This is the latest from The Bluesmobile’s C.C. Rider, who spends her life venerating the founding fathers of the blues. She’s walked the crooked highways of this singing country to resurrect the voices of the past. With the dirt of the Delta on her hands, she sleeps in the shadow of the giants on whose shoulders popular music now stands.
David Bromberg
(b. September 19, 1945)
As a college student in the 1960’s, a young guitarist named David Bromberg found himself smack dab in the middle of the folk blues revival. And ended up living a life all the rest of us blues fans could only dream of. Bromberg performed with Muddy Waters. Was a close friend of Mississippi John Hurt. And learned how to pick a mean guitar from the best of ‘em—master picker and blues legend Reverend Gary Davis.
“When I first met Reverend Davis it was in a little coffeehouse in the Village called Dragon’s Den and I asked him if he’d give me lessons after his set, and I was astounded that he said ‘Yes, five dollars, bring the money honey.’ So for awhile I was paying him five dollars a lesson, then he moved out to Queens, and at one point he asked me if instead of paying him I’d lead him around and I was more than happy to do that. I remember taking him to a church one time, and a gorgeous young woman who was one of his parishioners came up to us and started talking to him. And the Reverend said ‘Now I’m gonna have to go visit her Saturday.’ I said ‘I’ll take you over Reverend,’ and he said ‘No I’ll go by myself.’ I said ‘Well Reverend you need somebody to take you,’ he said ‘No I’ll go by myself.’ I said ‘Reverend, I wanted to introduce my girlfriend to you but now I don’t know.’ He said ‘Oh you can bring her, you can bring her.’ I said ‘Yeah but I wanna bring her back too.’ He said ‘You can bring her home too but she won’t be satisfied.’” – David Bromberg
