David Bromberg-David Bromberg (1971)

More Discoveries From The Cutout Bin

David Bromberg first came to my attention as a name playing around New York City. The Schafer Music Festival in Central Park was the place to be in the Summer, and 1973 was a brilliant summer of music for me. By the middle of August of that year, I had already witnessed these acts in Central Park:

-Lee Michaels/Terry Reid

-Malo/Quicksilver Messenger Service

-Newport Jazz Festival “Guitar Explosion Larry Coryell/Roy Buchanan/George Benson and more

-Blood Sweat and Tears

-John Sebastian

-Richie Havens/Buddy Rich

-BB King and James Cotton

-America/Jose Feliciano/Leo Kotke

-Elephant’s Memory/Focus

-James Gang; Tim Buckley; Ralph McTell

-Wishbone Ash; Jimmy and Vella Cameron; Joe Walsh and Barnstorm

Tickets were $2.00 or $1.50

Earl Scruggs Revue-Central Park

On the 15th of August 1973, David Bromberg, Doc Watson, and The Earl Scruggs Revue revved the place up with guitars, fiddles, banjos, and more. This was my first of many Bromberg gigs. He would commence the night solo, and by the end of the set, he could have a dozen people on stage playing horns, twin fiddles and more. They were amazing shows.

David

Let’s get to the cut-out bin! Somewhere around 1974, I discovered the David Bromberg Album and tucked it under my arm.

There are only 9 songs on this record, and David’s playing and humour shine through. Last Song For Shelby Jean is a classic acoustic blues number. Followed by the funky blues of Suffer To Sing The Blues you can imagine listeners wondering where this record might take them.

George

Bromberg shows off his finger-picking expertise throughout this brief record. He learned this fingerpicking style from the Rev. Gary Davis.

Rev Gary Davis

There is the quirky Hold Up, which was co-written with George Harrison. The Beatle adds slide guitar on the track. Also on the record are Bob Dylan, Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Randy Scruggs, and more. Here, you had rock and roll royalty along with some big names in folk.

There was no internet back in my youth so you had to discover these albums through friends or the constant shuffling through albums at Record Stores. I miss those days and collecting records….but as a minimalist now, I have no LP’s or CD’s. They all went to good homes.

Vassar

Bromberg released 8 albums in the 70s, and although this may not be his best, it’s a good primer for what was to come. Bromberg continued touring and recording until a year or so ago. He is 80 now; the man needs to rest his fingers!

Below is the Qobuz playlist…and you should leave Spotify and go to Qobuz.

https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/46655892

Please have a listen, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

And below is some old video of David…just to give you an idea of why I saw him many times.

Coming up next in the Cut Out Bin files….Cowboy.