Blind Willie McTell, the Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and player, was born 122 years ago today.
McTell played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues. Unlike his contemporaries, however, he came to use twelve-string guitars exclusively. He was also an adept slide guitarist, unusual among ragtime bluesmen.
McTell’s vocal style, a smooth and often laid-back tenor, differed greatly from many of the harsher voice types employed by Delta bluesmen, such as Charley Patton. He 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 guitar in his early teens. He soon became a street performer around several Georgia cities including Atlanta and Augusta. He 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 throughout the 1920s and 30s.
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 associate, Curley Weaver. Twice more he recorded professionally. McTell's last recordings originated during an impromptu session recorded by an Atlanta record store owner in 1956.
McTell would die three years later at age 61 after suffering for years from diabetes and alcoholism. Despite his mainly failed releases, McTell was one of the few archaic blues musicians that would actively play and record during the 1940s and 50s. However, McTell never lived to be "rediscovered" during the imminent American folk music revival, as many other bluesmen would.
McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists. 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.
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. 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 Is Mine."
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions: First, 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, Dylan used McTell in his song "Blind Willie McTell," recorded in 1983, but released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3. Then he did it again with covers of McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, World Gone Wrong. Also, Dylan’s song "Po' Boy," on 2001's "Love & Theft," contains the lyric, "had to go to Florida dodging them Georgia laws," which comes from McTell's "Kill It Kid."
A blues bar in Atlanta is named after McTell and regularly features blues musicians and bands. The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held annually in Thomson, Georgia.
Here, Bob Dylan performs “Blind Willie McTell” in honor of Martin Scorsese in January, 2012.
Bob Dylan performs Blind Willie McTell