This
is Neil Harpe's engraving of Broonzy at Neil
Harpe. |
Born
in 1898, Broonzy played violin in the vicinity of Little Rock, Arkansas
before moving to Chicago, where he took up guitar in the early 1920s. He
first recorded in 1927 and became a hit-maker during the next decade, enjoying
a continuous recording career up to the time of his death (1958). He was
one of the few popular bluesmen associated with a sound rather than a signature
song, and his facile touch combined with a strong dance beat gave him credentials
as both a "city" and "country" bluesman.
In
terms of his musical skill, the sheer size of his repertoire, the length
and variety of his career and his influence on contemporaries and musicians
who would follow, Big Bill Broonzy is among a select few of the most important
figures in recorded blues history. Among his hundreds of titles are standards
like "All by Myself" and "Key to the Highway." In this country he was instrumental
in the growth of the Chicago Blues sound, and his travels abroad rank him
as one of the leading blues ambassadors.
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