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Big Bill Broonzy ( June 26 , 1893 or 1898 – August 15 , 1958 ) was a prolific United States Composer , recorder and performer of Blues songs. "Big Bill" was born William Lee Conley Broonzy in Scott County, Mississippi on June 26, 1893 or 1898 (the exact year is unclear). While Broonzy himself claimed to be born in 1893, another source claims that Broonzy had a twin sister named Lannie Broonzy who had proof they were born on June 26, 1898. During this time, it was common for black men to add years to their actual age in order to get a job or join the military, which may very well have been Broonzy's case as well. Regardless, Broonzy left Mississippi in 1924 and arrived in Chicago , where he met Papa Charlie Jackson , who taught him to play Guitar (Broonzy had previously been a Fiddler ). Broonzy first recorded as a self-accompanied singer in 1929 , and continued to record in that style. Around 1936 , he became one of the first blues singers to use a small instrumental group, including "traps" (drums) and acoustic bass as well as one or more melody instruments (horns and/or Harmonica ). These discs were usually issued as Big Bill and his Chicago Five. At that time, Broonzy was recording for the American Record Corporation on their line of less expensive labels ( Melotone , Perfect Records , et al). In 1939 , ARC was acquired by CBS , and Broonzy then appeared on Vocalion (later Okeh ) and, after 1945 , on Columbia Records . One of his best-known songs was written at that time, "Key To the Highway." During much of his life he worked as a Pullman Porter , cook, foundry worker and custodian to suplement his income. During this time, Broonzy usually played South Side clubs, and also toured with 2006 ). Retrieved 26 August 2006. During his folk-blues period, he recorded with Pete Seeger , Sonny Terry , Brownie McGhee , and Leadbelly . A considerable portion of his early ARC/CBS recordings have been reissued in anthology collections by CBS-Sony; as well, other earlier recordings have been collected on blues reissue labels, as have his later European and Chicago recordings of the fifties. Since Broonzy was never a spectacular electric guitarist in the manner of others of his early-fifties contemporaries, he is not as well known as others of that period, and was not extensively covered during the "British Blues Revival" of the sixties; however, he did gain some popularity, with "Key to the Highway" featured on Derek And The Dominos ' '' Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs ''. He was an acclaimed acoustic guitar player, and a major source of inspiration to men like Muddy Waters , Memphis Slim , and Ray Davies . In Q-Magazine(September 2007) it is mentioned that Ron Wood of "the Rolling Stones" has a Bill Broonzy track as his favorite when it comes to guitarmusic. The Track is "Guitar shuffle". "It was one of the first tracks I learnt to play, but even to this day i can't play it exactly right" - That was the words from one of todays greatest guitarists, Ronnie Wood. Big Bill Broonzy recorded over 350 compositions. EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES |
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