Blind Willie McTell

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Statesboro Blues label on Victor Records , V-38001

Blind Willie McTell (born May 5, 1898 or 1901 in Thomson , Georgia , † August 19, 1959 in Milledgeville , Georgia) (actually William Samuel McTier ) was an influential American blues musician and an outstanding representative of the Piedmont Blues .

biography

In his early childhood completely blind , but McTell was able by means of braille music scores to read. In 1934 he married Ruth Kate Williams, with whom he remained married until his death. In 1957 he gave up the blues and turned to religion, in 1959 he died of a brain haemorrhage. In 1977 the blues researcher David Evans interviewed his widow and thus unearthed data on McTell's life for the first time.

Little known to Blind Willie McTell during his lifetime, he was still able to record regularly, giving agents who spoke to him a different pseudonym each time. So he published from 1927 as "Blind Sammie" for Columbia, "Georgia Bill" for OKeh, as "Hot Shot Willie" for Victor, as "Blind Willie" for Vocalion and Bluebird, 1949 as "Barrelhouse Sammy" for Atlantic and 1950 as “Pig n Whistle Red” for Regal. Despite his relatively extensive discography, he lived mainly from his activity as a street musician. As such, he was touring the southern United States for a long time with Blind Willie Johnson . His music is distinguished by his clear voice and his own technique of playing 12-string guitars .

It was only after his death that many other musicians, such as the Allman Brothers , took up his work. Bob Dylan wrote in his 1983 song Blind Willie McTell , "Nobody sings the blues like Blind Willie McTell". An alleged statement by Dylan such as "best blues singer" was rumored, but is nowhere reliably documented. Dylan performed McTell's Broke Down Engine in 1993 .

McTell was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1981.

Well-known pieces

  • Statesboro blues
  • Broke Down Engine Blues
  • Death Room Blues
  • Love makin 'mom
  • Your Southern Can Is Mine
  • The Dyin 'Crapshooter's Blues
  • Weary Hearted Blues

Discography

  • Last Session (1960)
  • Blind Willie McTell: 1927-1933 The Early Years (1968)
  • Complete Library Of Congress Recordings (1940) (1969)
  • Blind Willie McTell: 1927-1935 (1974)
  • Blues Original, Vol. 1 (1972)
  • Atlanta Twelve String (1975)
  • Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 1 (1990)
  • Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 2 (1990)
  • Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, Vol. 3 (1990)
  • Definitive Blind Willie Mctell (1994)
  • Broke Down Engine Blues 1927-1935 (2001)
  • The Essential Blind Willie McTell (2001)
  • The Definitive Blind Willie McTell 1927-1935 (2002)
  • Blind Willie McTell: Experience Blues (2002)
  • Blind Willie McTell: Statesboro Blues The Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1927-1932 (2003)
  • Classic Years 1927-1940 (2003)
  • Atlanta Strut (2004)
  • Best Of Blind Willie McTell (2004)
  • Devil Can't Hide From Me (2004)
  • Pig 'N Whistle Red (2004)
  • A To Z Blues: Biograph Recordings (2004)
  • Georgia Rag (2005)
  • Statesboro Blues: The Early Years 1927-1935 (2005) - 3 CD box with Complete Recorded Works Vol. 1 - 3
  • King Of The Georgia Blues (2007)

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Thon: Blind Willie McTell. In: Guitar & Lute. Volume 1, Issue 1, 1979, pp. 33-35; here: p. 34 (date of birth according to McTell's own dating)
  2. ↑ Harald Thon: Blind Willie Johnson. In: Guitar & Lute. Volume 2, Issue 5, 1980, pp. 21-23; here: p. 21 f.
personal data
SURNAME McTell, Blind Willie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McTear, William Samuel (real name); Blind Sammie (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues musician
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1898 or 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Thomson , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH 19th August 1959
Place of death Milledgeville , Georgia