This Blues Roots is a little short on text, but I’m hoping the links and playlists will compensate.
Too much winter, too much work—I’ve just been so tired. I hope you’ll like it. If you’re looking for more, there are 84 others going back to the half a dozen that Keith (GnLGuy) started the Our Blues Roots series with in May 2016.

Hey Hey! Thanks for checking this out. The next Blues Roots will appear on Thursday, April 26.

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Big Bill Broonzy was a seminal Chicago blues singer, songwriter and guitarist (born Lee Conley Bradley, June 26, in either 1893, 1898 or 1903 [I don’t know if there’s a definite answer; in his autobiography, he said 1893—it’s worth noting that like so many other things in his life, there are multiple views]). He died in Chicago on August 14, 1958, as one of the top bluesmen of any generation, and his songs resounded with truth—those are things no one can dispute.

“Joe Turner Blues” was the first blues he heard, from his uncle, who had been enslaved. The style was called a reel, not a blues back then. Whatever it was called, his mother, a religious woman who had also been enslaved, forbade that secular music in the house (got this info from the recorded interview with Studs Terkel a little further down the page).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLcGgTBbIuE

“His musical career started by playing at local dances, using a fiddle made out of cigar boxes, but things were interrupted when he was drafted into the army and went off to fight in the First World War,” from an article in the Daily Telegraph online.

One of the most moving filmed musical performances I’ve seen, Low Light and Blue Smoke (1956),* features the songs “When Did You Leave Heaven,” “It Was a Dream,” “Hey, Hey” and “Saturday Evening Blues.” Filmed in Belgium by Yannick and Margo Bruynoghe, it was shown on the BBC when it was completed.

Big Bill Broonzy straddled the worlds of the blues. He meant different things to different people, and this was his doing. He changed with the times to remain relevant and to maintain an income. For those who don’t want to read the more involved biography in the first link at the top of the page, it’s really worth checking out the summary in the first paragraph of this Wikipedia article .

I have a soft spot for timelines; click on the one below to get a better look, or here’s a link.

“Bricks in My Pillow,” 1935

From the number of covers, including Ron Wood’s, who said it was his favorite guitar music, I think this is one of his most covered songs. “Guitar Shuffle,” mid-30s

In 1938, Big Bill got a break that led to his wider fame, when he filled the spot intended for the recently deceased Robert Johnson in the Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall. “Trucking Little Woman,” 1938

“Key to the Highway,” with Jazz Gillum (harmonica), Washboard Sam (washboard), 1940-41

“Trouble In Mind,” 1940s

“Trouble In Mind,” Italy, early 1950s

“Backwater Blues,” Italy, early 1950s

Here’s Billy Boy Arnold’s first impression, “This big giant of a guy came in the doorway with a guitar in his hand, and he was muscular, not fat. Black as midnight. Smiled all the time, and seemed to be a very jolly guy.”

In the benediction at the 2009 inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama, the civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery paraphrased “Black, Brown and White,” which spoke to the oppression Big Bill Broonzy was met with as a black man. This version was recorded in Paris, September 20, 1951
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55w0DwZROjY

His three-part autobiography, as told to Yannick Bruynoghe, Big Bill Blues, is a great read but not entirely factual. The three sections include a short autobiography (My Life), a discussion of some of his most popular songs (My Songs), and his stories about some of the people he played with over the years (My Friends). It includes a discography and index. There’s a more recent recommended biography that will fill you in on the facts, I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMdorkAxHvY

Here’s an interview with Studs Terkel, WFMT studios, Chicago, July 22, 1953.

Near the end of his life, in 1956, he made a radio broadcast with Pete Seeger.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFy8gqs6bJIzypq-9w2n02IOF_a6eGYqN

This playlist is dedicated to the music of Big Bill Broonzy (more than half of this playlist is dedicated to Big Bill, through approximately number 600; after that, it’s Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell, and a little Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee to the end). So much of what we listen to passed through their repertoires.

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Recorded July-August 1959, released January 1960. This playlist originally accompanied the Muddy Waters and His Guitarists (part 1) Blues Roots from December 15, 2016 (links to part 1 and part 2 are in first paragraph of part 3).

Sometime, before long, I would like to make a post that lays out Big Bill’s wide influence. It is immense, but the main thing I wanted to show here is what makes his music is so influential.

*Link to another source of Low Light & Blue Smoke.

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Robert Nighthawk was one of Big Bill Broonzy’s contemporaries and peers, someone who shared his stature. They must have known each other, but I don’t know of a single collaboration.

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Memphis Minnie was another contemporary of Big Bill Broonzy, and is probably one of the most underrated blues musicians.

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Earl Hooker is one of my favorite musicians in any time or place. If you don’t know his music, give yourself a treat.

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This 1960 Little Brother Montgomery album, features the guitar of Lafayette Thomas and bass of Julian Euell, was produced in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, studio of Rudy Van Gelder. Info below from Discogs.

1. Tasty Blues
2. Santa Fe
3. How Long, Brother?
4. Pleading Blues
5. No Special Rider
6. Brother’s Boogie
7. Sneaky Pete Blues
8. Something Keeps Worrying Me
9. Cry, Cry Baby
10. Satellite Blues
11. Deep Fried
12. Vicksburg Blues

The two songs at the end of the playlist have nothing to do with the album—they’re filmed solo and trio Little Brother Montgomery performances.

13. Vicksburg Blues (solo)
14. Little Brother Boogie (trio)

Also see Lafayette Thomas playlist.

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Big Bill Broonzy, “Just a Dream on My Mind,” 1939
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvAiUfEaMKs