Welcome to the Deep Dive, where we take a stack
of source material, sift through the footnotes
of history, and really try to pull out the crucial,
unforgettable insights. That's the goal. And
today we are deep diving into an artist who almost
defies category in music, David Bromberg. Yeah,
defining Bromberg. It's like trying to catch
smoke, isn't it? I mean, in a music world that
really rewards specialization. You know, the
blues guitarist, the folk singer, the rock drummer.
Right. Stick to your lane. Exactly. Bromberg
is this. Crucial, versatile, and just profoundly
eclectic force in American music. He spans everything
from the 60s folk boom right up to today, moving
between genres like it's nothing. So our mission
today, for you listening, is to get past that
sort of surface -level Wikipedia entry and really
figure out how one guy became the ultimate musical
polymath. A tall order, but a good one. We need
to understand the architecture. How did he master
so many instruments? How did he blend genres
so seamlessly? Mentor actual rock legends. and
become Bob Dylan's preferred sideman. And do
it all with that unique kind of quirky, humorous
voice. It's a lot to unpack. It really is. So
maybe start with the tools, the instruments.
Okay, yeah. To even begin answering that, you
have to grasp the sheer scope of his technical
skill. When we say multi -instrumentalist, the
sources are super clear. Bromberg's core skill
set includes vocals, guitar, fiddle, dobro, mandolin
and pedal steel guitar. That's not just dabbling.
That's a serious collection of skills. It's a
commitment to several really specialized, difficult
disciplines. Each one of those could be a lifetime
study. It wasn't just playing like folk music
on all of them, right? Yeah, not at all. He was
a key player in bluegrass rock, blues rock, folk
rock, jazz rock, country rock, and just plain
old rock and roll. Yeah. To operate across all
those fusion genres at the same time. I mean,
think about it. That's like being fluent in seven
different musical languages. Yeah, that's a great
way to put it. And what really stands out in
the sources, what defines that David Bromberg
aesthetic, are two key things. First, yeah, the
quirky, humorous lyrics. He could be witty, observational.
Sometimes a bit sideways. Okay. But second, and
this is the technical insight we really need
to focus on, is his almost unheard of ability
as a guitarist to play rhythm and lead guitar
simultaneously. Simultaneously. How does that
even work? It's a specific technique, very complex.
It's a skill very few guitarists in any genre
really can pull off with his level of independence
and, frankly, speed. Okay. That's definitely
something we need to dig into. Let's unpack this
versatility then. Where did it all start? The
lineage, the training. Right. The foundation.
So David Bromberg, born 1945, Philadelphia. Yeah.
Raised in Tarrytown, New York. And his background,
it seems, valued social and intellectual stuff.
That's right. And there's a significant family
connection that's kind of unexpected. He's the
grandson of Brooke Turney. Saladeck, the labor
leader. And politician. The very same. A prominent
figure. So while Bromberg became this master
musician, he came from a family deeply rooted
in... intense community engagement, public life.
You can sometimes hear echoes of that maybe in
the social commentary woven into his humor later
on. Interesting connection. So then the 60s hit.
He's at Columbia College, Columbia University.
Big time for change. Huge time. And while, yeah,
he was getting a formal education, his time there
became absolutely pivotal for a completely different
reason. Musical apprenticeship. OK, so this is
where the guitar magic starts. This is the absolute
foundation. This is where we start to answer
that question of how he learned to play rhythm
and lead at the same time. While he was at Columbia,
he started training with the legendary blues
and folk figure Reverend Gary Davis. The Reverend
Gary Davis. Wow. Yeah. And Davis wasn't just
a performer. He was a hugely influential teacher.
A master of that complex Piedmont finger -picking
style. We keep mentioning this technique, Piedmont
style. For the listeners who might not know,
why is that connection, that style, so foundational?
What does it actually let you do? Okay, so it's
basically everything for his versatility. The
Piedmont style demands phenomenal hand independence.
Imagine this. Your thumb is playing a steady,
driving bass line, sometimes syncopated, sometimes
straight, acting like the rhythm section. Like
a built -in bass player. Exactly. Holding down
the groove. Meanwhile, your other fingers are
flying over the strings, picking out the melody,
adding fills, playing lead lines, all at the
same time. So the thumb is the rhythm section,
the finger is the soloist, and the harmony. All
on one guitar. Precisely. It lets a single guitarist
sound like two, maybe even three musicians playing
at once. It's incredibly complex but powerful.
Okay, I can see how mastering that would make
you adaptable. Totally. It meant Bromberg could
handle virtually any American folk or blues style
thrown at him. And crucially, it meant he was
incredibly self -sufficient as a solo act. But,
just as importantly, it made him adaptable enough
to be the ultimate chameleon accompanist. The
perfect side man. Which is exactly how his early
career really took off. By the mid -60s, that
mastery gets him noticed in the really competitive
Greenwich Village folk scene. He's working solo,
but also, critically, as that highly sought -after
session guy, the accompanist everyone wanted.
building that reputation yeah and that technical
skill that piedmont foundation it just laid the
groundwork for his rise as well the ultimate
side man his reputation grew fast because he
didn't just play one kind of guitar well he played
all the key instruments exactly for that whole
burgeoning americana folk rock country rock scene
think about that list again acoustic guitar electric
guitar fiddle pedal steel dobro that's a studio
owner's dream list for one musician Totally.
It meant he could walk into almost any session,
country rock, blues, pure folk, whatever, and
provide that specific sound, that specialized
instrument texture that lifts the whole track.
And that utility, that versatility, it led him
straight to one of the biggest names imaginable.
Bob Dylan. The Dylan connection is huge, especially
because it happened during a really critical
and frankly often turbulent phase of Dylan's
career. Bromberg played on two of Dylan's 1970
albums, Self -Portrait and New Morning. Self
-Portrait. That was the one that got really mixed
reviews, wasn't it? Very different. Yeah, notoriously
experimental, often criticized for moving away
from Dylan's acoustic roots. Covers, strange
production. Okay, so analyze this for us. Why
was Bromberg supposedly one of Dylan's preferred
musicians during this particular maybe difficult
time? Well... I think it speaks volumes about
Bromberg's temperament and his sheer speed, his
efficiency. Dylan is famously selective, right?
And he was working fast on these albums, exploring,
shifting, sometimes kind of chaotic, sonic ideas.
Notoriously impatient in the studio, people say.
Right. And Bromberg, probably because of that
intense training with Reverend Gary Davis, he
was this low ego, high utility player. He could
instantly grasp what Dylan was going for, whether
it was a specific fiddle part, a blues riff,
a gentle acoustic texture, and just nail it,
often on the first take. No fuss, just gets it
done. Exactly. That reliability, that instant
adaptability. It made him indispensable to an
artist like Dylan, who really valued intuition
and speed over endless discussion. Okay. That
makes sense. And that reliability, that reputation,
it set the stage for a massive turning point
in 1970, right? The Isle of Wight Festival. Oh,
yeah. Isle of Wight was this enormous cultural
moment, hundreds of thousands of people, huge
lineup. He was actually there backing up another
folk singer, Rosalie Sorrells. Okay. So just
doing a side. man gig. Initially, yes. But then,
after her set, the sources describe this pretty
extraordinary thing happening. Bromberg gets
pushed out, or maybe volunteers. It's a bit hazy
to do an impromptu solo set. Whoa. Unplanned.
In front of that massive crowd. Totally unplanned
showcase. Just him and his guitar, maybe fiddle
on one of the biggest stages in the world at
that time. A spontaneous display of everything
we've been talking about. So here's Bromberg,
Mr. Reliable Sideman, suddenly thrust into the
solo spotlight. What happened? How did it go?
The success was apparently immediate and overwhelming.
The energy, the technical skill, the personality.
It was so undeniable that it led directly to
him being offered a recording contract with Columbia
Records. Just like that, from an impromptu set.
Pretty much. In one festival weekend, he goes
from being Bob Dylan's valued but maybe background
player to a headline artist with a major label
deal. That's an explosive career shift. That's
incredible. And even before that solo debut album
came out. His session work resume was already
getting pretty packed, wasn't it? People like
Jerry Jeff Walker, Richie Havens. Oh, yeah. He
was already the guy people wanted on their records.
