And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell
~Bob Dylan (“Blind Willie McTell”)He was a songster of wide repertoire and as fine a 12-string guitarist as ever lived. The dexterity of his playing was extraordinary, and his voice was an unusually smooth tenor. The interplay between voice and guitar also brought into the equation McTell’s intelligence and wit, and it was the fusion of all these elements that led Bob Dylan to write in his 1983 tribute song that ‘no-one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell.’
~Michael Gray (BD Encyclopedia)Willie Samuel McTell was one of the blues’ greatest guitarists, and also one of the finest singers ever to work in blues.
~Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)
Statesboro Blues:
Wikipedia:
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, Eddie McTier |
Born | May 5, 1898 Thomson, Georgia, U.S. |
Origin | Statesboro, Georgia, U.S. |
Died | August 19, 1959 (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, accordion, kazoo, violin |
Years active | 1927–1956 |
Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959), was a 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 came to use twelve-string guitars exclusively. McTell was also an adept slide guitarist, unusual among ragtime bluesmen. His 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. McTell embodied a variety of musical styles, including blues, ragtime, religious music and hokum.
Travelin’ Blues:
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, 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 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 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, 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”; 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, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Ralph McTell, Chris Smither and The White Stripes.
Pal of Mine:
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions:
Bob Dylan – Blind Willie McTell – Hollywood Palladium Theater, Los Angeles, California – 12 January 2012:
Check out this great post @ jasobrecht.com:
Birth name | Virginia Wynette Pugh |
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Born | May 5, 1942 Itawamba County, Mississippi United States |
Died | April 6, 1998 (aged 55) Nashville, Tennessee |
Genres | Country, Nashville Sound |
Occupations | Singer, Songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
Years active | 1966 –1998 |
-Egil
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