Song:Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses
Album:California Blues
Though they did perform individually, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee are primarily known as a blues duo especially in the late 50s and into the folk music boom of the 60s. Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses was recorded in 1958. As some folks may be aware, Terry was blind and McGhee suffered from polio as child that left him disabled. They first met in 1939 when McGhee was working with blues pioneer Blind Boy Fuller. Terry had already recorded and appeared at the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert From Spiritual To Swing. When Fuller died, they formed a duo and worked the folk music circuit. McGhee also recorded as Blind Boy Fuller II and Terry appeared in the Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow. But it was in the late 50s that they started working more consistently as a duo. California Blues is a comp of two albums they recorded for Folkways in 1958. Fantasy Records first released it as a 2LP set in the 70s and you can get it now as a budget CD. Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee were very popular in the 60s and continued to perform as a duo until 1980 despite the fact that they hated each other. They also appeared together in the 1979 film The Jerk. Sonny Terry died on Mar. 11, 1986 at age 74 and Brownie McGhee died on Feb. 16, 1996 at age 80. I think you'll find their chemistry is magical. They may not have liked each other but they sure knew how to make music together. Here's Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee performing Cornbread, Peas & Black Molasses on Blues Masters 1966.
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