Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry: Better Day

Sonny Terry (1911-1986) and Brownie McGhee (1915- 1996)

Beginning in 1933 Alan Lomax and the Library of Congress began to document the indigenous music of America, a task that grew increasingly important in the early 1940s. Lomax's recording are preserved in the Library of Congress's Archive of American Folk Song. When his partner Blind Boy Fuller died, Sonny Terry looked to Brownie McGhee to take his role and become a partner in performing the blues. McGhee, crippled by polio in his legs, played the guitar and Terry, blind in both eyes through a series of accidents, sang and played harmonica. Shortly after meeting, the two went to Washington where they found out about Lomax's efforts. They recorded a few records for the series before moving to New York to continue performing together. By the 1960s when they were rediscovered in the folk music revival of the era, the two had performed together for over twenty years on street corners, in institutions and on the concert stage.

Things to Listen For

"Better Day" is a classic example of the blues, both in harmonic progression and structure. A standard blues is built on a repeating 12-bar harmonic progression, sometimes modified to fit within 8-bars or 16-bars. Usually these "bars", actually measures are in a duple meter such as 2/4 or 4/4. What makes these songs "blues" is the adherence to a standard harmonic progression. By representing each measure as a cel, and each harmony as a Roman Numeral signifying the pitch that is the root of the chord (I = do; IV = fa, etc.), the harmonies of a typical 12-bar blues can be diagrammed as follows:

I	I	I	I
IV	IV	I	I
V	IV	I	I or V

To create variety, chords can be modified (thus one might subsititute a ii chord for a IV chord) and phrases can be stretched. In this recording a fine example of the 12-bar blues can be heard during the harmonica solo beginning at 1:02. The first verse of the solo is a strict 12-bar blues. In the second verse the space remains the same, but there are some chord modifications during the first third of the form. Similarly, in the sung verses you can hear the phrases stretched beyond the limits of an eight bar blues.

Another important idea that is typical of the blues is call-and-response, a simple device in which one person says/sings something and the other responds with the same material or a modified version of that material. This can occur through the use of the voice, as in this recording, or through an instrument.

Listening Chart / Text

0:00	Introduction:	Harmonica Solo
0:12	Verse 1: (A)	When I'm on the mountain Look down in the sea Thinkin' about the woman The one, we couldn't agree But that's alright I dont worry anymore There will be a better day	9 bars: 8-bar blues with extra measure.
0:37	Verse 2: (A)	Oh look a here people I need a break Good things will come To those who wait But that's alright I dont worry anymore There will be a better day	9 bars: 8-bar blues with extra measure.
1:02	Solo Contrasting Verse (B)	Harmonica Solo	Standard 12-bar blues
1:36	Solo Contrasting Verse (B)	Harmonica Solo	Standard 12-bar blues
2:08	Verse 5: (A)	When I had money I had plenty friends Now I don't have a dime Like a Road without an end But that's alright I don't worry anymore There will be a better day	9 bars: 8-bar blues with extra measure.
2:34	Verse 6: (A):	My burden's so heavy I can't hardly see It seems like everybody's Down on me But that's alright I don't worry anymore There will be a better day	9 bars: 8-bar blues with extra measure.