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I find hard to say whether one blues musician was "greater" than another, but I must say that I've been absolutely blown away by Big Bill's guitar playing, singing and songwriting. I recently bought a budget price Big Bill Broonzy CD entitled Key to the Highway.

On the opening track, "How you want it done?", Big Bill plays vibrant acoustic lead guitar that wouldn't be out of place on a good rockabilly song. On the second track, "Bull Cow Blues", he's playing fluid fingerpicking style acoustic blues guitar. By the third track, "Long Tall Mama", his guitar work has broken out into some stunning ragtime picking with some witty false stops, great string bends and some truly impressive "chord glissandos" where he slips bar chords up and down a semi-tone.

On some of the other tracks ("Big Bill Blues" for example) he's accompanied by a piano player (or is that him playing? the sleeve notes don't say) and suddenly his singing reminds me of Fats Waller at his ebullient best.

He's a fantastically versatile musician, and his songs cover a good range too, from slyly humorous innuendo to out and out lament.

So, maybe there were better all-round performers, but I'd be hard put to think of one or to come up with another musician from the period whose music I enjoy and admire so much.

Rusty Red