The Invention and Reinvention of Big Bill Broonzy

In addition to offering a well-informed and supported biography and historization of Broonzy's musical career, the author examines the musical and extra-musical elements that shaped the blues as a distinct and identifiable genre. Greene explores the blues as a construction of industry executives, academics, musicians, critics, and audiences. By looking at the complete musician and the fluidity of his career, Greene introduces readers to multiple Big Bill Broonzys shaped by audiences, places, and institutions, as well as to the influence Broonzy had on the many audiences and social spaces that he came into contact with.