Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903 – August 14, 1958), later known as William Lee Broonzy, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he performed country music for African-American audiences. In the 1930s and 1940s, he changed his style to a more urban blues sound that appealed to working-class Black people. In the 1950s, he returned to his traditional folk and blues roots, becoming a key figure in the American folk music revival and gaining international recognition. His long and varied career marks him as one of the most important people in the development of blues music in the 20th century.

Broonzy created over 300 songs, including versions of traditional folk songs and original blues songs. As a blues composer, he was unique in writing songs that reflected his own experiences of moving from rural to urban life.

Life and career

Reportedly born Lee Conley Bradley, he was one of 17 children born to Frank Broonzy (Bradley) and Mittie Belcher. The year and place of his birth are disputed. Broonzy claimed to have been born in Scott, Mississippi, but research by blues historian Robert Reisman suggests he may have been born in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Broonzy said he was born in 1893, which is confirmed by a February 1957 travel manifest (UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960) that lists his name as William L Broonzy, age 63, and birthdate as June 26, 1893 (Official Number 9511/10). Many sources report this year, but family records found after his death suggest the year may have been 1903.

Soon after his birth, the family moved to Lake Dick, Arkansas, near Pine Bluff, where Broonzy spent his youth. He began playing music at an early age. At 10, he made a fiddle from a cigar box and learned spirituals and folk songs from his uncle, Jerry Belcher. He and a friend, Louis Carter, who played a homemade guitar, performed at social and church events. These performances included "two-way" picnics where whites and blacks danced at the same event but on separate stages.

If he was born in 1898, sources suggest he married and worked as a sharecropper in 1915. He had stopped playing the fiddle and became a preacher. There is a story that he was offered $50 and a new violin to play for four days at a local venue. Before he could respond, his wife took the money and spent it, so he had to play.

It was previously stated that in 1916, a drought destroyed his crop and stock, and he worked locally until being drafted into the Army in 1917. He served two years in Europe during World War I and left Pine Bluff for Little Rock in 1919. However, biographer Bob Riesman, after reviewing family records, census data, and draft cards, concluded Broonzy was only 14 in 1917 and never served in the Army during World War I. In 1920, Broonzy moved to Chicago in search of opportunity.

After arriving in Chicago, Broonzy switched from fiddle to guitar. He learned to play the guitar from Papa Charlie Jackson, a veteran performer who recorded for Paramount Records in 1924. In the 1920s, Broonzy worked odd jobs like Pullman porter, cook, foundry worker, and custodian to support himself, but his main interest was music. He played regularly at rent parties and social gatherings, improving his guitar skills. During this time, he wrote one of his signature songs, a solo guitar piece called "Saturday Night Rub."

Because of his connection to Jackson, Broonzy got an audition with Paramount Records executive J. Mayo Williams. His first test recordings, made with his friend John Thomas on vocals, were rejected, but Broonzy persisted. His second attempt 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. Although the recording was not well received, Paramount kept Broonzy as a talent. More records by Broonzy and Thomas were released, but sales were poor. Reviewers called his style immature and derivative.

In 1930, Paramount used Broonzy's full name on a recording, "Station Blues," though it was misspelled as "Big Bill Broomsley." Record sales remained poor, and Broonzy worked at a grocery store. He was later picked up by Lester Melrose, who produced acts for labels like Champion Records and Gennett Records. Broonzy, Thomas "Georgia Tom" Dorsey, and Mozelle Alderson recorded "Alabama Scratch" for Paramount in 1931. Broonzy also recorded under the name Big Bill Johnson in 1931. In 1932, he traveled to New York City and began recording for the American Record Corporation on cheaper labels like Melotone and Perfect Records. These recordings sold better, and Broonzy became more well-known. Back in Chicago, he played regularly in South Side clubs and toured with Memphis Minnie.

In 1934, Broonzy moved to RCA Victor’s Bluebird Records and recorded with pianist "Black Bob." His music evolved into a stronger R&B sound, and his singing became more confident. In 1937, he worked with pianist Joshua Altheimer, recording and performing with a small group that included drums, double bass, and melody instruments. In 1938, he began recording for Vocalion Records.

Broonzy’s reputation grew. In 1938, he filled in for the recently deceased Robert Johnson at the "From Spirituals to Swing" concert at Carnegie Hall, produced by John H. Hammond. He also performed at a 1939 concert at the same venue. His success led to a small role in Swingin’ the Dream, a jazz adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in New Orleans in 1890, featuring Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan.

