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Brownie Mcghee Papers http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8280d2r Online items available Guide to the Brownie McGhee Papers Sean Heyliger African American Museum & Library at Oakland 659 14th Street Oakland, California 94612 Phone: (510) 637-0198 Fax: (510) 637-0204 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/locations/african-american-museum-library-oakland © 2013 African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved. Guide to the Brownie McGhee MS 180 1 Papers Guide to the Brownie McGhee Papers Collection number: MS 180 African American Museum & Library at Oakland Oakland, California Processed by: Sean Heyliger Date Completed: 10/09/2015 Encoded by: Sean Heyliger © 2013 African American Museum & Library at Oakland. All rights reserved. Descriptive Summary Title: Brownie McGhee papers Dates: 1990-1996 Collection number: MS 180 Creator: McGhee, Brownie, 1915-1996. Collector: Twomey, Michael Collection Size: 3 linear feet (4 boxes) Repository: African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.) Oakland, CA 94612 Abstract: The Brownie McGhee Papers consist of audio cassettes, photographs, programs, and VHS videotape documenting the life and musical career of blues musician Brownie McGhee. The collection is arranged into three series: I. Brownie McGhee, II. Blues is Truth Foundation, III. Interviews with Styve Homnick. A majority of the Brownie McGhee series consists of 83 audiocassettes of interviews with Brownie McGhee conducted by Leslie Ann Wright and her partner Mike Twomey in preparation of his autobiography. The interviews document McGhee's musical career including his experiences living with blues musician Lead Belly and performing in New York City in the 1940s, traveling internationally as a blues musician, the West Coast Blues scene in California, and his long career in film and television. The collection offers a detailed first person perspective of a blues-folk musician whose career spanned most of the 20th century. Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English Access No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public. Access Restrictions Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating. Publication Rights Permission to publish from the Brownie McGhee Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum and Library at Oakland. Preferred Citation Brownie McGhee papers , MS 180, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California. Acquisition Information The Brownie McGhee Papers were donated to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland by Beth Twomey on June 23, 2008. Processing Information Processed by Sean Heyliger, October 9, 2015. Biography / Administrative History Blues musician Walter B. "Brownie" McGhee (1915-1996) was born on November 30, 1915 in Knoxville, Tennessee to George Duffield McGhee, a construction worker, and Zella Hennley. He learned to play guitar from his father and started his Guide to the Brownie McGhee MS 180 2 Papers musical career performing at the Solomon Temple Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tennessee and as a member of the Golden Voices Gospel Quartet. After contracting polio as a child, he suffered a walking disability until he underwent surgery funded by the March of Dimes to correct his ailment in 1937. By the late 1930s, he was traveling throughout the South performing as an iterant blues musician at churches, carnivals and briefly as a member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Fellow musician George “Bull City Red” Washington introduced McGhee to J.B. Long, a talent scout for Okeh Records, who arranged his first recording session in Chicago in 1940. He was initially marketed as Blind Boy Fuller No. 2 before teaming up with his long-time musical partner Sonny Terry in 1942 at a civil rights benefit organized by Paul Robeson in Washington D.C. While in Washington D.C., they made a Library of Congress recording for musicologist Alan Lomax. Shortly thereafter, McGhee moved to New York City where he was part of the folk scene living in the communal house of the Almanac Singers and roomed with fellow blues musician Lead Belly. When Terry was cast in the Broadway production of Finian’s Rainbow in 1947, McGhee formed the trio The Three B’s, which eventually added a saxophonist and was re-named the Mighty House Rockers. In 1955, McGhee and Terry were cast in Tennessee Williams’ Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, while continuing to record blues albums together. By the 1960s, McGhee and Terry gained a following as part of the blues-folk revival movement recording albums under the Smithsonian/Folkways, Choice, World Pacific, Bluesville, and Fantasy record labels. They toured both in the United States and in Europe making rounds on the folk and music festival circuits throughout the 1960s. They ended their musical collaboration in the 1970s, but McGhee continued to perform and appeared in a number of film and television roles, including The