Smithsonian Folkways Joins Vinyl Me, Please To Reissue 1962 Classic 'Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs' As Featured Record Of The Month For VMP February Subscribers

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has partnered with vinyl subscription service Vinyl Me, Please to reissue the 1962 Big Bill Broonzy classic ‘Big Bill Broonzy Sings Folk Songs’ this February. The 180-gram vinyl record will be the featured record for the month of February for all Vinyl Me, Please subscribers, along with an exclusive art print and cocktail pairing.

Originally released in 1962, ‘Big Bill Broonzy Sings The Folk Songs’ shows Broonzy lending his unmatched blues vocals and propulsive guitar to classic folk songs like “Backwater Blues” and “Tell Me Who.” The album has been remastered for Vinyl Me, Please by the GRAMMY-award winning Pete Reiniger of Smithsonian Folkways. Listen to a sampler here: http://bit.ly/1PuP449

The songs were recorded in the New York studio of Folkways Records and at a live concert with Pete Seeger in Chicago, at a time in the 1950s when Broonzy was most-revered in Europe. He brought acoustic blues to the ears of notable Brits like Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Ray Davies, and Eric Clapton, who described his experience watching Bill perform as feeling “like I was looking into heaven.” By the time the tracks were released, Broonzy had passed away due to lung cancer. Moses Asch of Folkways Records released the album as a memorial to the blues icon.

This reissue was remastered for vinyl from the original analog master tapes, and features the original album artwork, song lyrics, a 1962 tribute essay by Charles Edward Smith, as well as a new reflection on Broonzy’s lasting influence by Bob Riesman, author of “I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy” (University of Chicago Press, 2011). Watch two videos of the remastering process below:

Tape remastering process: https://youtu.be/pMQM53gfl28 

Review of test pressing: https://youtu.be/gAR6CQhEWcI

TRACK LIST

1. Backwater Blues

2. This Train

3. I Don't Want No Woman (To Try to Be My Boss)

4. Martha

5. Tell Me Who

6. Bill Bailey

7. Alberta

8. Goin' Down This Road

9. Tell Me What Kind of Man Jesus Is

10. John Henry

11. Glory of Love