|
![]() |
SONNY TERRY BROWNIE McGHEE
|
Brownie McGhee was born Walter Brown McGhee in Knoxville, Tennessee in
1915. His family were all very musical and his father was a regular member
of several local string bands. He was also influenced by his mother, who was
particularly fond of the music of Bessie Smith
and Lonnie Johnson. His fathers older
brother was also a member of string bands and he gave a young Brownie his
first lessons in the blues. Brownie McGhee was barely a teenager when he
contracted poliomyelitis and he was confined to
On his third recording session, for Okeh, Brownie played with Sonny Terry and their long-standing partnership, which would last for over thirty years, was formed. They moved to New York in 1942 where they became an important part of the folk scene there, playing with legends Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Leadbelly. Eventually McGhee opened his own blues school in Harlem, where he taught blues guitar. Both Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee continued to record solo as well as together and both appeared in theatre productions. The folk boom of the early 1960's increased their popularity them a whole new audience. They recorded extensively for a variety of labels including Folkways and Fantasy and toured extensively in the USA, Canada and Europe, becoming regular top liners at folk festivals and appearing on television. Their partnership finally ended, reportedly acrimoniously, in the mid 1970's and they went their separate ways. Sonny Terry continued to play and he also published a book, The Harp Styles of Sonny Terry, in 1975. In 1984 he recorded an album with Johnny Winter for Alligator Records called Whoopin'. McGhee also carried on performing but his schedule became much reduced. Sonny Terry died in 1986 in New York and by this time McGhee had virtually retired. He made a final appearance at the Chicago Blues Festival before his death in Oakland, California in 1996.
|