Jerk (1979), Angel Heart (1987), and episodes of Family Ties and Matlock. He performed and continued to record music through the 1990s until his death in 1996 in Oakland, California. Scope and Content of Collection The Brownie McGhee Papers consist of audio cassettes, photographs, programs, and VHS videotape documenting the life and musical career of blues musician Brownie McGhee. The collection is arranged into three series: I. Brownie McGhee, II. Blues is Truth Foundation, III. Interviews with Styve Homnick. A majority of the Brownie McGhee series consists of 83 audiocassettes of interviews with Brownie McGhee conducted by Leslie Ann Wright and her partner Mike Twomey in preparation of his autobiography. The interviews document McGhee's musical career including his experiences living with blues musician Lead Belly and performing in New York City in the 1940s, traveling internationally as a blues musician, the West Coast Blues scene in California, and his long career in film and television. The collection offers a detailed first person perspective of a blues-folk musician whose career spanned most of the 20th century. Also included in the collection is a funeral program and recording of Brownie McGhee's memorial service, an audio recording of a birthday celebration held for him at Yoshi's, photographs and publicity stills, and a video tribute to Brownie McGhee following his death. The Blues is Truth series includes a brochure and five audio cassettes from the Blues is Truth Foundation meetings. The interviews of Styve Homnick consists of three cassette tapes of interviews with drummer Styve Homnick conducted in preparation of Brownie McGhee's autobiography. Arrangement Collection is arranged into three series: I. Brownie McGhee II. Blues is Truth Foundation III. Interviews with Styve Homnick Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog. McGhee, Brownie, 1915-1996. African American musicians. Blues musicians--United States--Biography. Blues musicians--California--Oakland--Interviews. Blues (Music)--California--Oakland--History. Brownie McGhee Physical Description: 3 boxes Series Scope and Content Summary Cassette tapes of interviews conducted with Brownie McGhee between 1990-1995, funeral program, recordings of musical performances, photographs and a tribute to Brownie McGhee. Arrangement Arranged by format and chronologically thereafter. Guide to the Brownie McGhee MS 180 3 Papers Brownie McGhee Interview tapes Interview tapes Physical Description: 83 cassette tapes Box 1 Tape 001 1990-01-01 https://archive.org/details/caolaam_000051 Physical Description: Run Time: 24 (min): 21 (s) Description Side A description: Silence [00:00]; Les Paul and Mary Ford [00:07]; First time in Chicago [02:36]; Father as a songwriter and musician [03:00]; Father leaves for work [04:02]; Brownie goes to Kingsport, Tennessee and begins selling liquor [05:20]; Recuperation after polio operation [05:50]; Father shoots wife [06:01]; Father released from prison and return home [07:50]; Learns to play father's guitar in hospital [08:20]; Aunt prohibition against stringed instruments, believes they are the "devil's music" [09:10]; Secretly making his own banjo [10:05] Side B description: Silence [00:00]; Love of music from mother [00:29]; Dealing with handicap as a child [01:07]; Learning hobbies from mother [01:40]; Learning to play guitar, 1936 [02:23]; Father fighting with women [02:58]; Return to Kingsport, Tennessee [03:34]; Mother's affair [04:25]; Mother beats father with brick [04:55]; Father's life [06:00]; Discharge from hospital, meeting his father's girlfriend Mattie [07:15]; Hustling and playing music, 1938 [09:44]; Breakup with Mattie [10:42]; Playing music and selling liquor [13:00] Guide to the Brownie McGhee MS 180 4 Papers Brownie McGhee Interview tapes Box 1 Tape 002 1991-12-07 https://archive.org/details/caolaam_000052 Physical Description: Run Time: 62 (min): 00 (s) Description Side A description: Silence [00:00]; Living with the Almanac Singers in New York City [00:05]; Josh White [01:10]; Pete Seeger learning to play banjo [02:10]; Meeting Lead Belly in New York City and Washington D.C. [03:32]; Concert with Paul Robeson and recording at the Library of Congress [04:00]; Partnership with Sonny Terry [04:20]; Conversion with Lead Belly about being called a "nigger" [07:35]; Performing at Paul Robeson concert [08:10]; Asked to meet Josh White in New York City [09:10]; Return to Kingsport, Tennessee, confusion with train ticket [10:00]; Arrival in New York City, cheated by taxi driver [13:30]; Living with Almanac Singers, food [14:40]; Millard Lampell [16:09]; Lead Belly's address [17:00]; Food living with the Almanac Singers [17:18]; Moving in with Lead Belly at 604 E. 9th St., living with Lead Belly, 1941-1942 [17:52]; Performing with the Almanac Singers [20:35]; Woody Guthrie in trouble for saying "nigger" on radio [22:00]; Never see Lead Belly drink alcohol [22:46]; Playing music and drinking at Woody Guthrie's apartment at 10 E.
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