Bruce Bromberg

Last updated

Bruce Bromberg (October 31, 1941 - December 27, 2021) [1] was an American Grammy Award winning [2] producer of blues music.

He was born in Chicago, and raised there and in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1958 he moved with his family to Los Angeles, and began working for various record labels. [2] Since the late 1960s, he has been responsible for producing albums by Lightnin' Hopkins, Phillip Walker, Johnny Shines, Lonesome Sundown, Ted Hawkins, Robert Cray, Joe Louis Walker, Dave Alvin, Chris Thomas King, Johnny Childs and many others, as well as supervising many reissues of archive material. [1] He formed HighTone Records with Larry Sloven in 1983, and achieved success with Cray's albums in particular from the early 1980s onwards. The label was sold in 2008. [2]

Bromberg was announced as an inductee to the Blues Hall of Fame for 2011. [3]

He died on December 27, 2021, after a long illness. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Dixon</span> American blues musician (1915–1992)

William James Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he is perhaps best known as one of the most prolific songwriters of his time. Next to Muddy Waters, Dixon is recognized as the most influential person in shaping the post–World War II sound of the Chicago blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T-Bone Walker</span> American blues musician and singer-songwriter

Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 67 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell Fulson</span> American singer-songwriter

Lowell Fulson was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most important figure in West Coast blues in the 1940s and 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David "Honeyboy" Edwards</span> American blues guitarist and singer (1915–2011)

David "Honeyboy" Edwards was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Checker Records</span> American record label

Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic Sam</span> American Chicago blues musician

Samuel Gene Maghett, known as Magic Sam, was an American Chicago blues musician. He was born in Grenada County, Mississippi, and learned to play the blues from listening to records by Muddy Waters and Little Walter. After moving to Chicago at the age of 19, he was signed by Cobra Records and became well known as a bluesman after the release of his first record, "All Your Love", in 1957. He was known for his distinctive tremolo guitar playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Collins</span> American blues guitarist and singer

Albert Gene Collins, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Man, was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing and his use of altered tunings and a capo. His long association with the Fender Telecaster led to the title "The Master of the Telecaster".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Cray</span> American blues guitarist and singer

Robert William Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards.

<i>Strong Persuader</i> 1986 studio album by Robert Cray

Strong Persuader is the fifth studio album by American blues singer and guitarist Robert Cray. It was recorded by Cray at the Los Angeles studios Sage & Sound and Haywood's with producers Bruce Bromberg and Dennis Walker, before being released on November 17, 1986, by Mercury Records and Hightone Records. Strong Persuader became his mainstream breakthrough and by 1995 it had sold over two million copies. The record was later ranked #42 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 80's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bromberg</span> American singer-songwriter

David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Louis Walker</span> American singer-songwriter

Joe Louis Walker, also known as JLW is an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his use of older material and playing styles.

<i>Bad Influence</i> (Robert Cray album) 1983 studio album by The Robert Cray Band

Bad Influence is the second studio album by the blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Robert Cray.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Bonamassa</span> American musician (born 1977)

Joseph Leonard Bonamassa is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which eleven have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Blues chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bell (singer)</span> American soul singer and songwriter

William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. As a performer, he is probably best known for his debut single, 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water"; 1968's top 10 hit in the UK "Private Number", a duet with Judy Clay; and his only US top 40 hit, 1976's "Tryin' to Love Two", which also hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. Upon the death of Otis Redding, Bell released the well-received memorial song "A Tribute to a King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Iglauer</span> American businessman and record producer

Bruce Iglauer is an American businessman and record producer who founded Alligator Records as an independent record label featuring blues music.

Major Merriweather, better known as Big Maceo Merriweather, was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s.

HighTone Records was an American independent record label based in Oakland, California, United States. HighTone specialized in American roots music including, country, rockabilly, western swing, blues and gospel. The label was created by Larry Sloven and Bruce Bromberg in 1983. The label's first release that year was Bad Influence by bluesman Robert Cray. In 1984, the label released Frankie Lee's debut album, The Ladies and the Babies. Some of the label's releases in the late 1980s featured Joe Louis Walker including Cold is the Night and The Gift.

<i>I Am the Blues</i> 1970 studio album by Willie Dixon

I Am the Blues is the sixth studio Chicago blues album released in 1970 by the well-known bluesman Willie Dixon. It is also the title of Dixon's autobiography, edited by Don Snowden.

Richard L. Shurman is an American record producer, sound engineer, music journalist, music historian, and backing vocalist.

References