Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell | |
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Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a
McTell was born in
McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists, including the Allman Brothers Band, who covered his "Statesboro Blues", and Bob Dylan, who paid tribute to him in his 1983 song "Blind Willie McTell", the refrain of which is "And I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell". Other artists influenced by McTell include Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Ralph McTell, Chris Smither, Jack White, and the White Stripes.
Biography
He was born William Samuel McTier
McTell married Ruth Kate Williams,
In the years before World War II, McTell traveled and performed widely, recording for several labels under different names: Blind Willie McTell (for Victor and Decca), Blind Sammie (for Columbia), Georgia Bill (for Okeh), Hot Shot Willie (for Victor), Blind Willie (for Vocalion and Bluebird), Barrelhouse Sammie (for Atlantic), and Pig & Whistle Red (for Regal).[5] The appellation "Pig & Whistle" was a reference to a chain of barbecue restaurants in Atlanta;[6] McTell often played for tips in the parking lot of a Pig 'n Whistle restaurant. He also played behind a nearby building that later became Ray Lee's Blue Lantern Lounge. Like Lead Belly, another songster who began his career as a street artist, McTell favored the somewhat unwieldy and unusual twelve-string guitar, whose greater volume made it suitable for outdoor playing.
In 1940 John A. Lomax and his wife,
McTell died of a stroke in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1959. He was buried at Jones Grove Church, near Thomson, Georgia, his birthplace. Author David Fulmer, who in 1992 was working on a documentary about McTell, paid to have a gravestone erected on his resting place. The name given on his gravestone is Willie Samuel McTier.[11] He was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame in 1981[12] and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1990.[1]
In his recordings of "Lay Some Flowers on My Grave", "Lord, Send Me an Angel" and "Statesboro Blues", he pronounces his surname MacTell, with the stress on the first syllable.
Influence
McTell's most famous song, "
The Bath-based band Kill It Kid is named after the song of the same title.[17]
A billiards bar and concert venue in Statesboro, Georgia, was named Blind Willie's after McTell in the 1990s. The venue is now closed, but remains a fond memory for Georgia Southern University students at the time.[18]
Blind Willie's is a bar in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta named after McTell that features blues musicians and bands.[19] The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held annually in Thomson, Georgia.[19]
Discography
Singles
Year | A-side | B-side | Label | Cat. # | Moniker | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1927 | "Stole Rider Blues" | "Mr. McTell Got the Blues" | Victor | 21124 | Blind Willie McTell | |
"Writing Paper Blues" | "Mamma, Tain't Long Fo' Day" | 21474 | ||||
1928 | "Three Women Blues" | "Statesboro Blues" | V38001 | |||
"Dark Night Blues" | "Loving Talking Blues" | V38032 | ||||
1929 | "Atlanta Strut" | "Kind Mama" | Columbia | 14657-D | Blind Sammie | |
"Travelin' Blues" | "Come on Around to My House Mama" | 14484-D | ||||
"Drive Away Blues" | "Love Changing Blues" | Victor | V38580 | Blind Willie McTell | ||
1930 | "Talking to Myself" | "Razor Ball" | Columbia | 14551-D | Blind Sammie | |
1931 | "Southern Can Is Mine" | "Broke Down Engine Blues" | 14632-D | |||
"Low Rider's Blues" | "Georgia Rag" | OKeh | 8924 | Georgia Bill | ||
"Stomp Down Rider" | "Scarey Day Blues" | 8936 | ||||
1932 | "Mama, Let Me Scoop for You" | "Rollin' Mama Blues" | Victor | 23328 | Hot Shot Willie | with Ruby Glaze |
"Lonesome Day Blues" | "Searching the Desert for the Blues" | 23353 | ||||
1933 | "Savannah Mama" | "B and O Blues No. 2" | Vocalion | 02568 | Blind Willie | |
"Broke Down Engine" | "Death Cell Blues" | 02577 | ||||
"Warm It Up to Me" | "Runnin' Me Crazy" | 02595 | ||||
"It's a Good Little Thing" | "Southern Can Mama" | 02622 | ||||
"Lord Have Mercy, if You Please" | "Don't You See How This World Made a Change" | 02623 | with "Partner" (Curley Weaver) | |||
"My Baby's Gone" | "Weary Hearted Blues" | 02668 | ||||
1935 | "Bell Street Blues" | "Ticket Agent Blues" | Decca | 7078 | Blind Willie McTell | with Kate McTell |
"Dying Gambler" | "God Don't Like It" | 7093 | ||||
"Ain't It Grand to Be a Christian" | "We Got to Meet Death One Day" | 7130 | ||||
"Your Time to Worry" | "Hillbilly Willie's Blues" | 7117 | ||||
"Cold Winter Day" | "Lay Some Flowers on My Grave" | 7810 | ||||
1950 | "Kill It Kid" | "Broke-Down Engine Blues" | Atlantic | 891 | Barrelhouse Sammy | |
"River Jordan" | "How About You" | Regal | 3260 | Blind Willie | ||
"It's My Desire" | "Hide Me in Thy Bosom" | 3272 | ||||
"Love Changing Blues" | "Talkin' to You Mama" | 3277 | Willie Samuel McTell | with Curley Weaver; attributed to "Pig and Whistle Band" |
- As an accompanist
Year | Artist | A-side | B-side | Label | Cat. # | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1927 | Alfoncy and Bethenea Harris | "Teasing Brown" | "This Is Not the Stove to Brown Your Bread" | Victor | V38594 | |
1931 | Ruth Willis | "Experience Blues" | "Painful Blues" | Columbia | 14642-D | |
"Rough Alley Blues" | "Low Down Blues" | OKeh | 8921 | |||
