Theodore Roosevelt Darby, better known as Blind Teddy Darby (March 2, 1906 – December 1975), was an American blues singer and guitarist. Darby was born in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. He moved to

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

with his family when he was a child. His mother taught him to play the guitar. He served some time for selling moonshine. In 1926, he lost his eyesight because of

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

.Barlow, William (1989). ''"Looking Up At Down": The Emergence of Blues Culture'', pp. 267–268. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. . He recorded from 1929 until 1937, under the names Blind Teddy Darby, Blind Darby, Blind Blues Darby and Blind Squire Turner for

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

and

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. In 1960 he was "rediscovered" and recorded by Pete Welding of Testament Records, but the recordings from this session were never released. Darby was a friend of the blues musician

Peetie Wheatstraw William Bunch (December 21, 1902 – December 21, 1941), known as Peetie Wheatstraw, was an American musician, an influential figure among 1930s blues singers. Early life and career William Bunch was the son of James Bunch and Mary (Burns) Bunc ...

. On December 21, 1941, Wheatstraw's 39th birthday, Darby was invited to go for a drive with Wheatstraw and two others, but Darby's wife objected, and he declined the invitation. Wheatstraw and his two companions were killed when their car struck a standing freight train. In the late 1930s, he gave up the blues and became an ordained deacon. His song, "Built Right on the Ground", has been covered (under the title of "I Never Cried"), from the 1970s onwards, by John Miller (who first changed the title),

Roy Book Binder Roy Book Binder (born October 5, 1943 as Paul Roy Bookbinder) is an American blues guitarist, singer-songwriter and storyteller. A student and friend of the Rev. Gary Davis, he is equally at home with blues and ragtime. He is known to shift ...

, Howard Bursen, and Phil Heywood.

Compilations

*''St. Louis Country Blues'' (Earl Archives, 1984) *''Bootleggin' Ain't Good No More'' (Blue Planet, 1993) *''Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order'' (Document, 1993)

References

External links

Illustrated Teddy Darby discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darby, Teddy 1906 births 1975 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Songwriters from Kentucky Blind musicians Blues musicians from Kentucky St. Louis blues musicians Paramount Records artists Bluebird Records artists Singers from Kentucky 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Kentucky African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers American blind people American musicians with disabilities