The Isle of Wight just put him on a whole different
trajectory. Okay, so Columbia contract secured.
1972, he releases his self -titled debut, David
Bromberg. And it wasn't just like a straight
folk record, was it? No, not at all. It immediately
cemented that reputation as a cross -genre phenomenon.
It had blues, it had folk, hints of rock. It
was all in there. Yeah, and it had some big names
helping out. Oh yeah, star -studded, right out
of the gate. One of his own compositions, Sammy's
Song, it featured harmonica from his recent boss,
collaborator, and now friend Bob Dylan. Having
Dylan on your debut. That's a pretty good endorsement.
Doesn't hurt. But the really fascinating moment,
maybe the deep cut that kind of changes how you
view his influence, involves George Harrison.
The Beatle. George Harrison. The very same. This
is a key aha moment from the sources we looked
at. The track is called The Hold Up. The whole
disc. OK. Right. So George Harrison actually
co -wrote the song with Bromberg and played on
the track for that 1972 debut album. Co -wrote
with a Beatle for his first album. That's huge.
Massive. And it was a commercially successful
collaboration, too. They issued it as a single,
got a lot of play on U .S. progressive radio
back then. And even much later, a 1998 review
called it perhaps Bromberg's best known work.
So it had lasting impact. OK, so great song,
big collaboration. But you said the influence
goes deeper. Much deeper. Bromberg fundamentally
influenced George Harrison's own playing, his
technique. Wait, hang on. Bromberg influenced
George Harrison's guitar technique. How? How
does the sideman influence the legend? It comes
down to one specific instrument, the dobro. The
dobro. We mentioned that earlier. Right. The
sources are quite specific. Bromberg introduced
George Harrison to the dobro. Now, for listeners
maybe not familiar, the dobro isn't just any
acoustic guitar. It's a resonator guitar, often
with a square neck, played horizontally lap style
using a metal slide or bar. So totally different
from playing slide on a regular guitar with a
slide on your finger. Completely different setup,
feel, and technique. It produces this very distinctive,
metallic, singing, sustained tone, very different
from a bottleneck slide on a standard electric
or acoustic. So Bromberg, being the master of
these niche but crucial stringed instruments,
essentially gave Harrison access to this whole
new sound palette. And the sources say this introduction
directly influenced Harrison's development as
a slide guitarist. It opened up a new... tonal
world for george a sound that became really key
to his solo work throughout the 70s and beyond
that signature slide sound owes a debt to bromberg
handing him a dobro so let me get this straight
bromberg the guy who just got his first solo
record deal wasn't just getting help from giants
like dylan and harrison he was actively shaping
their instrumental development He gifted George
Harrison a core part of his future sound. That's
what the record suggests. It's an incredible
testament to the respect his specific technical
knowledge commanded even back then. That's more
than just being a good player. That's being a
musical resource. Absolutely. It proves his technical
expertise was like currency. It wasn't just valuable
for playing on a track. It was pedagogically
influential. He was operating at the highest
level. earning the respect of the absolute best
in the business, and apparently teaching them
a thing or two. Mind blown a little bit there.
Okay. Right. So if we want to really grasp the
full David Bromberg aesthetic, that blend of
humor, storytelling, and just sheer musical range,
we absolutely have to look at a defining track
from his next album. It's his seven -minute version
of Mr. Bojangles from the 1972 album Demon in
Disguise. Seven minutes? Yeah. Okay, that's long
for a song, especially back then for radio. Yeah.
But this version, it got played on progressive
rock radio. It was a huge platform. It was. And
the reason it got played, the reason it was so
captivating, was the unique structure. He took
Jerry Jeff Walker's classic song, which is already
a story song, right? Yeah, beautiful sad story.
Beautiful song. But Bromberg turned it into this
immersive, almost theatrical, anecdotal experience.
