Invention and Reinvention of Big Bill Broonzy
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€33.99
A01=Kevin D. Greene
Alan Lomax
Amsterdam
Author_Kevin D. Greene
Big Bill Broonzy
Black Chicago
Black Consciousness
Black identity
Black Metropolis
Blues
Bronzeville
Category=AVLP
Category=AVN
Category=AVP
Category=JBSL
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_music
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Eric Clapton
Folk Music Revival
From Spirituals to Swing
Great Migrations
John Hammond
Lester Melrose
London
Michael van Isveldt
New Negro
Old Town School of Folk Music
Paramount Records
Paris
Robert Johnson
Transnational music
Winn Stracke
WWI
Product details
- ISBN 9781469646497
- Weight: 390g
- Dimensions: 155 x 233mm
- Publication Date: 26 Nov 2018
- Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Over the course of his long career, legendary bluesman William ""Big Bill"" Broonzy (1893@–1958) helped shape the trajectory of the genre, from its roots in the rural Mississippi River Delta, through its rise as a popular genre in the north, to its eventual international acclaim. Along the way, Broonzy adopted an evolving personal and professional identity, tailoring his self-presentation to the demands of the place and time. His remarkable professional fluidity mirrored the range of expectations from his audiences, whose ideas about race, national belonging, identity, and the blues were refracted through Broonzy as if through a prism. Kevin D. Greene argues that Broonzy's popular success testifies to his ability to navigate the cultural expectations of his different audiences. However, this constant reinvention came at a personal and professional cost. Using Broonzy's multifaceted career, Greene situates blues performance at the center of understanding African American self-presentation and racial identity in the first half of the twentieth century.
Through Broonzy's life and times, Greene assesses major themes and events in African American history, including the Great Migration, urbanization, and black expatriate encounters with European culture consumers. Drawing on a range of historical source materials as well as oral histories and personal archives held by Broonzy's son, Greene perceptively interrogates how notions of race, gender, and audience reception continue to shape concepts of folk culture and musical authenticity.
Through Broonzy's life and times, Greene assesses major themes and events in African American history, including the Great Migration, urbanization, and black expatriate encounters with European culture consumers. Drawing on a range of historical source materials as well as oral histories and personal archives held by Broonzy's son, Greene perceptively interrogates how notions of race, gender, and audience reception continue to shape concepts of folk culture and musical authenticity.
Kevin D. Greene is assistant professor of history and director of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi.
