Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a

Piedmont blues Piedmont blues (also known as East Coast, or Southeastern blues) refers primarily to a guitar style, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melo ...

and

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated

fingerstyle guitar Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plectr ...

technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues. Unlike his contemporaries, he came to use

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

s exclusively. McTell was also an adept slide guitarist, unusual among ragtime bluesmen. His vocal style, a smooth and often laid-back

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

, differed greatly from many of the harsher voices of

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

bluesmen such as

Charley Patton Charley Patton (April 1891 (probable) – April 28, 1934), also known as Charlie Patton, was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. Considered by many to be the "Father of the Delta Blues", he created an enduring body of American mus ...

. McTell performed in various musical styles, including

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 ...

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...

and

hokum Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early blues recordings and is used from time to time in modern Ameri ...

. McTell was born in

Thomson, Georgia Thomson (originally called Slashes) is a city in McDuffie County, Georgia, McDuffie County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 6,778 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of McDuffie County. Thomson's nicknam ...

. He learned to play the guitar in his early teens. He soon became a street performer in several Georgia cities, including

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and Augusta, and first recorded in 1927 for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

. He never produced a major

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, but he had a prolific recording career with different labels and under different names in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1940, he was recorded by the folklorist

John A. Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess ...

and

Ruby Terrill Lomax Ruby Terrill Lomax (1886 – December 28, 1961) was an American educator and folklorist, who worked with her husband John A. Lomax to collect American folk songs, campaigned for women's education, and was Dean of Women at University of Texas at ...

for the folk song archive of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. He was active in the 1940s and 1950s, playing on the streets of Atlanta, often with his longtime associate

Curley Weaver Curley James Weaver (March 25, 1906 – September 20, 1962) was an American blues musician, also known as Slim Gordon. Biography Early years Weaver was born in Covington, Georgia, and raised on a farm near Porterdale. His mother, Savannah "Dip" ...

. Twice more he recorded professionally. His last recordings originated during an impromptu session recorded by an Atlanta record store owner in 1956. McTell died three years later, having lived for years with diabetes and alcoholism. Despite his lack of commercial success, he was one of the few blues musicians of his generation who continued to actively play and record during the 1940s and 1950s. He did not live to see the

American folk music revival The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Billie Holiday, Richard Dyer-Benn ...

, in which many other bluesmen were "rediscovered". McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists, including the

Allman Brothers Band Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame southern rock band, formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Allman Joys, an early band formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Gregg Allman Band People *Allman (surname) ...

, who covered his "

Statesboro Blues "Statesboro Blues" is a Piedmont blues song written by Blind Willie McTell, who recorded it in 1928. The title refers to the town of Statesboro, Georgia. In 1968, Taj Mahal recorded a popular blues rock adaptation of the song with a prominent sli ...

", and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, who paid tribute to him in his 1983 song "

Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont b ...

", 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 The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

Alvin Youngblood Hart Alvin Youngblood Hart (born Gregory Edward Hart; March 2, 1963) is an American musician. Career Hart was born in Oakland, California, and spent some time in Carroll County, Mississippi, in his youth, where he was influenced by the Mississippi ...

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

, Chris Smither,

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

, and the

White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wi ...

Biography

He was born William Samuel McTierConner, Patrick.
Blind Willie McTell
". ''East Coast Piedmont Blues''. University of North Carolina. Retrieved June 30, 2011. in the Happy Valley community outside

. Most sources give the date of his birth as 1898, but researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest 1903, on the basis of his entry in the 1910 census. McTell was born blind in one eye and lost his remaining vision by late childhood. He attended schools for the blind in Georgia, New York and Michigan and showed proficiency in music from an early age, first playing the harmonica and accordion, learning to read and write music in

Braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

, and turning to the six-string guitar in his early teens.Jacobs, Hal.
Blind Willie McTell
. ''The New Georgia Encyclopedia''. November 3, 2009. Retrieved June 30, 2011. His family background was rich in music; both of his parents and an uncle played the guitar. He was related to the bluesman and gospel pioneer

Thomas A. Dorsey Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and Evangelism, Christian evangelist influential in the development of early blues and 20th-century gospel music. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them ...

