小简介
在蓝调大师们中间，BIG BILL BROONZY不像ROBER JOHNSON、MUDDY WATERS、
B.B.KING等人那样尽人皆知，但在蓝调发展史中，他却是不应漏掉的人物，在将
蓝调从它的初级阶段带到电声布鲁斯的一代歌手中，BROONZY无疑是一个“;巨人”;
。
BROONZY原名WILLIAM LEE CONLEY，生于密西西比州的斯卡特（SCOTT），在
阿肯瑟斯州长大。作为十七个孩子中的一个，没人记得清他具体出生在哪一年，
BROONZY自己说是1893年，他姐姐则说是1898年。BROONZY的音乐启蒙也来自于这
个大家庭，他跟一个叔叔学习唱歌，第一个乐器是在家中制作的“;烟盒小提琴”;
，他14岁开始登台，有时弹吉他，有时弹曼陀铃。在他过继给一个富足的白人家
庭之后，他梦想能像他们的孩子那样受教育，甚至上大学，但随年龄的增长，他
发现自己其实一直做着看门人之类的工作，“;在1953年以前，我从没机会真正专
注于音乐。”;BROONZY说。
1918-1919年，BROONZY在军队服役。1920年，他来到芝加哥，在铸造厂做工
，并从PAPA CHARLIE JECKSON等吉他手那儿学了不少东西。当时很多乐师，入TE
MPA RED、GEORGI TOM、JIMMY YANCER等经常在一起演奏、切磋。他们不仅在生意
兴隆的俱乐部，也在“;房租聚会”;（“;HOUSE-RENT”;PARTY，主办者通过聘请乐师
，在家中办聚会，通过卖酒水、收门票等收入来支付房租）中演出。很快，BROO
NZY的天才得以展现，成为三十年代继LEROY之后的圈中领袖。他创作的才能豪不
逊色于吉他技艺，在他的艺术生涯中共创作了三百多首作品。
1939年，JOHN HAMMOND要在卡奈基音乐厅举办“;SPIRITUALS TO SWING”;音乐会，
他先激情了ROBERT JOHNSON，但JOHNSON已于一年前被杀，HAMMOND非常失望，于
是BROONZY便被请来代替，其实当时BROONZY已有很多录音，甚至比JOHNSON更有名
。但JOHN坚持让他带上他最“;家乡”;的BLUES。BROONZY没有让人失望，看了演出
的人都说他是“;最棒的，让人无法忘怀”;。但他与JOHNSON是有很大区别的，与之
相比，BROONZY的演奏和演唱偏于松弛与快乐，节奏主要是RAGTIME与SWING式的，
技巧更加扎实，SOLO更加华丽复杂。
40年代，BROONZY继续在芝加哥及附近演出，并开始使用早期的电吉他，这在
当时是个时髦事。没经过多长时间，原声吉他便走向了事实上的灭绝。
1951年，BROONZY应激到法国参加爵士节的演出，他没有演奏四十年代的芝加哥B
LUES，而是表演了一把箱琴的“;FOLK BLUES”;，欧洲人把他视为爵士歌手中濒危
的珍惜物种，在英国，BROONZY的演出有持久的影响，很多摇滚与民谣吉他手如M
ARTIN CARTH、KEITH RITHARD等都认为BROONZY对他们有过很大影响，众所周知的
是，ERIC在他1992年的UNPLUGGED演唱会中几乎不加改变的演奏了BROONZY的歌曲
“;HEY，HEY”;
BROONZY在欧洲近乎冒险般的旅行留下了很多出色的录音，比如1952在巴黎录
制的“;BABY BLEASE DON`T GO”;等。英国青年对BLUES的热情，一定程度上也与B
ROONZY及他的崇拜者们的努力有关。后来，英国乐队把这一热情传染给美国青年
，便发生了60年代的蓝调复兴（BLUES REVIVAL）可惜的是，BROONZY并没有等到
这一天，1958年，咽喉癌夺走了他的生命。
应补充的是，我们通常听说的都市布鲁斯是指四五十年代以混水（MUDDY WA
TERS）和啸狼（HOWLING WOLF）等为代表的，有特定的强劲节奏、演唱、演奏更
夸张的 电声布鲁斯。我们今天谈到的LEROY CARR、BIG BILL BROONZY等人，虽然
早在二、三十年代就组建了乐队，但他们更多是旧风格的延续，是既将到来的都
市布鲁斯的美丽前奏。
In terms of his musical skill, the sheer size of his repertoire, the length and variety of his career and his influence on contemporaries and musicians who would follow, Big Bill Broonzy is among a select few of the most important figures in recorded blues history. Among his hundreds of titles are standards like All by Myself and Key to the Highway. In this country he was instrumental in the growth of the Chicago Blues sound, and his travels abroad rank him as one of the leading blues ambassadors.
