The call of the Greenwich Village folk scene in the mid-'60s drew David to the downtown clubs and coffeehouses, where he could watch and learn from the best performers, and his sensitive, blues-based approach to guitar-playing earned him jobs playing the Village "basket houses" for tips, the occasional paying gig, and lots of employment as a backing musician for Tom Paxton, Jerry Jeff Walker and Rosalie Sorrels, among others.
He became a first-call, "hired gun" guitarist for recording sessions, playing on hundreds of records by artists including Bob Dylan (New Morning, Self Portrait, Dylan), Link Wray, The Eagles, Ringo Starr, Willie Nelson, and Carly Simon. In the early '90s, David produced an as-yet-unreleased Dylan album, although two tracks have been issued as part of Dylan's "Bootleg Series."
A solo deal with Columbia Records followed, with several songs becoming FM radio staples, and guest musicians including George Harrison and Jerry Garcia. .
Bromberg's range of material, based in the folk and blues idioms, continually expanded with each new album, but despite a string of acclaimed albums on the Fantasy label, Bromberg found himself exhausted by the logistics of the music business. Though he still toured periodically, the recordings slowed to a trickle and then stopped.
Bromberg emerged from a recording hiatus of 17 years in 2007 (Try Me One More Time) that thrilled fans and critics alike and was rewarded with a Grammy nomination.
His follow-up album, Use Me, due on July 12, takes a different approach, allowing some of his favorite singer-songwriters and musicians to write, produce, and perform on songs with him.
Musicians answering David's call include John Hiatt, Dr. John; Widespread Panic, Levon Helm, Linda Ronstadt and Keb' Mo'
Rather than collating individual instrumental parts literally phoned in to a central location, the recording sessions for Use Me generally took place on each guest artists' home turf - in Woodstock (Levon Helm), New Orleans (Dr. John), Nashville (John Hiatt) and so on, to retain their regional flavors.
Man alive, David Bromberg; I haven't heard that name in ages. I used to work nights in the '70s and would here him on the FM plenty. Have not heard him in years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning him.
Blast from the past, huh Anthony?
ReplyDeleteDavid did stop in Phoenix on his last tour but it was during a peak production time at work.
I should have gone to see him anyway.
Thanks for stopping by,
Larry
This is another one of those artists that I am only familiar with because of the one album on vinyl that I own--Demon In Disguise. That album alone is enough to tell me he is a pretty great artist. I bought it when it first came out and listened to it a multitude of times. Good to hear that he is recording these days. I'm sure the albums are very good.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Lee-
ReplyDeleteIf you're only going to own one, that's a good one!
I wore out my vinyl and have made a dent in the CD copy!
Worth it for his rendition of "Bojangles" and "Sharon" alone!
Larry