Walter Brown “Brownie” McGhee (November 30, 1915 – February 16, 1996) was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter whose intricate fingerpicking and soulful voice brought the vibrant sounds of the Carolina Piedmont to audiences worldwide. Best known for his decades-long partnership with harmonica virtuoso Sonny Terry, McGhee’s career spanned over half a century, leaving an indelible mark on the blues and folk music landscapes. His expressive guitar style, described as one that “sings and rings and whangs and talks to you,” combined with his versatile vocals, told stories of everyday life, struggle, and resilience.
Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, McGhee grew up in nearby Kingsport, where music was woven into the fabric of his family life. His father, George “Duff” McGhee, was a skilled guitarist and singer who performed at local gatherings, often alongside his brother-in-law, John Evans, a fiddler. Brownie’s uncle crafted his first instrument—a five-string banjo—when he was seven, and by eight, he was learning piano and guitar, taught by his sister and father, who insisted he pick the strings with his fingers rather than a straight pick or slide.
At around age four, McGhee contracted polio, which left his right leg incapacitated and required him to use crutches or a cane for much of his early life, though he largely recovered, walking with a limp. His brother Granville, nicknamed “Stick” for pushing young Brownie in a cart, later became a musician himself, composing the R&B hit “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee.” Music became Brownie’s refuge, and he immersed himself in it, singing with the Golden Voices Gospel Quartet and absorbing the sounds of blues pioneers like Bessie Smith and Lonnie Johnson.
By his teens, McGhee had dropped out of high school to pursue music full-time, performing at carnivals, medicine shows, minstrel troupes, and street corners across Tennessee. In the early 1930s, he worked with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and formed small bands in Knoxville, playing at local events. His itinerant lifestyle led him to Durham, North Carolina, where he encountered his hero, Blind Boy Fuller, whose Piedmont-style guitar picking profoundly influenced him. McGhee’s big break came in 1940 when J.B. Long, a talent scout who managed Fuller, arranged a recording session for him with OKeh Records in Chicago. His debut tracks, including “Me and My Dog” and “Picking My Tomatoes,” showcased his authentic rural style. After Fuller died in 1941 from blood poisoning, Long promoted McGhee as “Blind Boy Fuller No. 2,” a moniker McGhee and his family resented but which helped launch his career. He recorded a tribute, “Death of Blind Boy Fuller,” using Fuller’s guitar.
In 1939, McGhee met Sonny Terry, a blind harmonica player from Georgia, in North Carolina. Their paths crossed again in 1940 when they performed with Paul Robeson in Washington, D.C. By 1941, their partnership solidified, blending McGhee’s fluid guitar work with Terry’s rhythmic, expressive harmonica, which mimicked everything from train whistles to barnyard animals. The duo settled in New York City in the early 1940s, immersing themselves in the vibrant folk scene alongside Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Pete Seeger. They lived in the communal house of the Almanac Singers and performed as the Headline Singers, often at civil rights benefits, including their first joint engagement in 1942.
The partnership between McGhee and Terry became one of the most enduring in blues history, lasting (with occasional interruptions) until the late 1970s. Their Piedmont blues style—characterized by bouncy guitar picking, intricate bass lines, and rhythmic harmonica—captivated audiences. They recorded prolifically for labels like Savoy, Alert, and Fantasy, producing hits like “My Fault” (1948) and covering gospel, folk, and protest songs. Despite their later image as “pure” folk artists, they experimented with jump blues in the 1940s, fronting combos like Brownie McGhee and His Jook House Rockers or Sonny Terry and His Buckshot Five, featuring honking saxophones and rolling pianos with musicians like Champion Jack Dupree.
McGhee’s versatility extended beyond music. From 1942 to 1950, he ran the Home of the Blues Music School in Harlem, teaching young musicians the nuances of blues guitar. He performed on wartime radio broadcasts curated by Alan Lomax, appeared in the 1944 BBC radio ballad-opera The Man Who Went to War with Ethel Waters and Robeson, and contributed to the soundtrack for The Roosevelt Story (1947). Both he and Terry acted in Broadway productions, including Finian’s Rainbow (1947–48) and Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955–57), as well as Langston Hughes’s Simply Heaven (1957). They also appeared in films like A Face in the Crowd (1957) and The Jerk (1979).
During the 1960s folk and blues revival, McGhee and Terry became festival and concert circuit staples, performing at Newport and touring globally. Their wide repertoire and authentic style resonated with audiences, though personal tensions grew over time, leading to periods of estrangement. By the late 1970s, they parted ways, with McGhee pursuing a solo career. In the 1970s, McGhee moved to Oakland, California, where he built his own home. He continued performing, recording soundtracks for films like Buck and the Preacher (1972) and appearing in Angel Heart (1987) and TV shows like Family Ties (1988) and Matlock (1989). His final recording session, The Last Great Blues Hero (1995), captured his enduring spirit, featuring classics like “Key to the Highway” and “Good Morning Blues.”
McGhee’s contributions were recognized with a 1982 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, shared with Terry, and induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1997. He died of stomach cancer on February 16, 1996, in Oakland, at age 80, leaving behind a legacy as a Piedmont blues pioneer. McGhee’s influence endures through his recordings, his guitar instruction book Guitar Styles of Brownie McGhee (1971), and the countless musicians inspired by his soulful storytelling and masterful technique. As he once said, reflecting on the importance of preserving the blues, “Get it down before they pass away.” Brownie McGhee ensured his music—and the spirit of the blues—would live on.