of 1957 ended up severing his vocal cords, and although another operation was planned in the early winter of 1958, in hopes of repairing his damaged vocal cords, Broonzy never performed again.[30]
By 1958, Broonzy was suffering from throat cancer. A benefit concert was organized to assist Broonzy with his medical debt, and the concert ended up raising approximately $2,000. After the two-and-a-half hour performance, Broonzy reportedly stood on stage to thunderous applause, thanking his friends and colleagues for "making the evening so memorable".[31]
On August 14 or 15, 1958 (sources vary on the precise date), Broonzy died in an ambulance from cancer as he was being rushed to
Style and influence
Broonzy's influences included the
Although he had been a pioneer of the Chicago blues style and had employed electric instruments as early as 1942, white audiences in the 1950s wanted to hear him playing his earlier songs accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar, which they considered to be more authentic.
He portrayed the discrimination against black Americans in his song "Black, Brown and White".[32] The song has been used globally in education about racism, but in the late 1990s its inclusion in antiracism education at a school in Greater Manchester, England, led pupils to taunt the school's only black pupil with the song's chorus, "If you're white, that's all right, if you're brown, stick around, but if you're black, oh brother get back, get back, get back". The national media reported that the problem became so bad that the nine-year-old boy was withdrawn from the school by his mother. The song had already been adopted by the National Front, a far-right British political party that peaked in popularity in the 1970s and opposed nonwhite immigration to Britain.[33]
A considerable part of Broonzy's early ARC/CBS recordings has been reissued in anthologies by CBS-Sony, and other earlier recordings have been collected on blues reissue labels, as have his European and Chicago recordings of the 1950s. The Smithsonian's Folkways Records has also released several albums featuring Broonzy.
In 1980, he was inducted into the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame, along with 20 other of the world's greatest blues legends. In 2007, he was inducted into the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, along with 11 other musical greats, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk.
As an acoustic guitar player, Broonzy inspired
In the benediction at the 2009 inauguration ceremony of President
In collaboration with the WFMT network, the Chicago History Museum, and the Library of Congress, an hour-long interview of Broonzy, recorded on September 13, 1955, by Studs Terkel was made available online. The interview includes reflections on his life and on the blues tradition, a performance of one of his most famous songs, "Alberta", and performances of "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" and other classics.[40][failed verification]
Discography
Between 1927 and 1942, Broonzy recorded 224 songs, which makes him the second most prolific blues recording artist during that period.
Selected singles
Many of Broonzy's singles were issued by more than one record company, sometimes under different names. Additional versions of some songs were also released. These are marked with a superscript plus sign.
Date | Title | Label & Cat. no. | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
1927 | "House Rent Stomp" | Paramount 12656+ | as Big Bill and Thomps |
"Big Bill Blues" | Paramount 12656 | as Big Bill and Thomps | |
1930 | "Station Blues" | Paramount 13084 | as Big Bill Broomsley |
"Saturday Night Rub" | Perfect 147+ | as Famous Hokum Boys
| |
"I Can't Be Satisfied" | Perfect 157 | as Sammy Sampson | |
1932 | "Mistreatin' Mama" | Champion 16396+ | as Big Bill Johnson |
1934 | "At the Break of Day" | Bluebird 5571+ | |
" C. C. Rider "
|
Melotone 13311+ | ||
1935 | "Midnight Special" | Vocalion 03004 | as State Street Boys |
"Bricks in My Pillow" | ARC 6–03–62
|
||
1936 | "Matchbox Blues" | ARC 6–05–56+ | |
1937 | "Mean Old World" | Melotone 7–07–64+ | |
1937 | "Louise Louise Blues" | Vocalion 03075+ | |
1938 | "New Shake 'Em on Down "
|
Vocalion 04149+ | electric guitar by George Barnes |
"Night Time Is the Right Time No. 2" | Vocalion 04149+ | electric guitar by George Barnes | |
1939 | "Just a Dream" | Vocalion 04706+ | |
"Too Many Drivers" | Vocalion 05096 | ||
1940 | "You Better Cut That Out" | Okeh 05919 | |
"Lonesome Road Blues" | Okeh 06031 | ||
"Rockin' Chair Blues" | Okeh 06116+ | ||
1941 | "All By Myself" | Okeh 06427+ | |
"Key to the Highway" | Okeh 06242+ | ||
"Wee Wee Hours" | Okeh 06552 | ||
"I Feel So Good" | Okeh 06688+ | ||
1942 | " I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town "
|
Okeh 06651 | as Big Bill & His Chicago 5 |
1945 | "Please Believe Me" | Hub 3003-A (HU418B) | as Little Sam, blues vocalist, with Don Byas Quartet |
1945 | "Why Did You Do That To Me" | Hub 3003-B (HU 419B) | as Little Sam, blues vocalist, with Don Byas Quartet |
1951 | "Hey Hey" | Mercury 8271 |
Broonzy also appeared as a sideman on recordings by Lil Green, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Washboard Sam, Jazz Gillum and other Bluebird Records artists.[43]
Albums
- Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam (1953)
- Big Bill Broonzy and Roosevelt Sykes (DVD, recorded 1956)
- His Story (Folkways Records, 1957)[44]
- Big Bill Broonzy Sings Country Blues (Folkways Records FA 2326, 1957)
- Blues with Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (Folkways Records, 1959)
- Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs (Folkways Records FA 2328, 1962)
- Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs (Smithsonian Folkways, 1989) (reissue)
- Best of the Blues Tradition (1991)
- Do That Guitar Rag (1928–1935) (1991)
- Trouble in Mind (Smithsonian Folkways, 2000)
- Broonzy Volume 2: 1945–1949: The Post War Years (2000)
- Big Bill Broonzy in Concert (2002)
- Big Bill Broonzy on Tour in Britain: Live in England & Scotland (2002)
- Big Bill Blues: His 23 Greatest Songs 1927–42 (2004)
- Get Back (2004)
- Big Bill Amsterdam Live Concerts 1953 (2006)
- Keys to the Blues (2009)
- All The Classics 1936-1937, Vol. 4 (2019)
References
- ^ Perone 2019, p. 24.