The actual singing of the song was interwoven
with these long, detailed, often really funny
stories about traveling with the song's author,
Jerry Jeff Walker. Stories about the... road,
about the characters they met. So he stopped
the song and just tell a story for a couple of
minutes. Yeah, basically. He'd ramble, tell these
shaggy dog tales, then seamlessly slide back
into the melody. It must have seemed like a huge
commercial risk interrupting the music like that.
Definitely unconventional. What did progressive
radio, which was usually about complex jams or
concept albums, see in that? I think they saw
authenticity. raw, unfiltered personality and
a performer who was treating his audience like
intelligent people who wanted more than just
the song. Bromberg was essentially innovating,
kind of like a live concept album track. Oh,
OK. He wasn't just performing the lyrics. He
was giving you the world around the song, the
context, the flavor, the lived experience that
burst the music itself. He was selling the feeling
of being on the road with these guys, not just
the notes. Like the difference between reading
a postcard and getting a long rambling phone
call from a friend. Exactly. That blend of masterful
musicianship, because the playing was still superb,
and that captivating, funny, rambling personality,
that's what really cemented the Bromberg aesthetic
for a lot of people. And that versatility, that
ability to be funny one minute and technically
brilliant the next, it meant he was still everyone's
first call for sessions, right? Oh, absolutely.
He never had to turn down a gig because it wasn't
his style. Look at his work just in 1973, for
example. Jonathan Edwards' album, Have a Good
Time for Me, on that one record, Bromberg. played
mandolin, dobro, and electric guitar. Three completely
different sounds and skills on one project. Exactly.
He could provide whatever textural voice was
needed, that chameleon quality, that, let's call
it musical promiscuity. It's why his Sideman
discography from the 70s is just mind boggling.
He moves seamlessly between genres and major
acts. OK, let's just run through a few examples
from the sources just to show the sheer range.
Willie Nelson. Yep. Played on Willie's seminal
1973 album Shocked and Willie. That's basically
a foundational text for the whole outlaw country
movement. Playing on that required grit, roots,
authenticity. OK. Outlaw country. Then fast forward
just two years, the Eagles. Right. 1975, contributing
to the Eagles one of these nights. That's quintessential,
highly polished West Coast rock. Totally different
vibe. Yeah, the skills for an Eagles set in precision
blend. Maybe a bit more polish. Seem worlds away
from the looseness you might want with Willie
Nelson. But Bromberg could deliver both. Flawlessly.
And his network wasn't just U .S. based or stuck
in one genre sphere. Carly Simon. Her self -titled
debut in 1971. Yeah. And he worked with Ringo
Starr multiple times on the Ringo album in 73
and again on Ringo the 4th in 77. So folk pop,
Beatle related rock. OK, this is getting wild.
John Prine. Maintained his folk and Americana
cred. Absolutely. Played on John Prine's Brilliant
Diamonds in the Rough in 1972. So folk, country,
pop, rock. What else? Well, here's maybe the
most head -spinning genre leap listed in the
sources. Ravi Shankar. Ravi Shankar. The sitar
master. The one and only. Bromberg contributed
to Shankar's 1974 album, Shankar, Family and
Friends. Okay, hold on. Going from, say, laying
down a killer electric slide track for the Eagles
to contributing to an album rooted in Indian
classical music fusion. That requires a completely
different mindset, doesn't it? Different rhythms,
different scales. Tremendous sensitivity and
intellectual flexibility, I'd imagine. It just
shows a level of musical understanding that's
incredibly rare in popular music. He could fit
in anywhere. It really is impossible to pin him
down. His career just proves that point over
and over. That agility combined with deep, deep
technical knowledge of all those niche instruments
made him arguably the most desired utility player
in music history. He could make a very strong
case for that, yeah. Okay. But, you know, despite
that just... staggering output in the 70s, that
constant demand, Bromberg did eventually slow
down. He went through a period of reduced output,
essentially a hiatus from major studio recording
that stretched well into the 1990s. Burnout.
