⬇️ BIG MACEO ⬇️
(Major Merriweather)
DISCOGRAPHY 1946-2011 (21CD)
DISCOGRAPHY 1946-2011 (21CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Newnan, Georgia, 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. Red introduced him to Lester Melrose of RCA Victor and its subsidiary label Bluebird Records, who signed Merriweather to a recording contract.
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". 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. His
most famous song, "Worried Life Blues", is a staple of the blues
repertoire, with artists such as Eric Clapton performing it regularly in
concert. 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".
Merriweather suffered a stroke in 1946. He died of a heart attack on
February 23, 1953, in Chicago and was interred at the Detroit Memorial
Cemetery, in Warren, Michigan.
In 2002, he was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
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ESSENTIAL CLASSICS
Vol. 683 Big Maceo (2CD) @FLAC