. McTell's father left the family when Willie was young. After his mother died, in the 1920s, he left his hometown and became an itinerant musician, or "

songster A "songster" is a wandering musician, usually but not always African-American, of the type which first appeared in the late 19th century in the southern United States. Songsters in American culture The songster tradition both pre-dated and co-exi ...

". He began his recording career in 1927 for

.Green, Justin. ''Musical Legends''. . McTell married Ruth Kate Williams, now better known as

Kate McTell Kate McTell (born Ruthy Kate Williams; August 22, 1911 – October 3, 1991) was an American blues musician and nurse from Jefferson County, Georgia. She is known primarily as the former wife of the blues musician Blind Willie McTell, whom she acc ...

, in 1934. She accompanied him on stage and on several recordings before becoming a nurse in 1939. For most of their marriage, from 1942 until his death, they lived apart, she in

Fort Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...

, near Augusta, and he working around Atlanta. In the years before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, 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). The appellation "Pig & Whistle" was a reference to a chain of barbecue restaurants in Atlanta; 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 Huddie William Ledbetter (; January 20, 1888 – December 6, 1949), better known by the stage name Lead Belly, was an American folk music, folk and blues singer notable for his strong vocals, Virtuoso, virtuosity on the twelve-string guita ...

, another songster who began his career as a street artist, McTell favored the somewhat unwieldy and unusual

, whose greater volume made it suitable for outdoor playing. In 1940 John A. Lomax and his wife,

, a professor of

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, interviewed and recorded McTell for the

Archive of American Folk Song The Archive of Folk Culture (originally named The Archive of American Folk Song) was established in 1928 as the first national collection of American folk music in the United States of America. It was initially part of the Music Division of the Libr ...

of the

in a two-hour session held in their hotel room in Atlanta. These recordings document McTell's distinctive musical style, which bridges the gap between the raw country blues of the early part of the 20th century and the more conventionally melodious,

-influenced East Coast Piedmont blues sound. The Lomaxes also elicited from the singer traditional songs (such as "The Boll Weevil" and "John Henry") and spirituals (such as "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...

"), which were not part of his usual commercial repertoire. In the interview, John A. Lomax is heard asking if McTell knows any "complaining" songs (an earlier term for

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s), to which the singer replies somewhat uncomfortably and evasively that he does not. The Library of Congress paid McTell $10, the equivalent of $154.56 in 2011, for this two-hour session. The material from this 1940 session was issued in 1960 as an LP and later as a CD, under the somewhat misleading title ''The Complete Library of Congress Recordings'', notwithstanding the fact that it was truncated, in that it omitted some of John A. Lomax's interactions with the singer and entirely omitted the contributions of Ruby Terrill Lomax.

Ahmet Ertegun Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

visited Atlanta in 1949 in search of blues artists for this new

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

label and after finding McTell playing on the street, arranged a recording session. Some of the songs were released on 78, but sold poorly. The complete session was released in 1972 as "Atlanta Twelve-String." McTell recorded for Regal Records in 1949, but these recordings also met with less commercial success than his previous works. He continued to perform around Atlanta, but his career was cut short by ill health, mostly due to

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. In 1956, an Atlanta record store manager, Edward Rhodes, discovered McTell playing in the street for quarters and enticed him with a bottle of corn liquor into his store, where he captured a few final performances on a tape recorder. These recordings were released posthumously by Prestige/

Bluesville Records Bluesville Records was an American record label subsidiary of Prestige Records, launched in 1959, with the primary purpose of documenting the work of the older classic bluesmen passed over by the changing audience. Such bluesmen as Roosevelt Sykes, ...

as ''Last Session''. Beginning in 1957, McTell was a preacher at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Atlanta. McTell died of a stroke in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon and bordered on the east by the Oconee River. The rapid current of the river here made this an attractive location to buil ...

, 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. He was inducted into the

Blues Foundation The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 blues organizations from various parts of the world. Founded in 1980, a 25-person board of directors governs the ...

