I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy, by Bob Riesman, has earned a place as one of the most definitive blues biographies since it was published in 2011 by University of Chicago Press. To get the full story on Big Bill, music journalist and blues historian Reisman followed a trail from Chicago to Holland to a church in Arkansas and to a meeting with Broonzy’s grandnieces. Reisman reveals how Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley) reinvented himself in name, birthdate and birthplace, along with many other details of his life. The book explores Broonzy’s career as a premier blues artist, influence, mentor, and spokesman in the U.S. and abroad. Broonzy becomes the first artist to be the subject of two books in the Blues Hall of Fame; the 1955 autobiography Big Bill Blues was inducted in 1990.
