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Blind Willie McTell

 
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Blind Willie McTell

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Singer, guitarist

Blind Willie McTell’s music is characterized by his clear voice and twelve-string finger picking technique. His crisp, clean guitar lines intertwine with and underline his lyrics. Through his repertoire McTell was able to cater to a wide audience, being adept at playing blues, ragtime, gospel, pop, and country material. While none of his records was a hit, he was able to record prolifically by creating a different pseudonym for each recording scout he encountered.

William Samuel McTell was born on May 5,1901 in Thompson, Georgia. Despite lifelong blindness McTell knew his way around several major cities, including New York City’s subway system, and could distinguish between different denominations of bank notes. There was some confusion over his surname; some sources claimed his real name was "McTear" but a teacher at a blind school he attended inadvertently changed it to "McTell", misunderstanding Willie’s diction. However, in a 1977 interview, his wife Kate McTell said that somebody on his father’s side of the family disguised their name because they were "big whiskey still people."

Blind Willie McTell learned the guitar from his mother during his early teens. Through his teenage years and early twenties he played in various touring carnivals and shows, including the John Roberts Plantation Show. During this time he also attended various schools for the blind in New York and Georgia where he learned to read Braille. He recorded his first sides for the Victor company in 1927 in Atlanta. These would be the first of many recordings by McTell under various names.

Recorded Prolifically Under Many Names
During the late twenties and thirties, McTell appeared before every recording scout who came to Atlanta with his guitar and a new persona. He recorded as "Blind Sammie" for Columbia, "Georgia Bill" for OKeh, "Red Hot Willie Glaze" for Bluebird, and "Blind Willie" for Vocalion. He also recorded and interviewed with John and Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1940, but that session remained unreleased because the Lomax-es didn’t care for McTell’s style. Most of Willie’s records were solo vocal numbers with his own guitar accompaniment; he also recorded with Curly Weaver, Buddy Moss, and Ruth Day.

Blind Willie McTell married Ruth Kate Williams in 1934. Willie traveled constantly, while Kate stayed home pursuing a career as an army nurse. In a 1977 interview, Kate McTell recalled Willie’s response when she asked why he traveled so frequently, "He said ‘Baby, I was born a rambler. I’m gonna ramble until I die, but I’m preparing you to live after I’m gone’. He sure did. I

retired with thirty-two years of nurse training at Fort Gordon."

Played for Tips
Between 1937 and 1948 McTell made a living playing for tips in various cities across the Eastern seaboard rather than recording. In 1949 McTell went to Atlantic Records’ studios in New York City, where Atlantic founder and blues enthusiast Ahmet Ertegun recognized him from records in his own collection. Atlantic released a single pairing two songs McTell recorded years earlier, "Kill It, Kid" and "Broke Down Engine Blues", under the name "Barrelhouse Sammy". Billboards January, 1950 Rhythm and Blues Record Review column gave the disc a good review. The reviewer considered "Kill It, Kid", "an engaging, raggy blues…with vitality and humor and a jivey guitar accompaniment." "Broke Down Engine Blues" was considered "more conventional", possibly because the updated version is slower, more confident, and more haunting than the original version recorded over twenty years before.

In 1950, Fred Mendelson of Regal Records was scouting for blues talent in Atlanta. Appropriately, Blind Willie McTell found him and recorded a session as Pig n’ Whistle Red, named for a barbecue joint where he played requests for tips. This would be his last recording session with his occasional partner Curley Weaver. Ironically, despite a prolific career of recording under a variety of aliases for any recording scout in town, Blind Willie McTell had to be persuaded to record his last session. After Ed Rhodes, an Atlanta record store owner, played a Leadbelly record for a foreign student, the student returned and informed him that a man down the street was singing in a style similar to Leadbelly’s. The singer was Blind Willie McTell, playing for tips behind the Blue Lantern Club. Rhodes, who owned some recording equipment, approached McTell about recording a session. At first, Willie refused, but dropped by Mr. Rhodes’s store occasionally over the next few weeks. McTell finally relented, and provided Mr. Rhodes with a reprise of material he’d performed over his lifetime, interspersed with anecdotes about his life and music. The tapes were kept in his store’s attic unre-leased for a few years. One day while cleaning the attic, well after he had sold his recording equipment, all the tapes Mr. Rhodes made were lying in a trash can. There was only one salvageable tape, which was later released as the Blind Willie McTell’s Last Session album on Prestige/Bluesville Records.

