'I Feel So Good,' Bob Riesman's Definitive Biography Of Blues Legend Big Bill Broonzy, To Be Published In May By The University Of Chicago Press

New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) In May 2011 University of Chicago Press will release 'I Feel So Good,' Bob Riesman's definitive new biography of blues legend Big Bill Broonzy. Researched over ten years and featuring interviews with Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, and many others, this revealing and detailed book traces Broonzy's career from his rise as a nationally prominent blues star to his influential role in the post-World War II folk revival, and brings readers inside the jazz clubs and concert halls of Europe documenting how Broonzy's overseas tours in the 1950's ignited the British blues-rock explosion of the 1960's. Along the way, Riesman elegantly details Big Bill's complicated and poignant personal saga.

Called "[one of] the most important figures in recorded blues history" by AllMusicGuide, Broonzy has always been a mysterious figure, his actual biographical details frequently obscured by the myths and legends he invented and perpetuated throughout his career. With a foreword by noted music critic and historian Peter Guralnick, 'I Feel So Good' reveals the true story of Big Bill Broonzy, including his final years when he lost first his voice, then his life, to cancer, just as his international reputation was reaching its peak. Riesman finds the truth to be even more fascinating than any myth Broonzy ever invented.

Early praise for the book is already rolling in from some of the most revered names in music and journalism. The Who's Pete Townshend raves "If rock 'n' roll and all its recent spawn can in any sense be regarded as art…this book will help to explain why." In his foreword, Peter Guralnick writes "Bob Riesman has dug hard and deep into a world and a community to which few outsiders have been granted entrance…This is the kind of book so engaging it simply leaves you wanting more."