Blind Arvella Gray (January 28, 1906 - September 7, 1980) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, folk and gospel singer and guitarist. Gray was born James Dixon, in Somerville, Texas. He spent the latter part of his life performing and

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

folk, blues and gospel music at Chicago's

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). '' ...

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

and at rapid-transit depots. In the 1960s, he recorded two singles for his own Gray label, including "Freedom Rider" backed with "Freedom Bus." Gray's only album, ''The Singing Drifter'' (1973), was reissued on the Conjuroo record label in 2005. The reissue was

produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

by Cary Baker, who wrote the liner notes for the original vinyl LP, released by Birch Records. Gray died in Chicago, Illinois, in September 1980, at the age of 74.

References

External links

Illustrated Blind Arvella Gray discography
1906 births 1980 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from Texas American street performers Blind musicians 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers {{US-blues-musician-stub