A major figure in American blues and folk music, Big Bill Broonzy
(1903–1958) left his Arkansas Delta home after World War I, headed
north, and became the leading Chicago bluesman of the 1930s. His success
came as he fused traditional rural blues with the electrified sound
that was beginning to emerge in Chicago. This, however, was just one
step in his remarkable journey: Big Bill was constantly reinventing
himself, both in reality and in his retellings of it. Bob Riesman’s
groundbreaking biography tells the compelling life story of a lost
figure from the annals of music history.
I Feel So Good
traces Big Bill’s career from his rise as a nationally prominent blues
star, including his historic 1938 appearance at Carnegie Hall, to his
influential role in the post-World War II folk revival, when he sang
about racial injustice alongside Pete Seeger and Studs Terkel. Riesman’s
account brings the reader into the jazz clubs and concert halls of
Europe, as Big Bill's overseas tours in the 1950s ignited the British
blues-rock explosion of the 1960s. Interviews with Eric Clapton, Pete
Townshend, and Ray Davies reveal Broonzy’s profound impact on the
British rockers who would follow him and change the course of popular
music.
Along the way, Riesman details Big Bill’s complicated and
poignant personal saga: he was married three times and became a father
at the very end of his life to a child half a world away. He also brings
to light Big Bill’s final years, when he first lost his voice, then his
life, to cancer, just as his international reputation was reaching its
peak. Featuring many rarely seen photos, I Feel So Good will be the definitive account of Big Bill Broonzy’s life and music.
thanks for big bill book
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