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▶ Big Bill Broonzy

Living on Easy Street

Big Bill Broonzy (1938) → Ray Charles (1954)

Blues
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Soul
1938 — Big Bill Broonzy’s secular blues cut in Chicago
Original

Recorded by Big Bill Broonzy in 1938, this jump-and-boogie secular blues carries 12-bar form and shuffle beat from the urban dancehall — the direct inspiration for the bridge section of "I Got a Woman".

Now playing
I Got a Woman
Ray Charles — 1954

Soul

Ray Charles folded this secular blues turn into the bridge, fusing it with the gospel melody of "It Must Be Jesus" to create "I Got a Woman" (1954).

An urban dancehall blues joined the gospel secularization as the bridge that helped birth soul.

From original to redefined

What to listen for

An urban dancehall blues joined the gospel secularization as the bridge that helped birth soul.

  • Secular beat supplied

    The 12-bar progression and shuffle carried the physicality of soul’s birth

  • Bridge inspiration

    The song’s turn became the structural seed of the "I Got a Woman" bridge

  • Sacred × secular merge

    Joined to a gospel melody, it helped breach the wall between church and dancehall

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