Big Bill Broonzy
Big Bill Broonzy carried the blues out of the country and into the city, smoothing rough Delta phrasing into something suave enough for a Chicago nightclub while never losing the grit underneath. He was a mentor to just about everyone who passed through the city's blues scene in the '30s and '40s, effectively running an unofficial finishing school for the genre's next generation.
the sound in question
1941
Key to the HighwayBig Bill Broonzy
we haven’t charted Big Bill Broonzy yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.