Blind Willie McTell

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.

Born 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 folklorist John A. Lomax and Ruby Terrill 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.

Genre
Early Country Blues

Songs

 * Three Women Blues
 * Death Room Blues
 * Bell Street Blues
 * Talking To Myself
 * Stomp Down Rider
 * Love Changing Blues
 * Weary Hearted Blues
 * Cold Winter Day
 * Rollin' Mama Blues
 * Drive Away Blues
 * Stole Rider Blues
 * Scarey Day Blues
 * It's A Good Little Thing
 * Love-makin' Mama
 * Lord, Send Me An Angel
 * My Baby's Gone
 * Mr. Mctell Got The Blues
 * Come On Around To My House Mama
 * Writin' Paper Blues
 * Savannah Mama
 * Runnin' Me Crazy
 * Warm It Up To Me
 * Ticket Agent Blues
 * Your Time To Worry
 * Boll Weevil
 * I Got To Cross The River Jordan
 * Dying Crapshooters Blues
 * Statesboro Blues
 * Little Delia
 * Searching The Desert For The Blues
 * Mama 't Ain't Long Fo' Day
 * Lay Some Flowers On My Grave
 * Dark Night Blues
 * Last Dime Blues
 * On The Cooling Board
 * Wabash Cannonball
 * Razor Ball
 * Travelin' Blues
 * Georgia Rag
 * Atlanta Strut
 * You Was Born To Die
 * Death Cell Blues
 * Kind Mama
 * Delia
 * Southern Can Is Mine
 * Broke Down Engine