Hear the big man him self, Big George Brock talks about working the cotton fields with Muddy Waters. How he ran his own clubs where Albert King started out. George turned down a recording contract with Chest Records, but later got a good deal from Cat Head Records. You’ll also hear songs from Big George Brock & the Houserockers.
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 079 - Big George Brock – From the cotton fields to club owner to recording artist [37:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Big George Brock was born in 1932 in Grenada, Mississippi to a sharecropper. Later they moved to Flower’s Plantation in Mississippi. This is where he would pick cotton as a youth, like so many others of that time. Just to give you an example of what those days were like. In 1932 U.S. unemployment increased to 24.1%, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President. In London, hunger marchers protest the lack of food. Great Britain imprisoned Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi. Rocker Little Richard was born that year, as well as movie star Elizabeth Taylor, and a gallon of Gas was 10 cents in the states. George Brock grew up in a different time than ours, though there are still some real similarities today. His father bought him a harmonica, which he really liked playing. Out in the fields he met McKinley Morganfield, aka Muddy Waters, and they found out that they both loved music. They would go over to George’s house to play at his mother’s fish fries. As a result of this, they become life long friends.

One Saturday coming out of the fields, there was a guy with boxing gloves on, and he had beaten two or three guys. George’s boss asked if he thought he could take him. George said, “I’ll sure try,” and in three minutes the guy was on the ground. From then on they had him boxing every Friday night at the Madison cotton dock after the trucks had picked up the cotton. This led to bigger boxing matches, which took George to Memphis, then to St. Louis. Around the end of 1952 or the first part of 53, before Sonny Liston went professional, Big George Brock beat him in three rounds. Unfortunately he was not making enough money to take care of his family, so he quit boxing and started playing music.

George was playing music at a club he opened, eventually he would have three clubs going and do a show at each club through out the night. For over five years, a local radio station KATZ would broadcast George’s shows from his club. This is the club that Albert King walked into when he first came to St. Louis. George gave Albert a job playing at the club every Sunday night right after Ike & Tina Turner were done with their show. George would also have acts like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed play there for a whole week, and Muddy and Jimmy would stay at George’s house while in town. Jimmy even wrote a song based on the wallpaper George had on the wall. Muddy tried to get Big George Brock on Chess Records, but Chess wouldn’t pay royalties to their artists. They offered to buy George a tour bus so he could make his money on the road but no royalties. This happened to George with a few record labels, till Roger Stolle of Cat Head records came along. Roger offered George a fair deal, and George was happy to be with Cat Head records. The full name is Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Inc.

The above photo is from a great late night jam at BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups on Dec. 21, 08 from left to right you have.
Marquise Knox - Keep an ear open for this up and coming blues artist.
The man himself Big George Brock
Mike Safron - drummer for Pavlov’s Dog
John May - bass gtr. & owner of BB’s Jazz, Blues & Soups
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Big George Brock has put out three CD’s with Cat Head records:
2005 - Club Caravan
2005 - Heavywight Blues - on APO Records
2006 - Round Two
2007 - Live at Seventy Five

Steven Seagal, being a famous and rich martial arts actor in Hollywood, could have just about anyone he wanted for his blues CD Mojo Priest. Steven chose Bo Diddley, Hubert Sumlin, Bob Margolin, Robert Lockwood, Jr., James Cotton, Homesick James, Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Ruth Brown, and two St. Louisans Henry Townsend and Big George Brock. When George got done playing, Steven said, “That’s what I’m looking for.” Big George Brock is what we’re all looking for, some one who can play great harp and make the old time blues come alive, especially in these hard times.

Songs played in the show:
Call Me a Lover / Down South 2007 - Live at Seventy Five
All Night Long 2005 - Club Caravan
Hard Times 2005 - Club Caravan
No No Baby 2006 - Round Two
Round Two 2006 - Round Two
Bring the Blues Back Home 2007 - Live at Seventy Five

Big George Brock’s Website

Big George Brock’s MySpace

Buy Live At Seventy Five from CD Baby Website

Buy Round Two from CD Baby Website

Buy Club Caravan from CD Baby Website

Buy the DVD Hard Times or any CD from Cat Head

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Blues Music and Interviews
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by  A1 Mark