Title
Interview with Big Bill Broonzy on the record industry and playing in bands
Other Form of Name
Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002; Broonzy, Big Bill, 1893-1958
Identifier
T1008R02; FRID (Lomax Number) 10930
Creation Date
5-13-1952
City
Paris (France)
Disclaimer
Some of the images and language that appear in the digital collections depict prejudices that are not condoned by the University of Mississippi. This content is being presented as historical documentation to aid in the understanding of both American history and the history of the University of Mississippi. The University Creed speaks to our current deeply held values, and the availability of this content should not be taken as an endorsement of previous attitudes or behavior.
Description
Blues singer and guitarist Big Bill Broonzy (1893-1958) was a major figure in Chicago in the 1930s and '40s and brought his music to European audiences in the early 1950s. Alan Lomax, who held Broonzy in high esteem, as did many of his colleagues, spent time with him in Chicago and recorded him at the Decca studios in New York in 1946. In 1952 he and Big Bill met again in Paris, where Bill recorded two hours of songs and talk on numerous subjects, from race and pride to black culture in America. Born in Scott County, Mississippi, on the banks of the Mississippi River, William Lee Conley Broonzy learned the violin on a homemade instrument and was playing for social functions by the age of ten. He was briefly a travelling preacher and did a stint in the Army, after which he moved to Chicago and began playing guitar. His recording career, begun with Paramount in 1927, spanned three full decades, taking him from the heart of the Chicago blues scene to the folk revival of the 1950s. He died of throat cancer in 1958.
Subject Headings (Library of Congress)
Sound recording industry;Blues (Music); Blues musicians
Relational Format
audio recording
Extent
09:06
Original Collection
Alan Lomax Recordings
Rights
Media files in this collection are owned by the Association for Cultural Equity and made available solely for personal use. Copy or capture of media files is prohibited. Due to copyright concerns, the recordings in this collection can only be accessed by arrangement with the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Comments
Paris 5/52. Lomax Classification: interview; blues. Lomax Collection Title: Big Bill Broonzy 1952. Recording Note: Big Bill Broonzy speaks with Alan Lomax about the process of recording blues music with producers and other musicians. He explains the notion that people ask for things they do not actually wish to hear. His feeling is that people are more appreciative of a watered-down version of the authentic creation. Blues musicians are made to play as they are told to stay on the meal ticket. [Editor]; Broonzy discusses the complications of the record industry and the constraints it places on the music's authenticity. 'I gotta forget what I know, and try to do what he [the producer] tells me.' Playing with bands adds an extra complication for blues players like Broonzy, who doesn't know about 6ths and 9ths and diminisheds. 'I gotta sing that.' [Editor] Session Note: These recordings of Big Bill Broonzy were made by Alan Lomax in Broonzy's Paris hotel room while Alan was working at the Musee de l'Homme on Columbia Records' World library of folk and primitive music LP series (editor's note).