- ^ James 1996, p. 31.
- ^ Eagle & LeBlanc 2013, p. 156.
- ^ a b c Riesman 2011, p. 7.
- ^ Barlow 1989, pp. 301–303.
- ^ a b c Stambler & Landon 1983, p. 73.
- ^ a b c d Fry, Robbie. "'Big Bill' Broonzy (1893?–1958)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Davis 2003, p. 186f.
- ^ Charters 1960, p. 117.
- ^ Riesman 2011, p. 33: "The most credible explanation is that Bill did not enter the U.S. Army in 1917, did not travel to France to serve in World War I ... Instead it is much more likely he spent a lot of time soaking up stories ... from those who did serve overseas."
- ^ Dahl 2003, Liner notes.
- ^ a b Stambler & Landon 1983, p. 74.
- ^ Russell 1997, p. 12.
- ^ Charters 1960, pp. 117–118.
- ^ Greenblatt, Mike (June 20, 2013). "Booze, Blues Go Hand in Hand for Broonzy, Dorsey and Alderson". Goldmine. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Charters 1960, p. 118.
- ^ Eagle, Bob (April 4, 2014). "Blues Piano Ghost Notes: Piano Kid Edwards & Black Bob". Chicago Southside Piano. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Charters 1960, p. 120.
- ^ Palmer 1982, p. 130.
- ^ a b Stambler & Landon 1983, p. 75.
- ^ "Big Bill Broonzy Redux". Biblionotes.wordpress.com. November 22, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Greene 2018, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Palmer 1982, p. 256.
- ^ Davies, Lawrence (2014). "On a Kind of Vacation: Re-examining African American Blues Musicians' Visits to Britain, 1950–58". Allthirteenkeys.com. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Harper 2006.
- ^ The Beatles "Anthology 1" Subt Esp. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014.
- ^ "Mississippi Folk Music and Folklore". American Folklife Center. August 1982. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Biography of a Hunch". Old Town School of Folk Music. n.d. Archived from the original on July 19, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Greene 2018, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Greene 2018, p. 145.
- ^ Greene 2018, p. 146.
- ^ Chilton, Martin (December 1, 2013). "Big Bill Broonzy: Legacy of a Musical Pioneer". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Boy Withdrawn Over 'Racist' Song". BBC News Online. January 22, 1999. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "The Official Rory Gallagher Biography". Rory Gallagher Official Website. 2009. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Steve Howe Interview". Music Legends Online. February 10, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies and Others Discuss How Big Bill Broonzy Sparked the British Blues-Rock Explosion in Bob Riesman's New Bio 'I Feel So Good' (Out 5/1)". Top40-Charts. August 3, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ Tuffrey, Laurie (May 17, 2012). "'Shit, That Sounds Tremendous!' Tom Jones on His 13 Favourite Albums". The Quietus. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
- ^ Budnick, Dean (August 1, 2017). "Bluegrass Boy: Inside the New Box Set Exploring Jerry Garcia's Early Acoustic Era". Relix. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ "Video: Dr. Joseph Lowery's Benediction (Update- Transcript!)". Daily Kos. January 20, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- ^ "Big Bill Broonzy Talks with Studs Terkel on WFMT: 1955/09/13". Pop Up Archive. Archived from the original on February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ^ Wald 2004, p. 41.
- ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 56.
- ^ Herzhaft 1992, p. 39.
- ^ Terkel, Studs (1957). "His Story – Big Bill Broonzy Interviewed by Studs Terkel". Folkways Records. FW03586, FG 3586.
Bibliography
- Barlow, William (1989). Looking Up at Down: The Emergence of Blues Culture. ISBN 0-87722-583-4.
- OCLC 648527768.
- Dahl, Bill (2003). Blues Is My Business (Album liner notes). Fuel 2000.
- Davis, Francis (2003). The History of the Blues. ISBN 0-306-81296-7.
- Eagle, Bob L.; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: ISBN 978-0313344237.
- Greene, Kevin D. (2018). The Invention and Reinvention of Big Bill Broonzy. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: ISBN 978-1-4696-4649-7.
- Harper, Colin (2006). Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival. Bloomsbury.
- Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). "Big Bill Broonzy". Encyclopedia of the Blues. Fayetteville, Arkansas: ISBN 1-55728-252-8.
- James, Steve (1996). "Big Bill Broonzy". In ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
- ISBN 0-14006-223-8.
- Perone, James E. (2019). Listen to the Blues!: Exploring a Musical Genre. Santa Barbara, California: ISBN 978-1-4408-6614-2.
- Riesman, Bob (2011). I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy. ISBN 978-0-226-71745-6.
- Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- Stambler, Irwin; Landon, Grelun (1983). The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country & Western Music. New York City: ISBN 0-312-24818-0.
- ISBN 978-0-06-052427-2.
- ISBN 0-89820-068-7.
External links
- Big Bill Broonzy CD reissue discography
- Broonzy.com series of tribute pages including bio, discography, sound clips
- Big Bill Broonzy: Interviews and performances with Studs Terkel at Smithsonian Folkways
- Big Bill Broonzy research at the Mississippi Blues Trail
- Big Bill Broonzy recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.