Big Bill Broonzy – The War And Postwar Years 1940 - 1951 (4 CD, 2007)

 

Mississippi-born guitarist Big Bill Broonzy had a voice that could really grow on you. The living embodiment of the rural-to-urban blues tradition, he often infused the gutsy, sometimes brutally honest immediacy of acoustic Chicago blues and good time hokum with the lonely intensity of the field holler. Vol. 3 in JSP's extensively complete Big Bill Broonzy retrospective covers his recording activity between the years 1940 and 1951, a time span that takes in the Second World War and its aftermath. His musical companions during this decade included the mighty Washboard Sam, a wonderful string bassist named Ransom Knowling, harmonica ace Jazz Gillum, blues saxophonist Buster Bennett, pianists Blind John Davis, Big Maceo Merriweather and Memphis Slim, and seasoned jazzmen Punch Miller, Don Byas and Slick Jones. This excellent set offers 99 examples of Broonzy's personalized musical responses to everything that life had to offer or snatch away. Topics include romance, jealousy and heartache; honest labor, conscription and prison, as well as betrayal, alcohol and insomnia. Big Bill was also fond of old-time folk melodies and included them regularly in his repertoire. This outstanding tribute is the perfect introduction to Broonzy; it will also delight those who already know his music, love and respect his memory, and who will hasten to track down the rest of his recordings as reissued by JSP.

 

Big Bill Broonzy discography [1950-2010]

 

Big Bill Broonzy (June 26, 1903 – August 15, 1958) was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with working class Black audiences. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century.

Broonzy copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including both adaptations of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in that his compositions reflected the many vantage points of his rural-to-urban experiences.

Big Bill Broonzy & Pete Seeger - (1956) - In Concert  - Verve Folkways 9008

Big Bill Broonzy & Washboard Sam - (1962) - Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam

Big Bill Broonzy - (1950) - The Southern Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (1955) - Big Bill Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (1957) - Blues et Gospel Vol.3

Big Bill Broonzy - (1957) - Country Blues Vol. 1  - LP Chant du Monde

Big Bill Broonzy - (1959) - Blues in the Mississippi night

Big Bill Broonzy - (1963) - Country Blues Vol. 1

Big Bill Broonzy - (1965) - XTRA 1004

Big Bill Broonzy - (1968) - The Young Big Bill Broonzy 1928 - 1935

Big Bill Broonzy - (1970) - Archive of Folk Music Everest

Big Bill Broonzy - (1970) - In Concert) - Verve Folkways

Big Bill Broonzy - (1971) - VA) -  A Treasury Of Folk Music

Big Bill Broonzy - (1973) - Do That Guitar Rag (1928 - 1935)

Big Bill Broonzy - (1989) - Big Bill Broonzy & Washboard Sam

Big Bill Broonzy - (1990) - Good Time Tonight

Big Bill Broonzy - (1990) - House Rent Stomp

Big Bill Broonzy - (1990) - Trouble In Mind

Big Bill Broonzy - (1991) - Big Bill Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (1993) - The Southern Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (1994) - The 1955 London Sessions

Big Bill Broonzy - (1994) - Volume 2 1930 Complete Edition

Big Bill Broonzy - (1994) - Whiskey And Good Time Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (1998) - Warm, Witty & Wise

Big Bill Broonzy - (2000) - Big Bill Broonzy

Big Bill Broonzy - (2000) - Where The Blues Begin (2 CD)

Big Bill Broonzy - (2001) - Play Your Hand

Big Bill Broonzy - (2003) - Pye Blues Legends In London

Big Bill Broonzy - (2004) - Get Back

Big Bill Broonzy - (2006) - Amsterdam Live Concerts 1953 (2 CD)

Big Bill Broonzy - (2006) - Josh White Comes A - Visitin' Big Bill Broonzy Comes A - Singin'

Big Bill Broonzy - (2007) - Roots of the Blues

Big Bill Broonzy - (2010) - Four Classic Albums Plus (2 CD)

Big Bill Broonzy - "All The Classic Sides 1928 - 1951" (13 CD, 2003-2007/FLAC)

 

Of all the pre-war Delta bluesman, no one achieved the popular status of Big Bill Broonzy. Indeed, as Neil Slaven states in his liner notes to Volume One of this collection, Broonzy had been issuing recordings for over 20 years before his last name was attached to the labels; only "Big Bill" appeared under the track listing. 