Literally born on the banks of the Mississippi, he was one of a family of 17 who learned to fiddle on a homemade instrument. Taught by his uncle, he was performing by age ten at social functions and in church. After brief stints on the pulpit and in the Army, he moved to Chicago where he switched his attention from violin to guitar, playing with elders like Papa Charlie Jackson. Broonzy began his recording career with Paramount in 1927. In the early 30s he waxed some brilliant blues and hokum and worked Chicago and the road with great players like pianist Black Bob, guitarist Will Weldon and Memphis Minnie.
During the Depression years Big Bill Broonzy continued full steam ahead, doing some acrobatic label-hopping (Paramount to Bluebird to Columbia to Okeh!). In addition to solo efforts, he contributed his muscular guitar licks to recordings by Bumble Bee Slim, John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson and others who were forging a powerful new Chicago sound.
In 1938, Broonzy was at Carnegie Hall (ostensibly filling in for the fallen Robert Johnson) for John Hammonds revolutionary Sprirtuals to Swing Series. The following year he appeared with Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong in George Seldess film production Swingin the Dream. After his initial brush with the East Coast cognoscenti, however, Broonzy spent a good part of the early 40s barnstorming the South with Lil Greens road show or kicking back in Chicago with Memphis Slim.
He continued alternating stints in Chicago and New York with coast-to-coast road work until 1951 when live performances and recording dates overseas earned him considerable notoriety in Europe and led to worldwide touring. Back in the States he recorded for Chess, Columbia and Folkways, working with a spectrum of artists from Blind John Davis to Pete Seeger. In 1955, Big Bill Blues, his life as told to Danish writer Yannick Bruynoghe, was published.
In 1957, after one more British tour, the pace began to catch up with Broonzy. He spent the last year of his life in and out of hospitals and succumbed to cancer in 1958. He survives though; not only in his music, but in the remembrances of people who knew him...from Muddy Waters to Studs Terkel. A gentle giant they say...tough enough to survive the blues world...but not so tough he wouldnt give a struggling young musician the shirt off his back. His music, of course, is absolutely basic to the blues experience, and was celebrated in 1999 with the release of the three-disc retrospective The Bill Broonzy Story.
在蓝调大师们中间，BIG BILL BROONZY不像ROBER JOHNSON、MUDDY WATERS、
B.B.KING等人那样尽人皆知，但在蓝调发展史中，他却是不应漏掉的人物，在将
蓝调从它的初级阶段带到电声布鲁斯的一代歌手中，BROONZY无疑是一个“;巨人”;
。
BROONZY原名WILLIAM LEE CONLEY，生于密西西比州的斯卡特（SCOTT），在
阿肯瑟斯州长大。作为十七个孩子中的一个，没人记得清他具体出生在哪一年，
BROONZY自己说是1893年，他姐姐则说是1898年。BROONZY的音乐启蒙也来自于这
个大家庭，他跟一个叔叔学习唱歌，第一个乐器是在家中制作的“;烟盒小提琴”;
，他14岁开始登台，有时弹吉他，有时弹曼陀铃。在他过继给一个富足的白人家
庭之后，他梦想能像他们的孩子那样受教育，甚至上大学，但随年龄的增长，他
发现自己其实一直做着看门人之类的工作，“;在1953年以前，我从没机会真正专
注于音乐。”;BROONZY说。
1918-1919年，BROONZY在军队服役。1920年，他来到芝加哥，在铸造厂做工
，并从PAPA CHARLIE JECKSON等吉他手那儿学了不少东西。当时很多乐师，入TE
MPA RED、GEORGI TOM、JIMMY YANCER等经常在一起演奏、切磋。他们不仅在生意
兴隆的俱乐部，也在“;房租聚会”;（“;HOUSE-RENT”;PARTY，主办者通过聘请乐师
，在家中办聚会，通过卖酒水、收门票等收入来支付房租）中演出。很快，BROO
NZY的天才得以展现，成为三十年代继LEROY之后的圈中领袖。他创作的才能豪不
逊色于吉他技艺，在他的艺术生涯中共创作了三百多首作品。
1939年，JOHN HAMMOND要在卡奈基音乐厅举办“;SPIRITUALS TO SWING”;音乐会，
他先激情了ROBERT JOHNSON，但JOHNSON已于一年前被杀，HAMMOND非常失望，于
是BROONZY便被请来代替，其实当时BROONZY已有很多录音，甚至比JOHNSON更有名
。但JOHN坚持让他带上他最“;家乡”;的BLUES。BROONZY没有让人失望，看了演出
的人都说他是“;最棒的，让人无法忘怀”;。但他与JOHNSON是有很大区别的，与之
相比，BROONZY的演奏和演唱偏于松弛与快乐，节奏主要是RAGTIME与SWING式的，
技巧更加扎实，SOLO更加华丽复杂。
40年代，BROONZY继续在芝加哥及附近演出，并开始使用早期的电吉他，这在
当时是个时髦事。没经过多长时间，原声吉他便走向了事实上的灭绝。
