Big Maceo Merriweather

Big Maceo Merriweather
Birth name Major Merriweather
Born (1905-03-31)March 31, 1905
Newnan, Georgia, United States
Died February 23, 1953(1953-02-23) (aged 47)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Chicago blues
Instruments Piano, vocals
Associated acts Tampa Red

Major "Big Maceo" Merriweather (March 31, 1905 – February 23, 1953)[1] was an American blues pianist and singer, active in Chicago in the 1940s.[2]

Career

Born in Newnan, Georgia,[1] he was a self-taught pianist. In the 1920s, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, to begin his music career. He moved to Chicago in 1941, where he made the acquaintance of Tampa Red.[3] Red introduced him to Lester Melrose of Bluebird Records, who signed Merriweather to a recording contract.[4]

His first record was "Worried Life Blues" (1941), which became a blues hit and remained his signature piece. Other classic piano blues recordings followed, such as "Chicago Breakdown", "Texas Stomp", and "Detroit Jump".[4] His piano style was developed from players like Leroy Carr and Roosevelt Sykes and from the boogie-woogie style of Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons. He in turn influenced other musicians, such as Henry Gray, who credited Merriweather with helping him launch his career as a blues pianist.

His style influenced practically every postwar blues pianist of note.[3] His most famous song, "Worried Life Blues", is a staple of the blues repertoire, with artists such as Eric Clapton featuring it regularly in concert.[5] It was in the first batch of songs inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category Classic Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks, alongside "Stormy Monday," 'Sweet Home Chicago," "Dust My Broom," and "Hellhound on My Trail".[6]

Merriweather suffered a stroke in 1946.[3] He died of a heart attack on February 23, 1953, in Chicago and was interred at the Detroit Memorial Cemetery, in Warren, Michigan.[7]

His recordings for Bluebird were released as a double album, Chicago Breakdown, in 1975. They have since been reissued on various labels.[7]

In 2002, he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

On May 3, 2008, the White Lake Blues Festival took place at the Howmet Playhouse Theater, in Whitehall, Michigan. The event was organized by executive producer Steve Salter, of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues, to raise monies to honor Merriweather's unmarked grave with a headstone. The concert was a success, and a headstone was placed in June 2008.

Discography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 270. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  2. ↑ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 91. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  4. 1 2 Archived October 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Cascade Blues Association". Cascadeblues.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "1983 Blues Hall Of Fame Inductees". Blues.org. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
  7. 1 2 "All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2015.

External links

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