Big Bill Broonzy - Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order (1927-1951) Volumes 1-13 [FLAC]

 

Big Bill Broonzy, byname of William Lee Conley Broonzy, (born June 26, 1893, Scott, Mississippi, U.S.—died August 14, 1958, Chicago, Illinois), American blues singer and guitarist who represented a tradition of itinerant folk blues.

Broonzy maintained that he was born in 1893 in Scott, Mississippi, but some sources suggest that he was born in 1903 near Lake Dick, Arkansas. In any case, Broonzy grew up in Arkansas. He served in the army (1918–19) and moved to Chicago in 1920, where six years later he made his recording debut as guitar accompanist to African American blues singers. Later he became a singer himself, and by 1940 he was recognized as one of the best-selling blues recording artists. His New York City concert debut was made at Carnegie Hall in 1938. In 1951 he visited Europe and soon became popular across that continent. At the height of his popularity, in 1957, his vocal effectiveness was reduced by a lung operation, and he died the following year of cancer. His best-known songs included “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Key to the Highway,” “W.P.A. Blues,” “All by Myself,” and, perhaps most notably, “Black, Brown and White.”

Many students of the blues have found his work almost as fascinating for its sociological as for its strictly musical content. His mother, who was born a slave, died in 1957 at the age of 102, having survived to see Broonzy become a world-famous figure. His autobiography, Big Bill Blues, appeared in 1955. Broonzy was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980.

Big Bill Broonzy - The Bill Broonzy Story (3 CD, 1999)

Great compilation featuring all of Broonzy's best tunes and insightful interviews between tracks. 

Released in 1961 as 5 LP box this is 3 CD reissue from 1999

Dialogue tracks interspersed between music tracks are Broonzy's conversations with Bill Randle.
Recorded 12-13 July 1957 in Chicago.

CD 1

1. Key to the Highway

2. Dialogue

3. Mindin' My Own Business

4. Dialogue

5. Saturday Evening Blues

6. Dialogue

7. Southbound Train

8. Dialogue

9. Tell Me What Kind of Man Jesus Is

10. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Big Bill Broonzy, Traditional

11. Dialogue

12. Joe Turner Blues [Vocal Version]

13. Dialogue

14. Joe Turner Blues [Instrumental]

15. Dialogue

16. Plow Hand Blues

17. Dialogue

18. Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad

19. Dialogue

20. Make My Getaway

CD 2

1. Dialogue

2. Stump Blues

3. Dialogue

4. See See Rider - Big Bill Broonzy, Rainey, Ma

5. I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town - Big Bill Broonzy, Razaf, Andy

6. Dialogue

7. This Train (Bound for Glory)

8. Dialogue

9. Hush, Hush

10. Dialogue

11. Blackwater Blues - Big Bill Broonzy, McGhee, Brownie

12. Slow Blues [Instrumental]

13. Dialogue

14. It Hurts Me Too - Big Bill Broonzy, James, Elmore

15. Dialogue Listen

16. Kansas City Blues - Big Bill Broonzy, Jackson, Charlie

17. Dialogue

18. In the Evening (When the Sun Goes Down)

CD 3

1. Dialogue

2. Worried Life Blues - Big Bill Broonzy, Hopkins, Sam

3. Dialogue

4. Trouble in Mind - Big Bill Broonzy, Jones, Richard

5. Dialogue

6. Take This Hammer - Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly

7. Dialogue

8. The Glory of Love - Big Bill Broonzy, Hill, Billy

9. Dialogue

10. Louise

11. Dialogue

12. Willie Mae Blues

13. Dialogue

14. Alberta

15. Old Folks at Home [Swanee River]

16. Dialogue

17. Crawdad Song

18. Dialogue

19. John Henry - Big Bill Broonzy, Traditional

20. Dialogue

21. Just a Dream

22. Dialogue

23. Frankie and Johnny - Big Bill Broonzy, Traditional

24. Dialogue

25. Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home - Big Bill Broonzy, Cannon, Hughie

26. Hollerin' the Blues