Broonzy’s recorded work in the 1930s only partially showed his importance to Chicago blues. His half-brother, Washboard Sam, and friends Jazz Gillum and Tampa Red also recorded for Bluebird. Broonzy was credited as the composer of many of their popular songs. He reportedly played guitar on most of Washboard Sam’s tracks. Because of his label’s exclusive arrangements, Broonzy allowed his name to appear only as a composer on these artists’ records.

In the 1940s, Broonzy expanded his work as he improved his songwriting skills, appealing to both city audiences and those with rural roots. His music covered a wide range of styles, including ragtime, hokum, country blues, urban blues, jazz-influenced songs, folk songs, and spirituals. After World War II, Broonzy recorded songs that helped younger musicians transition to postwar Chicago electric blues. His 1945 recordings of "Where the Blues Began" and "Martha Blues" showed the direction of future blues. One of his best-known songs, "Key to the Highway," appeared during this time. In 1

Style and influence

Broonzy was influenced by many types of music he heard as a child, including folk music, spirituals, work songs, ragtime, hokum, and country blues. He also learned from other musicians of his time, such as Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Blake, Son House, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Broonzy combined these influences to create his own unique style of blues, which helped to create the postwar Chicago blues style later made famous by artists like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon.

Although Broonzy was one of the first musicians to use electric instruments in the Chicago blues style as early as 1942, white audiences in the 1950s preferred to hear him perform older songs with only his acoustic guitar. They believed this version of his music was more authentic. Broonzy also wrote a song called "Black, Brown and White," which described the discrimination faced by Black Americans.

This song has been used worldwide to teach about racism. However, in the late 1990s, its use in an antiracism program at a school in Greater Manchester, England, caused problems. Students at the school began teasing the only Black student there by repeating 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.” News reports said the situation became so serious that the student’s mother removed him from the school.

Many of Broonzy’s early recordings for ARC/CBS have been reissued in collections by CBS-Sony and other companies. His earlier music, including recordings from Europe and Chicago in the 1950s, has also been released by blues-focused record labels. The Smithsonian’s Folkways Records has released several albums featuring Broonzy. In 1980, he was honored in the first class of the Blues Hall of Fame along with 20 other great blues musicians. In 2007, he was also honored in the first class of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame, joining other musical legends such as Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Gene Autry, and Lawrence Welk.

As an acoustic guitar player, Broonzy inspired many musicians, including Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, Ray Davies, John Renbourn, Rory Gallagher, and Steve Howe. In 2007, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones called Broonzy’s track “Guitar Shuffle” his favorite guitar music. He said, “It was one of the first tracks I learned to play, but even today I can’t play it exactly right.” Eric Clapton also said Broonzy was a major inspiration, adding that Broonzy “became like a role model for me, in terms of how to play the acoustic guitar.”

Clapton included Broonzy’s song “Hey Hey” on his album Unplugged. The Derek and the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs includes their version of Broonzy’s song “Key to the Highway.” Tom Jones said Broonzy influenced him greatly and described his first experience hearing Broonzy’s music as saying, “Fuck, what is that? Who is that?” Another musician, Jerry Garcia, was inspired by Broonzy after hearing his blues playing. Garcia traded an accordion he received on his 15th birthday for an electric guitar.

In 2009, during the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama, civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery used a line from Broonzy’s song “Black, Brown and White Blues” in his benediction.

In 2007, an hour-long interview with Broonzy, recorded on September 13, 1955, by Studs Terkel, was made available online. The interview, produced in collaboration with the WFMT network, the Chicago History Museum, and the Library of Congress, includes Broonzy’s reflections on his life and the blues tradition, a performance of his famous song “Alberta,” and performances of “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” and other classic songs.

Discography

From 1927 to 1942, Big Bill Broonzy recorded 224 songs, making him the second most active blues artist during that time. These recordings were made before the music industry began tracking blues records in trade magazines. When Billboard magazine started its "race music" charts in October 1942, Broonzy's songs were no longer as popular, and none of his recordings appeared on the charts.

Many of Broonzy's songs were released by more than one record company. Some songs were even released with different names. These versions are marked with a superscript plus sign.

Broonzy also played on recordings by other musicians, including Lil Green, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Washboard Sam, Jazz Gillum, and other artists signed to Bluebird Records.

• Big Bill Broonzy and Washboard Sam (1953)
• Big Bill Broonzy and Roosevelt Sykes (DVD, recorded 1956)
• His Story (Folkways Records, 1957)
• 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)