Gave Up The Blues
Around 1957, according to Kate McTell’s 1977 interview, Blind Willie McTell quit singing the blues and became a preacher, singing only spirituals, "He knew he was getting on in age. He said he felt like he was coming to the end of his journey, he was coming back to God". Willie McTell died of a cerebral hemhorrage on August 19, 1959 at the Milledgeville State Hospital in Georgia. Like many classic blues singers, little was known about Blind Willie McTell’s life, until blues enthusiast David Evans tracked down Willie’s wife, Kate, for a three-part interview published by Blues Unlimited magazine in 1977. This has ensured that details about McTell and many of the musicians he’d known are available for future generations.

Blind Willie McTell did not live to be "rediscovered" during the early 1960’s folk-blues revival. However, he did leave behind a durable body of work that has been appreciated by many blues and rock fans; his song "Statesboro Blues" was exposed to millions via a cover versions by Taj Mahal and the Allman Brothers Band. For listeners who crave the original recordings, most of his work is back in print.

Selected discography
The Early Years (1927-1933), Yazoo/Shanachie, 1989.
Blind Willie McTell 1927-1935, Yazoo/Shanachie, 1991.
The Definitive Blind Willie McTell, Columbia Legacy, 1994.
Atlanta Twelve-String, Atlantic, 1991.
Pig n’ Whistle Red, Biograph, 1993.
Last Session, Prestige/Bluesville, 1987.
"Broke Down Engine Blues" from The Blues, Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, 1993.
"Southern Can Is Mine" from The Beauty of the Blues, Columbia Legacy, 1991.

Sources
Books
Barlow, William, Looking Up At Down, Temple University Press, 1989.
Davis, Francis, The History of the Blues, Hyperion, 1995.
Gart, Galen, First Pressings Vol. 1 (1948-1950), Big Nickel, 1989.
Guralnick, Peter, The Listener’s Guide To The Blues, Facts on File, 1982.
Harris, Sheldon, Blues Who’s Who, Arlington House, 1979.
Herzhaft, Gerard, Encyclopedia of the Blues, University of Arkansas Press, 1992.
Oliver, Paul, ed., The Blackwell Guide To Blues Records, Blackwell Reference, 1989.
Springer, Robert, and Andre J.M. Prevos, Authentic Blues,
It’s History and Its Themes, Edwin Mellen Press, 1995.

Periodicals
Billboard, January 1950.
Blues Unlimited, July/August 1977; September/October 1977; November/December 1977.
Jazz Journal, August, 1950.
Jazz Report, Vol. 8, Number 6.
Record Research, June/July 1959.
Records and Recording, December, 1972.
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Blind Willie McTell

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  • Genres: Blues

Biography

Willie Samuel McTell was one of the blues' greatest guitarists, and also one of the finest singers ever to work in blues. A major figure with a local following in Atlanta from the 1920s onward, he recorded dozens of sides throughout the '30s under a multitude of names -- all the better to juggle "exclusive" relationships with many different record labels at once -- including Blind Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill, as a backup musician to Ruth Mary Willis. And those may not have been all of his pseudonyms -- we don't even know what he chose to call himself, although "Blind Willie" was his preferred choice among friends. Much of what we do know about him was learned only years after his death, from family members and acquaintances. His family name was, so far as we know, McTier or McTear, and the origins of the "McTell" name are unclear. What is clear is that he was born into a family filled with musicians -- his mother and his father both played guitar, as did one of his uncles, and he was also related to Georgia Tom Dorsey, who later became the Rev. Thomas Dorsey.