"Talkin' to You Wimmin' About the Blues" | "Merciful Blues" | 8932 | ||||
1935 | Curley Weaver | "Tricks Ain't Walking No More" | "Early Morning Blues" | Decca | 7077 | |
"Sometime Mama" | "Two-Faced Woman" | 7906 | McTell plays only on B-side | |||
"Oh Lawdy Mama" | "Fried Pie Blues" | 7664 | ||||
1949 | "My Baby's Gone" | "Ticket Agent" | Sittin' In With | 547 |
Long-plays
Year | Title | Label | Cat. # | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
1961 | Last Session | Bluesville | BV 1040 | recorded in 1956 |
1966 | Blind Willie McTell: 1940 |
Melodeon | MLP 7323 | subtitled The Legendary Library of Congress Session; recorded in 1940 |
Selected compilations
- Blind Willie McTell 1927–1933: The Early Years, Yazoo L-1005 (1968)
- Blind Willie McTell 1949: Trying to Get Home, Biograph BLP-12008 (1969)
- King of the Georgia Blues Singers (1929–1935), Roots RL-324 (1969)
- Atlanta Twelve String, Atlantic SD-7224 (1972)
- Death Cell Blues, Biograph BLP-C-14 (1973)
- Blind Willie McTell: 1927–1935, Yazoo L-1037 (1974)
- Blind Willie McTell: 1927–1949, The Remaining Titles, Wolf WSE 102 (1982)
- Blues in the Dark, MCA 1368 (1983)
- Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1, Document DOCD-5006 (1990)
- Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 2, Document DOCD-5007 (1990)
- Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 3, Document DOCD-5008 (1990)
- These three albums were issued together as the box set Statesboro Blues, Document DOCD-5677 (1990)
- Complete Library of Congress Recordings in Chronological Order, RST Blues Documents BDCD-6001 (1990)
- Pig 'n Whistle Red, Biograph BCD 126 (1993)
- The Definitive Blind Willie McTell, Legacy C2K-53234 (1994)
- The Classic Years 1927–1940, JSP JSP7711 (2003)
- King of the Georgia Blues, Snapper SBLUECD504X (2007)
Selected compilations with other artists
- Blind Willie McTell/Memphis Minnie: Love Changin' Blues, Biograph BLP-12035 (1971)
- Atlanta Blues 1933, JEMF 106 (1979)
- Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver: The Post-War Years, RST Blues Documents BDCD 6014 (1990)
- Classic Blues Artwork from the 1920s, vol. 5, Blues Images – BIM-105 (2007)
Footnotes
Notes
- ^ McTell's biographer Michael Gray attributes these omissions to the folklore archivist Rae Korson, who was evidently hostile to his New Deal folklore predecessors at the library: "The widely sold version of the McTell-Lomax sessions deletes conversations and information, removes Ruby Lomax from the room almost entirely—making John Lomax seem to monopolize things and keep her silent, which he doesn't at all—and robs Lomax of several touches of warmth and humanity, including questions asked by Ruby Terrill and John Lomax."[9]
- ^ In the liner notes for that album, Dylan wrote, "'Broke Down Engine' is a Blind Willie McTell masterpiece ... it's about Ambiguity, the fortunes of the privileged elite, flood control—watching the red dawn not bothering to dress [sic]."[15]
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f Jacobs, Hal. "Blind Willie McTell". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. November 3, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ a b c Conner, Patrick. "Blind Willie McTell Archived November 1, 2013, at the Wayback Machine". East Coast Piedmont Blues. University of North Carolina. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ ISBN 0-86719-587-8.
- ISBN 978-0-306-80743-5.
- ^ "Pig'n Whistle | Pig'n Whistle Georgia History". Pignwhistle.net. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
- ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ "Audio Recording: Amazing Grace". loc.gov. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
- ^ Gray 2009, p. 273.
- ^ "Blind Willie McTell". bluesnet. Archived from the original on April 20, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2006.
- ^ "Willie 'Blind Willie' McTell (1901–1959)". Findagrave.com. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
- ^ "1981 Hall of Fame Inductees". Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6.
- ISBN 1-900711-02-8.
- ^ Dylan, Bob (1993). World Gone Wrong (liner notes). Special Rider Music. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
- ^ "Kill It Kid", Last Session, Bluesville BV 1040, released 1962.
- ^ "kill it kid interview sxsw 2010". Spinner.com. March 12, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
- ^ "I partied at Blind Willies (Statesboro, Ga.)". www.facebook.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- ^ a b "Blind Willie's – Atlanta's Finest Blues Bar". Blindwillieblues.com. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Works cited
- Gray, Michael (2009). Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-56976-337-7. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
General references
- ISBN 978-0-252-06521-7.
- Charters, Samuel, ed. Sweet as the Showers of Rain. Oak Publications, 1977, pp, 120–131.
External links
- New Georgia Encyclopedia – Blind Willie McTell article
- Illustrated Blind Willie McTell discography
- Blind Willie McTell at Find a Grave
- "Statesboro Blues" MP3 file on the Internet Archive
- David Fulmer, producer "Blind Willie's Blues" Documentary film, 1996
- "The Dying Crapshooter's Blues" Novel by David Fulmer featuring McTell as a character
- John May interviews biographer Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Michael Gray
- Review of Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell by Michael Gray