The road is tough. Probably factor. The grind
of being that ultimate utility player, constantly
shifting gears, traveling. It takes a toll. It
can be exhausting. So when did he come back in
a big way? his return to the studio his first
official studio recording since 1990 came in
2007 with the album try me one more time try
me one more time okay what was the vibe it felt
like a very conscious deliberate move back to
his core acoustic and folk roots very intimate
he covered material that spoke directly to his
musical lineage including dylan's takes a lot
to laugh it takes train to cry his choice and
elizabeth cotton's classic shake sugary just
him and his guitar mostly Back to basics. And
how was that received after being away for a
while? It was swiftly and formally recognized.
Try Me One More Time got nominated for a Grammy
Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. A Grammy
nomination straight out of the gate after the
hiatus. Yep, at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards
in 2008. And that nomination was really critical,
I think. It validated his foundational artistry,
reminded everyone of his deep folk roots, setting
him apart, in a way, from all the rock in session
work he was also famous for. He was acknowledged
again as a pure folk master. That must have felt
good. And it probably served as a great reintroduction,
didn't it? Absolutely. Because his next major
project, the 2011 album Use Me, sure, he hadn't
just returned to his roots. He still commanded
massive respect across the entire industry, regardless
of genre or generation. Use Me. What was the
concept there? It was basically a thesis statement
on his career as the ultimate collaborator. The
concept was other artists would write or choose
a song for him, and then they'd produce and perform
it with him. Oh, interesting. So who was on it?
The guest list is just staggering. It reads like
a wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. LaVon
Helm. Wow. The band. John Hyatt, Dr. John, Keb
Moe, Los Lobos, Widespread Panic. Okay, that's
crossing genres and generations right there.
Linda Ronstadt, Vince Gill. I mean, giants spanning
blues, country, classic rock, the modern jam
band scene, all lining up to work with him. So
that album really demonstrated he wasn't seen
as some kind of relic, right? He was an active,
respected elder statesman? Totally. He could
effortlessly pull together these huge names.
People viewed him as someone who brought, you
know, credibility, authenticity, and crucially,
musical elevation to any track he touched. They
wanted to use his talent. Hence the title. Very
cool. And this wasn't just a one -off return,
was it? He kept recording. Oh, yeah. The hiatus
was decisively over. He maintained a pretty active
recording schedule well into his 70s. Albums
like Only Slightly Mad in 2013, then The Blues,
The Whole Blues, and nothing but The Blues in
2016. Okay. Leaning into The Blues there. Definitely.
And Big Road in 2020. He was fully back as a
dedicated band leader, really refocusing on his
core identity as a masterful blues and Americana
interpreter. still playing incredibly well. Now
here's a part of his story that seems almost
like a fascinating contrast. His life away from
touring, settled in Wilmington, Delaware with
his wife, the artist Nancy Josephson. We know
him as this legendary musician, but for a number
of years, he was also an entrepreneur in a completely
different field. That's right. It's a really
interesting chapter. For several years, they
owned and ran David Bromberg Fine Violins. Fine
violins, like classical violins. Exactly. An
extensive sales and repair shop specializing
in high -end violins, violas, cellos, classical
stringed instruments. They eventually sold the
business at the end of 2021. Okay, the master
of the electric slide, the dobro, the pedal steel.
The guy who jammed with Dylan and taught Harrison
dedicated a big chunk of his later life to the
painstaking craft of Luthri making and repairing
violins. Yeah. What does that tell you about
him? Well, it seems to underscore this deep,
almost obsessive respect for the mechanics of
music. Maybe it wasn't just about playing. It
was about. understanding the instrument itself,
its physics, its craft. I think that's spot on.
It's such a huge contrast to the chaos of the
road life, right? Treating the demands of the
recording studio or the stage for the quiet,
meticulous, focused work of instrument repair
and curation. It really speaks to a man dedicated
to craft over just fame or performance. A different
kind of mastery. A different but related mastery.
Yeah. And his impact in Wilmington, it seems,
went beyond the violin shop. He became part of
the community fabric. Very much so. He and his
wife became major donors to the local Grand Opera
House, where he'd also perform occasionally.
And he was a regular performer at the World Cafe
Live Wilmington, located in the Queen Theater,
up until around 2017. So he wasn't just living
there. He was actively investing his time, talent,
and resources into the local cultural scene.