McTell was born in Thomson, Georgia, near Augusta, and raised near Statesboro. He was probably born blind, although early in his life he could perceive light in one eye. His blindness never became a major impediment, however, and it was said that his sense of hearing and touch were extraordinary. His first instruments were the harmonica and the accordion, but as soon as he was big enough he took up the guitar and showed immediate aptitude on the new instrument. He played a standard six-string acoustic until the mid-'20s, and never entirely abandoned the instrument, but from the beginning of his recording career, he used a 12-string acoustic in the studio almost exclusively. McTell's technique on the 12-string instrument was unique. Unlike virtually every other bluesman who used one, he relied not on its resonances as a rhythm instrument, but, instead, displayed a nimble, elegant slide and finger-picking style that made it sound like more than one guitar at any given moment. He studied at a number of schools for the blind, in Georgia, New York, and Michigan, during the early '20s, and probably picked up some formal musical knowledge. He worked medicine shows, carnivals, and other outdoor venues, and was a popular attraction, owing to his sheer dexterity and a nasal singing voice that could sound either pleasant or mournful, and incorporated some of the characteristics normally associated with white hillbilly singers.

McTell's recording career began in late 1927 with two sessions for Victor records, eight sides including "Statesboro Blues." McTell's earliest sides were superb examples of storytelling in music, coupled with dazzling guitar work. All of McTell's music showed extraordinary power, some of it delightfully raucous ragtime, other examples evoking darker, lonelier sides of the blues, and all of it displaying astonishingly rich guitar work.

McTell worked under a variety of names, and with a multitude of partners, including his one-time wife Ruthy Kate Williams (who recorded with him under the name Ruby Glaze), and also Buddy Moss and Curley Weaver. McTell cut some of his best songs more than once in his career. Like many bluesmen, he recorded under different names simultaneously, and was even signed to Columbia and Okeh Records, two companies that ended up merged at the end of the '30s, at the same time, under two names. His recording career never gave McTell quite as much success as he had hoped, partly due to the fact that some of his best work appeared during the depths of the Depression. He was uniquely popular in Atlanta, where he continued to live and work throughout most of his career, and, in fact, was the only blues guitarist of any note from the city to remain active in the city until well after World War II.

McTell was well-known enough that Library of Congress archivist John Lomax felt compelled to record him in 1940, although during the war, like many other acoustic country bluesmen, his recording career came to a halt. Luckily for McTell and generations of listeners after him, however, there was a brief revival of interest in acoustic country-blues after World War II that brought him back into the studio. Amazingly enough, the newly founded Atlantic Records -- which was more noted for its recordings of jazz and R&B -- took an interest in McTell and cut 15 songs with him in Atlanta during 1949. The one single released from these sessions, however, didn't sell, and most of those recordings remained unheard for more than 20 years after they were made. A year later, however, he was back in the studio, this time with his longtime partner Curley Weaver, cutting songs for the Regal label. None of these records sold especially well, however, and while McTell kept playing for anyone who would listen, the bitter realities of life had finally overtaken him, and he began drinking on a regular basis. He was rediscovered in 1956, just in time to get one more historic session down on tape. He left music soon after, to become a pastor of a local church, and he died of a brain hemorrhage in 1959, his passing so unnoticed at the time that certain reissues in the '70s referred to McTell as still being alive in the '60s.

Blind Willie McTell was one of the giants of the blues, as a guitarist and as a singer and recording artist. Hardly any of his work as passed down to us on record is less than first-rate, and this makes most any collection of his music worthwhile. A studious and highly skilled musician whose skills transcended the blues, he was equally adept at ragtime, spirituals, story-songs, hillbilly numbers, and popular tunes, excelling in all of these genres. He could read and write music in braille, which gave him an edge on many of his sighted contemporaries, and was also a brilliant improvisor on the guitar, as is evident from his records. McTell always gave an excellent account of himself, even in his final years of performing and recording. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Blind Willie McTell

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For the Bob Dylan song, see Blind Willie McTell (song).
Blind Willie McTell

