Washboard Sam stood out among hokum blues performers of his generation through hundreds of sides cut for the late 1930s and 1940s, most often alongside singer and guitarist Big Bill Broonzy. His preeminence among washboard stylists stemmed not merely from instrumental command but equally from his gifts as a composer and the commanding quality of his vocals. In addition to Broonzy, he lent support to an array of other blues figures, among them Bukka White, Memphis Slim, Willie Lacey, and Jazz Gillum.
Born Robert Brown, Sam was the unacknowledged son of Frank Broonzy, the same man who fathered Big Bill Broonzy. Raised on an Arkansas farm, he relocated to Memphis in the opening years of the 1920s with the aim of performing the blues. There he crossed paths with Sleepy John Estes and Hammie Nixon; the three musicians busked on street corners, gathering coins from listeners. By 1932 Sam had settled in Chicago. At first he continued playing for spare change, yet before long he was sharing stages regularly with Big Bill Broonzy. Within a short span he was contributing to Broonzy’s Bluebird sessions and began appearing on recordings by other artists signed to the label, including pianist Memphis Slim, bassist Ransom Knowlin, and several saxophonists.
Sam launched his own recording career in 1935, cutting material for both Bluebird and Vocalion, frequently with Broonzy in the studio band. Through the balance of the decade and into the 1940s he ranked among Chicago’s most commercially successful blues artists, moving large quantities of records and drawing overflow crowds to live engagements. Following World War II his popularity waned as he struggled to adjust to the prevailing electric style. In 1953 he cut one final session for Chess Records and withdrew from music. Early in the 1960s Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim urged him to resume performing in order to ride the blues revival, yet he initially declined. In 1963 he reappeared at Chicago clubs and coffeehouses and even undertook a few European engagements in the first months of 1964. His last recordings were made that same year for the modest local Spivey imprint. Health problems soon curtailed his activities, and by November 1966 heart disease had claimed his life.