1951年，BROONZY应激到法国参加爵士节的演出，他没有演奏四十年代的芝加哥B
LUES，而是表演了一把箱琴的“;FOLK BLUES”;，欧洲人把他视为爵士歌手中濒危
的珍惜物种，在英国，BROONZY的演出有持久的影响，很多摇滚与民谣吉他手如M
ARTIN CARTH、KEITH RITHARD等都认为BROONZY对他们有过很大影响，众所周知的
是，ERIC在他1992年的UNPLUGGED演唱会中几乎不加改变的演奏了BROONZY的歌曲
“;HEY，HEY”;
BROONZY在欧洲近乎冒险般的旅行留下了很多出色的录音，比如1952在巴黎录
制的“;BABY BLEASE DON`T GO”;等。英国青年对BLUES的热情，一定程度上也与B
ROONZY及他的崇拜者们的努力有关。后来，英国乐队把这一热情传染给美国青年
，便发生了60年代的蓝调复兴（BLUES REVIVAL）可惜的是，BROONZY并没有等到
这一天，1958年，咽喉癌夺走了他的生命。
应补充的是，我们通常听说的都市布鲁斯是指四五十年代以混水（MUDDY WA
TERS）和啸狼（HOWLING WOLF）等为代表的，有特定的强劲节奏、演唱、演奏更
夸张的 电声布鲁斯。我们今天谈到的LEROY CARR、BIG BILL BROONZY等人，虽然
早在二、三十年代就组建了乐队，但他们更多是旧风格的延续，是既将到来的都
市布鲁斯的美丽前奏。
In terms of his musical skill, the sheer size of his repertoire, the length and variety of his career and his influence on contemporaries and musicians who would follow, Big Bill Broonzy is among a select few of the most important figures in recorded blues history. Among his hundreds of titles are standards like All by Myself and Key to the Highway. In this country he was instrumental in the growth of the Chicago Blues sound, and his travels abroad rank him as one of the leading blues ambassadors.
Literally born on the banks of the Mississippi, he was one of a family of 17 who learned to fiddle on a homemade instrument. Taught by his uncle, he was performing by age ten at social functions and in church. After brief stints on the pulpit and in the Army, he moved to Chicago where he switched his attention from violin to guitar, playing with elders like Papa Charlie Jackson. Broonzy began his recording career with Paramount in 1927. In the early 30s he waxed some brilliant blues and hokum and worked Chicago and the road with great players like pianist Black Bob, guitarist Will Weldon and Memphis Minnie.
During the Depression years Big Bill Broonzy continued full steam ahead, doing some acrobatic label-hopping (Paramount to Bluebird to Columbia to Okeh!). In addition to solo efforts, he contributed his muscular guitar licks to recordings by Bumble Bee Slim, John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson and others who were forging a powerful new Chicago sound.
In 1938, Broonzy was at Carnegie Hall (ostensibly filling in for the fallen Robert Johnson) for John Hammonds revolutionary Sprirtuals to Swing Series. The following year he appeared with Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong in George Seldess film production Swingin the Dream. After his initial brush with the East Coast cognoscenti, however, Broonzy spent a good part of the early 40s barnstorming the South with Lil Greens road show or kicking back in Chicago with Memphis Slim.
He continued alternating stints in Chicago and New York with coast-to-coast road work until 1951 when live performances and recording dates overseas earned him considerable notoriety in Europe and led to worldwide touring. Back in the States he recorded for Chess, Columbia and Folkways, working with a spectrum of artists from Blind John Davis to Pete Seeger. In 1955, Big Bill Blues, his life as told to Danish writer Yannick Bruynoghe, was published.
In 1957, after one more British tour, the pace began to catch up with Broonzy. He spent the last year of his life in and out of hospitals and succumbed to cancer in 1958. He survives though; not only in his music, but in the remembrances of people who knew him...from Muddy Waters to Studs Terkel. A gentle giant they say...tough enough to survive the blues world...but not so tough he wouldnt give a struggling young musician the shirt off his back. His music, of course, is absolutely basic to the blues experience, and was celebrated in 1999 with the release of the three-disc retrospective The Bill Broonzy Story.