McTell recording for John Lomax in an Atlanta hotel room, November 1940. Photograph by the archivist's wife, Ruby Lomax.
Background information
Birth name William Samuel McTier
Also known as Blind Sammie, Georgia Bill, Hot Shot Willie, Blind Willie, Barrelhouse Sammy, Pig & Whistle Red, Blind Doogie, Red Hot Willie Glaze, Red Hot Willie
Born May 5, 1898(1898-05-05)
Thomson, Georgia, U.S.
Origin Statesboro, Georgia, U.S.
Died August 19, 1959(1959-08-19) (aged 61)
Milledgeville, Georgia, U.S.
Genres Country blues, Piedmont blues, ragtime, Delta blues, gospel
Occupations Musician, songwriter, songster, accompanist, preacher
Instruments Vocals, guitar, harmonica, accordian, kazoo, violin
Years active 1927–1956
Labels Victor, Columbia, Okeh, Vocalion, Decca, Atlantic, Regal
Associated acts Curley Weaver, Kate McTell
Notable instruments
Stella Jumbo Twelve-String, Stella Grand Concert Twelve-String, Stella Long Scale Grand Concert Twelve-String, Harmony Twelve-String, Harmony-Stella 922[1]

Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959), was an influential Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues, although, unlike his contemporaries, he used exclusively a twelve-string guitar. As well as this, McTell was an adept slide guitarist, unusual among many ragtime bluesmen. His vocal style, a smooth and often laid-back tenor, differed greatly from many of the harsher and more expressive voice types employed by Delta bluesmen such as Charlie Patton. McTell embodied a variety of musical styles, including blues, ragtime, religious music, and hokum.

Born blind in the town of Thomson, Georgia, McTell learned how to play the guitar during his teens. He soon became a street performer around several Georgia cities, namely Atlanta; and first recorded in 1927 for Victor Records. Although he never produced a major hit record, McTell's recording career was prolific, recording for different labels under different names all throughout the 1920s and 30s, often with other people. In 1940, he was recorded by John Lomax for the Library of Congress's folk song archive. He would remain active throughout the 1940s and 50s, playing on the streets of Atlanta, often with his longtime partner Curley Weaver. Twice more he recorded professionally. McTell's last recordings originated during an impromptu session recorded by Atlanta record store owner Edward Rhodes in 1956; these were released posthumously. McTell would die three years later after suffering for years from diabetes and alcoholism. Despite his mainly failed releases, McTell was one of the few archaic blues musicians that would live to actively play and record during the 1940s and 50s (although, McTell never lived to be "rediscovered" during the imminent American folk music revival, where many other bluesmen would be rediscovered and given a chance to record).[2]

McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists, including The Allman Brothers Band, who famously covered McTell's "Statesboro Blues", and Bob Dylan, who paid tribute to McTell in his 1983 song "Blind Willie McTell". Other artists include Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, The White Stripes, and Chris Smither.

Contents

Biography

Born William Samuel McTier[3] in Thomson, Georgia, blind in one eye, McTell had lost his remaining vision by late childhood but became an adept reader of Braille. He showed proficiency in music from an early age, first playing harmonica and accordion and turning to the six-string guitar in his early teens.[3][4] Born into a musical family, both of his parents and an uncle played guitar; he is also a relation of bluesman and gospel pioneer, Thomas A. Dorsey.[3] His father left the family when McTell was still young, and when his mother died in the 1920s, he left his hometown and became a wandering busker. He began his recording career in 1927 for Victor Records in Atlanta.[5]

In the years before World War II, he traveled and performed widely, recording for a number of labels under many different names, including Blind Willie McTell (Victor and Decca), Blind Sammie (Columbia), Georgia Bill (Okeh), Hot Shot Willie (Victor), Blind Willie (Vocalion and Bluebird), Barrelhouse Sammie (Atlantic), and Pig & Whistle Red (Regal).The "Pig 'n Whistle" appellation was a reference to a chain of Atlanta Bar-B-Que restaurants, one of which was located on the south side of East Ponce de Leon between Boulevard and Moreland Avenue. Blind Willie frequently played for tips in the parking lot of this location, which later became the Krispy Kreme. He was also known to play behind the nearby building that later became Ray Lee's Blue Lantern Lounge. His style was singular: a form of country blues bridging the gap between the raw blues of the early part of the 20th century and the more refined east coast "Piedmont" sound. He took on the less common and more unwieldy 12-string guitar because of its volume. The style is well documented on John Lomax's 1940 recordings of McTell for the Library of Congress. McTell earned $10 from these sessions, the equivalent of $154.56 in 2011.[5]

In 1934, he married Ruthy Kate Williams (now better known as Kate McTell).[6] She accompanied him on stage and on several recordings before becoming a nurse in 1939. Most of their marriage from 1942 until his death was spent apart, with her living in Fort Gordon near Augusta and him working around Atlanta.

