Big Maceo

Big Maceo (born Major Merriweather, March 31, 1905, Newnan, Georgia, USA; died: February 23, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) was an American pianist and blues singer. He was mainly active in Chicago through the 1940s. He was a self-taught pianist. In the 1920s, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, to begin his music career. He moved to Chicago in 1941, where he made the acquaintance of Tampa Red. Red introduced him to Lester Melrose of RCA Victor and its subsidiary label Bluebird Records, who signed Merriweather to a recording contract. 
His first record was "Worried Life Blues" (1941), which became a blues hit and remained his signature piece. The song had elements derived from Sleepy John Estes' "Someday, Baby". Other classic piano blues recordings followed, such as "Chicago Breakdown", "Texas Stomp", and "Detroit Jump". His piano style was developed from players like Leroy Carr and Roosevelt Sykes and from the boogie-woogie style of Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons. He in turn influenced other musicians, such as Little Johnny Jones and Henry Gray, the latter of whom credited Merriweather with helping him launch his career as a blues pianist.
His style influenced practically every postwar blues pianist of significance. His best known song, "Worried Life Blues", is a staple of the blues repertoire, with artists such as Eric Clapton performing it regularly in concert. It was in the first batch of songs inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category Classic Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks, alongside "Stormy Monday", 'Sweet Home Chicago", "Dust My Broom", and "Hellhound on My Trail". Merriweather suffered a stroke in 1946. He died of a heart attack on February 23, 1953, in Chicago and was interred at the Detroit Memorial Cemetery, in Warren, Michigan.
== Links To Peel ==
Big Maceo was one of the artists played on John Peel's radio debut on the Kat's Karavan show in 1961. His song 'Chicago Breakdown' was featured in the 1945 Peelenium.
== Peelenium ==
* Peelenium 1945: Chicago Breakdown
== Shows Played ==
1960s
* Kat's Karavan (1961): Big Road Blues
1980s
* 17 September 1983 (BFBS): Maceo's 32-20
* 08 December 1986: Texas Blues (10") Bluebird
* 10 December 1986: County Jail Blues (LP - Big Maceo) RCA
1990s
* 02 September 1999: Chicago Breakdown Peelenium 1945
Tampa Red &/With Big Maceo
* 14 December 1989: Mercy Mama Blues (LP - Get It Cats !) Swingtime
* 06 January 1990 (BFBS): Mercy Mama (LP-Big Maceo With Tampa Red In Chicago 1941 - 1946)' (not on label)
== Covered ==
* Gordon Smith: Worried Life Blues (session) 14 August 1968
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
* Discogs
Category:Artists