Big Maceo Merriweather

Big Maceo Merriweather ( born March 31, 1905 in Atlanta, † February 26, 1953 in Chicago), actually Major Merriweather, was an influential American blues pianist.

From a young age played Merriweather piano in bars and at dance events in Atlanta. When he was 19, the family moved to Detroit, where Merriweather worked at Ford.

He married Hattie Spruel, with whom he moved to Chicago in 1941. Here they learned to Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red, with whom Merriweather made ​​his first recordings. Among the 14 titles included Worried Life Blues was the, which should be the most famous piece of Big Maceo Merriweather. Many blues greats such as Eric Clapton, have incorporated the title later in their repertoire or processed in their own pieces ( such as Little Walter and Muddy Waters).

As a result, Merriweather and Tampa Red played together frequently, accompanied by a drum and a bass. This formation was the basic model of many subsequent groups, not just in blues.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the first successful career was ended. Merriweather moved back to Detroit, but came on every now and again with his old colleagues in Chicago.

After the war, he increasingly began to appear again, but suffered a stroke in 1946 that paralyzed him on the right side. In his other appearances, he had to be supported on piano, about Eddie Boyd and Otis Spann.

Big Maceo Merriweather in 1949 had a second stroke. He died on February 26, 1953 after a heart attack in Chicago and was buried in Detroit. Big Maceo Merriweather in 2002 was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, also his title Worried Life Blues was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

• American musician
• Blues musicians
• Chicago blues musicians
• Boogie -woogie pianist
• Blues Hall of Fame
• Born 1905
• Died in 1953
• Man