Demon in Disguise

In the 60s, a little-known man from New York attended Columbia College, studied guitar, got ensconced in the Greenwich village folk scene, and became proficient in stringed instruments like guitar, pedal steel guitar, mandolin, violin, and dobro. He would become Bob Dylan’s preferred backup musician. He would introduce Beatle George Harrison to the dobro, leading to his development as a slide guitar player.

The man’s name is David Bromberg.  I was lucky enough to see him in a small coffee house in 1972 just after the release of his second album, Demon in Disguise. His music was the most eclectic I had ever heard. His band traversed through folk, bluegrass, country, blues, and rock, combining lyrics that were at turns satirical, folksy, and downright sad.

“A man should never gamble, More than he can stand to lose”     (Diamond Lil)

Or

“She walks, she talks, she crawls on her belly like a reptile”     (Sharon)

Or (sung at breakneck bluegrass speed)

“Hardworkin' John, you'd better pull your britches up
Spit on your hands and rub 'em on your knees
The devil's right behind you, don't you wait until he catches up
Get on with it, John, for God's sake, please”      (Hardworkin’ John)

In the space of 3 hours, to this 18-year-old, he made bluegrass cool. He made country music cool. He made me laugh. On his 1974 follow-up album Wanted Dead or Alive, he describes an experience that all of us have had at one point or another in our lives – the road trip with friends that seemed like a good idea at the time:

“You know that goddamned road seemed like it went forever
Exhausted fumes made our eyes turn red and swell
With our clothes stuck to the seat and to our bodies
It was a stinking summer trip to southern hell” (The New Lee Highway Blues)

Bromberg’s association with George Harrison yielded one of his first hit songs. It was written during a Thanksgiving dinner at his manager’s home in NYC that both attended. They passed around a beat-up guitar and came up with “The Holdup.” It was the first single off his debut album, but was later recut as described in this Delaware Today article:

“‘The Holdup’ displayed a somewhat different resonance when Bromberg recut it with four members of the Grateful Dead for his 1974 album Wanted Dead or Alive. Featured on that repurposed track was the Dead’s de facto leader, Jerry Garcia. Bromberg had spent time alongside Garcia during upstate New York’s Woodstock music festival in August 1969. “We shared Jerry’s teepee there, and for some reason, I ended up in it during the rainstorm,” he muses. “I had a dobro, and we just played guitar together for the whole rainstorm. It was fun!”  (Delaware Today, June 29, 2020)

David Bromberg often covered songs from obscure musicians of the time like Mary McCaslin and her epic western song, “Young Westley.” He introduced me to Ian Tyson (Ian and Sylvia), the Canadian songwriter who wrote the prescient song, “Summer Wages.”

“Never hit seventeen when you play against the dealer
For you know, the odds won't ride with you.
Never leave your woman alone, when your friends are out to steal her
Years are gambled and lost, like summer wages.”

Arguably his most famous recording is a cover of Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Mr. Bojangles.”  Recorded live, it includes a beautiful spoken intro giving homage to Jerry Jeff but more importantly, sets up the sad tale of a homeless street performer in New Orleans. 

From his 1975 Midnight on the Water, his original song “The Joke’s on Me” encompasses many of the signature Bromberg-isms… angst, self-doubt, sardonic humor, regret… into a gorgeous melody backed by steel guitar, violins, and orchestral arrangements.

Unfortunately, David Bromberg retired from recording and performance by 1989. He and his wife moved to Wilmington, Delaware and he opened a violin sales and repair shop. In 2021, he sold the shop and assembled a big band for a series of concerts. His farewell concert was held at the Beacon theatre in NYC in June of 2023. 

As my friend and I were leaving that coffee house back in 1972, he casually remarked, “I bet Bromberg’s dead in 2 years.” It was the kind of thought many of us had in those days after seeing such talented musicians succumb to life on the road. But he beat the odds. Maybe the violin shop was what he needed all along. Thanks to his recording career, he left us with an incredible discography to enjoy today.