Postwar, he recorded for Atlantic Records and Regal Records in 1949, but these recordings met with less commercial success than his previous works. He continued to perform around Atlanta, but his career was cut short by ill health, predominantly diabetes and alcoholism.

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 were released posthumously on Prestige/Bluesville Records as Last Session.[7]

McTell died in Milledgeville, Georgia, of a stroke in 1959. He was buried at Jones Grove Church, near Thomson, Georgia, his birthplace. A fan paid to have a gravestone erected on his resting place. The name given on his gravestone is Eddie McTier.[2]

He was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981,[8] and into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1990[citation needed].

Influence

The record label of one of McTell's most notable works, "Statesboro Blues".

One of McTell's most famous songs, "Statesboro Blues," was frequently covered by The Allman Brothers Band and is considered one of their earliest signature songs[citation needed]. A short list of some of the artists who also perform it includes Taj Mahal, David Bromberg, The Devil Makes Three and Ralph McTell, who changed his name on account of liking the song.[9] Ry Cooder covered McTell's "Married Man's a Fool" on his 1973 album, Paradise and Lunch. Jack White of The White Stripes considers McTell an influence, as their 2000 album De Stijl was dedicated to him and featured a cover of his song "Southern Can Mama". The White Stripes also covered McTell's "Lord, Send Me an Angel", releasing it as a single in 2000.

Bob Dylan has paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions: Firstly, in his 1965 song "Highway 61 Revisited", the second verse begins with "Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose", referring to one of Blind Willie McTell's many recording names; later in his song "Blind Willie McTell", recorded in 1983 but released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3; then with covers of McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, World Gone Wrong.;[10] also, in his song "Po'Boy", on 2001's "Love & Theft", which contains the lyric, "had to go to Florida dodging them Georgia laws", which comes from McTell's "Kill It Kid".[11]

A blues bar in Atlanta is named after McTell and regularly features blues musicians and bands[citation needed]. The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held annually in Thomson, Georgia.[12] A new stage production about Blind Willie McTell will premier at the Averritt Arts Center in Willie's hometown of Statesboro, Georgia, in the summer of 2011. The show is entitled "Blind Willie: The Musical"[citation needed].

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 *w/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 *w/"Partner" (Curley Weaver)
"My Baby's Gone" "Weary Hearted Blues" 02668
1935 "Bell Street Blues" "Ticket Agent Blues" Decca 7078 Blind Willie McTell *w/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" 7117
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 *w/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 Day "Experience Blues" "Painful Blues" Columbia 14642-D
1931 Mary Willis "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 compilation inclusions

  • 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)

References

  1. ^ Harpe, Neil: Blind Willie's Guitars. Stella Guitars & Other Oscar Schmidt Instruments. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. ^ a b Hal Jacobs, Decatur. New Georgia Encyclopedia: "Blind Willie" McTell (1898-1959). New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Conner, Patrick. "Blind Willie McTell". East Coast Piedmont Blues. University of North Carolina. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  4. ^ Jacobs, Hal. "Blind Willie McTell". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  5. ^ a b Justin Green - Musical Legends (ISBN 0-86719-587-8)
  6. ^ http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/mctell.html
  7. ^ "Blind Willie McTell". bluesnet. http://bluesnet.hub.org/readings/mctell.html. Retrieved 2006-11-17. 
  8. ^ Blues Foundation :: Inductees
  9. ^ Hockenhull, Chris. "Streets of London: The Official Biography of Ralph McTell", p. 40. Northdown, 1997. ISBN 1-900711-02-8.
  10. ^ In his sleeve notes for World Gone Wrong, 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)'
  11. ^ Kill it Kid, Last Session, Bluesville BV 1040, Released 1962
  12. ^ Blindwillieblues.com
  • Charters, Samuel Sweet as the Showers of Rain (Oak Publications) pp 120–131

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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Gale Musician Profiles. Contemporary Musicians © 1989-2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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