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum located at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1 ...

in 1981 and the

Georgia Music Hall of Fame The Georgia Music Hall of Fame was a hall of fame to recognize music performers and music industry professionals from or connected to the state of Georgia. It began with efforts of the state's lieutenant governor Zell Miller to attract the music ...

in 1990. 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, "

", was first adapted by

with

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, J ...

on slide guitar, then covered on an LP and frequently performed by the

; it also contributes to Canned Heat's "Goin' Up the Country". A short list of some of the artists who have performed the song includes

David Bromberg David Bromberg (born September 19, 1945) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. David Bromberg biographyat Billboard.com An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock a ...

Dave Van Ronk David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...

, The Devil Makes Three and

, who changed his name on account of liking the song.

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, an ...

covered McTell's "Married Man's a Fool" on his 1973 album, '' Paradise and Lunch''.

, of the

considers McTell an influence; the White Stripes album ''

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...

'' (2000) is dedicated to him and features a cover of his song "Southern Can Is Mine". The White Stripes also covered McTell's " Lord, Send Me an Angel", releasing it as a single in 2000. In 2013, Jack White's Third Man Records teamed up with Document Records to issue ''The Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order of Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and the Mississippi Sheiks''.

paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions. In his 1965 song "

Highway 61 Revisited ''Highway 61 Revisited'' is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on ever ...

", the second verse begins, "Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose", a reference to one of McTell's many recording names. (Note: There is no evidence of use of this moniker on any recordings) Dylan's song "

" was recorded in 1983 and released in 1991 on '' The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3''. Dylan also recorded covers of McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, ''

World Gone Wrong ''World Gone Wrong'' is the Bob Dylan discography, 29th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on October 26, 1993, by Columbia Records. It was Dylan's second consecutive collection of only traditional folk songs, performed ...

''; Dylan's song "Po' Boy", on the album '' Love and Theft'' (2001), contains the lyric "had to go to Florida dodging them Georgia laws", which comes from McTell's "Kill It Kid". The Bath-based band

Kill It Kid Kill It Kid are an English alternative rock band fronted by Chris Turpin (guitars & vocals). Members also include Stephanie Ward (Keys & vocals), Marc Jones (drums) and Dom Kozubik (bass guitar). The band was widely recognised as one of the ...

is named after the song of the same title. A billiards bar and concert in venue was named after McTell in the 1990s. The venue is now closed, but remains a fond memory for Georgia Southern University students at the time. Blind Willie's is a bar in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta named after McTell that features blues musicians and bands. The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held annually in Thomson, Georgia.

Discography

Singles

;As an accompanist

Long-plays

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 The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

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 The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

WSE 102 (1982) *''Blues in the Dark'', MCA 1368 (1983) *''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order'', vol. 1,

Document A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

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 In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

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

Citations

Works cited

General references

* Bastin, Bruce. ''Red River Blues: The Blues Tradition in the Southeast''. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1986, 1995. , . * Charters, Samuel, ed. ''Sweet as the Showers of Rain''. Oak Publications, 1977, pp, 120–131.

External links

New Georgia Encyclopedia – Blind Willie McTell article

* *
"Statesboro Blues" MP3 file on the Internet Archive

David Fulmer, producer "Blind Willie's Blues" Documentary film, 1996

* ttp://www.thegeneralist.co.uk/audio/michael.gray.2007.07.25.mp3 John May interviews biographer Michael Gray
Review of Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes: In Search of Blind Willie McTell by Michael Gray
{{DEFAULTSORT:McTell, Blind Willie 1898 births 1959 deaths Year of birth uncertain African-American male singer-songwriters American acoustic guitarists American blues guitarists American blues harmonica players American blues singer-songwriters American male guitarists American street performers Blind musicians Bluebird Records artists Columbia Records artists Country blues musicians East Coast blues musicians People from Thomson, Georgia Piedmont blues musicians Ragtime composers Songster musicians 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Prestige Records artists Transatlantic Records artists Third Man Records artists African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)