Right. Fully integrating into his chosen community,
which is pretty cool. Which brings us up to a
more recent development. The announcement about
touring. The final farewell. Sort of. In 2023,
Bromberg, who was 77 at the time, stated pretty
clearly that he was finished with the intense
demands of touring with his big band. The big
band, that's a lot of logistics, a lot of people
to move around. Exactly. Road life is brutal
anyway, but coordinating a large ensemble like
that. Yeah. It's a massive undertaking, especially
as you get older. So the official farewell concert
with the David Bromberg big band was the celebrated
event at the Beacon Theater in New York City,
June 10th, 2023. End of an era, in a way. In
a way. It's really important to clarify the distinction
the sources make that he made. He said he's had
it with touring, meaning the constant packing,
moving, airports, hotels, the whole grind. Yeah,
that part sounds exhausting. But he emphatically
did not rule out playing music altogether, not
ruling out occasional appearances, maybe festivals,
short -term collaborations, local gigs, things
that don't involve that relentless travel schedule.
Ah, okay. So the music continues, just not the
coast -to -coast night after night. night touring
lifestyle. Precisely. He's retiring from the
road, not necessarily from the music. OK, so
after this whole deep dive, looking at all these
facets, how do we synthesize David Bromberg?
We started out trying to define a polymath, and
what we seem to have found is this figure who
acts as an essential bridge builder in American
music. I think that's a perfect way to put it.
He successfully bridged the earnest foundational
acoustic roots of that Greenwich village folk
revival stuff he learned directly at the feet
of Reverend Gary Davis with the much more complex
genre bending, sometimes electric experimentation
of 70s rock and what became Americana. He connects
those two worlds. Directly. His career is kind
of the ultimate proof. That deep technical mastery,
knowing your instrument inside and out, combined
with extreme stylistic flexibility, being able
to jump between dobro, fiddle, electric guitar,
pedal steel, that combination is the definition
of a truly preferred, indispensable musician.
He didn't just collect instruments. he mastered
their specific languages, which allowed him to,
you know, comfortably add mandolin to a country
record one week, blistering electric slide to
a walk album the next, and then turn around and
collaborate with Ravi Shankar. Yeah, and we absolutely
can't forget his maybe greatest aesthetic innovation,
using that anecdotal storytelling like we talked
about with Mr. Bojangles to transform classic
songs into these immersive, sprawling seven -minute
narratives. He offered performance as this shared,
lived -in character experience. Bringing the
listener right into the story behind the song.
Exactly. And even his life beyond music, running
that fine violin shop, it just reinforces the
idea that his connection to music is intellectual,
it's mechanical, it's craft -based, as much as
it is purely artistic or performance -based.
He's dedicated to the whole ecosystem of music,
playing it, understanding the tools used to make
it, fixing them, maybe even passing on the knowledge.
Which does raise a really interesting final question
for you, the listener, to maybe chew on as we
close out here. Okay. Given his career -long
habit of blending music and storytelling, his
deep respect for craft, and the fact that he's
still performing occasionally after stepping
back from the big band touring grind, what kind
of project might an 80 -year -old musical synthesis
expert, a master bridge builder, turn to next?
That's a great question. We know from the sources
he has put out instructional material before
DVDs, like a guitar lesson with David Bromberg
or the guitar artistry of David Bromberg. Does
he maybe double down on pedagogy now, really
try to chronicle the full depth of that Reverend
Gary Davis Piedmont style for a new generation,
pass a torch formally? Or does he maybe focus
on more? Curated, perhaps geographically limited,
but musically limitless collaborations. Maybe
producing or mentoring younger artists who share
that eclectic spirit. Using his connections and
wisdom in a different way. Could be either or
something entirely different we haven't thought
of. Knowing Bromberg's history, whatever he does,
it likely won't be predictable. A perfect final
thought on a man whose next move will undoubtedly
be fascinating. Guided by that incredible lifetime
of technical knowledge and artistic curiosity.
Thank you so much for joining us on this deep
dive into the singular, multifaceted career of
David Bromberg. Been a pleasure. We'll catch
you next time.