Blind Alfred Reed

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"Blind" Alfred Reed (born June 15, 1880 in Floyd , Virginia , † January 17, 1956 ) was an American old-time musician . Reed was known for his protest songs that commented on the current situation in the 1920s.

Life

First years

Not much is known about his childhood or youth. Alfred Reed was born in Floyd, Virginia . He was blind from birth , which is why he was later given the nickname "Blind". Reed grew up in a conservative family and was given a fiddle at an early age , which he soon mastered.

Career

While Reed was playing at a Fiddler's Convention in Tennessee in 1927 , he was discovered by producer Ralph Peer . Peer overheard him reciting the song Wreck of the Virginian and asked Reed if he would be interested in recordings. Peer had traveled to Bristol with a mobile studio looking for new talent. That day, Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family , the first country music superstars, recorded their first songs. Reed was accompanied on guitar by his son Arville on these recordings . They recorded a total of four tracks: You Must Unload , I Mean to Live For Jesus , The Wreck of the Virginian and Walking in the Way of Jesus .

After the so-called Bristol Session, Reed continued to record records in the years that followed. Two of his best known pieces are How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live and Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls? , of which a second part was recorded. Both pieces were self-written and dealt with current events of the time. The latter had a very conservative topic as its content: Reed criticized the way women did their hair back then, which in his eyes was immoral and inappropriate. How Can a Man Stand Such Times and Live , on the other hand, commented on the poor economic situation in the United States due to the global economic crisis . Reed is therefore regarded as one of the first protest singers, especially since composing your own pieces was very rare in the hillbilly music of the time.

After 1929, Reed gave up his career. Reed spent the rest of his life in Sumner County , Tennessee , and Mercer County , West Virginia . Reed died in 1956; he was starved. He was buried in Elgood, West Virginia. In 2007 Blind Alfred Reed was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame , and in the same year well-known musicians such as Little Jimmy Dickens and Tim O'Brien recorded the album Always Lift Him Up: A Tribute to Blind Alfred Reed , the 19 tracks by Reed contains sung by other artists.

Discography

The chronology of his later Victor publications is unclear.

year title Remarks
Victor Records
1927 Walking in the Way of Jesus / Wreck of the Virginian as Reverend Alfred Reed
1927 I Mean to Live for Jesus / You Must Unload B-side as Blind Reverend Alfred Reed
1928 Prayer of the Drunkard's Little Girl / Explosion in the Fairmont Mines
1928 Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls? / Always Lift Him Up and Never Knock Him Down
1928 I'm Going to Walk on the Streets of Glory / Fate of Chris Lively and Wife A-side of the West Virginia Night Owls
1930 Woman's Been After Man Ever Since / Why Don't You Bob Your Hair, Girls? - Part 2 A-side as Alfred Reed
1930 There'll Be No Distinction There / Beware
1930 The Old Fashioned Cottage / You'll Miss Me
1930 How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times? / Money Craving Folks
1930 We've Just Got to Have 'em, That's All / Black and Blue Blues
Bluebird Records
Always Lift Him Up and Never Knock Him Down / There'll Be No Distinction There
Unpublished titles
  • The Wreck of the Virginian (alt. Take)
  • Walking in the Way with Jesus (alt. Take)
  • The railroader
  • Bonnie Little Girl
Victor, unpublished 1927 to 1929

swell

  1. The discography partly follows Tony Russell: Country Music Records: A Discography 1921-1942 ; Oxford University Press

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