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: /____\ : >>> Blind Willie McTell: Statesboro Blues <<<
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:..:... Supplier: SER 2004 Release Date: 02/03/2004 ...:..:
: : Ripper: SER 2004 Street Date: 00/00/2003 :..:...
...:..: Genre: Blues Label: BMG : :
: : Tracks: 17 Tracks Quality: VBR/APS/44,1kHz ...:..:
: : Year: 2003 Channels: Joint Stereo : :
:..:... Source: CD Size: 45,1 MB :..:...
: : Language: English Rating: 50% of 100% : :
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Willie Samuel McTell was one of the blues' greatest guitarists, and
also one of the finest singers ever to work in blues. A major figure
with a local following in Atlanta from the 1920s onward, he recorded
dozens of sides throughout the 1930s under a multitude of names -- all
the better to juggle "exclusive" relationships with many different
record labels at once -- including Blind Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot
Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill, as a backup musician to Ruth Mary
Willis. And those may not have been all of his pseudonyms -- we don't
even know what he chose to call himself, although "Blind Willie" was
his preferred choice among friends. Much of what we do know about him
was learned only years after his death, from family members and
acquaintances. His family name was, so far as we know, McTier or
McTear, and the origins of the "McTell" name are unclear. What is
clear is that he was born into a family filled with musicians -- his
mother and his father both played guitar, as did one of his uncles,
and he was also related to Georgia Tom Dorsey, who later became the
Reverend Thomas Dorsey.
McTell was born in Thomson, Georgia, near Augusta, and raised near
Statesboro. Willie was probably born blind, although early in his life
he could perceive light in one eye. His blindness never became a major
impediment, however, and it was said that his sense of hearing and
touch were extraordinary. His first instruments were the harmonica and
the accordion, but as soon as he was big enough he took up the guitar
and showed immediate aptitude on the new instrument. He played a
standard six-string acoustic until the mid-'20s, and never entirely
abandoned the instrument, but from the beginning of his recording
career, he used a 12-string acoustic in the studio almost exclusively.
Willie's technique on the 12-string instrument was unique. Unlike
virtually every other bluesman who used one, he relied not on its
resonances as a rhythm instrument, but, instead, displayed a nimble,
elegant slide and finger-picking style that made it sound like more
than one guitar at any given moment. He studied at a number of schools
for the blind, in Georgia, New York, and Michigan, during the early
'20s, and probably picked up some formal musical knowledge. He worked
medicine shows, carnivals, and other outdoor venues, and was a popular
attraction, owing to his sheer dexterity and a nasal singing voice
that could sound either pleasant or mournful, and incorporated some of
the characteristics normally associated with White hillbilly singers.
Willie's recording career began in late 1927 with two sessions for
Victor records, eight sides including "Statesboro Blues." McTell's
earliest sides were superb examples of storytelling in music, coupled
with dazzling guitar work. All of McTell's music showed extraordinary
power, some of it delightfully raucous ragtime, other examples evoking
darker, lonelier sides of the blues, all of it displaying
astonishingly rich guitar work.
McTell worked under a variety of names, and with a multitude of
partners, including his one time wife Ruthy Kate Williams (who
recorded with him under the name Ruby Glaze), and also Buddy Moss and
Curley Weaver. McTell cut some of his best songs more than once in his
career. Like many bluesmen, he recorded under different names
simultaneously, and was even signed to Columbia and Okeh Records, two
companies that ended up merged at the end of the 1930s, at the same
time under two names. His recording career never gave Willie quite as
much success as he had hoped, partly due to the fact that some of his
best work appeared during the depths of the Depression. He was
uniquely popular in Atlanta, where he continued to live and work
throughout most of his career, and, in fact, was the only blues
guitarist of any note from the city to remain active in the city until
well after World War II.
Willie was well known enough that Library of Congress archivist John
Lomax felt compelled to record him in 1940, although during the war,
like many other acoustic country bluesmen, his recording career came
to a halt. Luckily for Willie and generations of listeners after him,
however, there was a brief revival of interest in acoustic country
blues after World War II that brought him back into the studio.
Amazingly enough, the newly founded Atlantic Records -- which was more
noted for its recordings of jazz and R&B -- took an interest in Willie
and cut 15 songs with him in Atlanta during 1949. The one single
released from these sessions, however, didn't sell, and most of those
recordings remained unheard for more than 20 years after they were
made. A year later, however, he was back in the studio, this time with
his longtime partner Curley Weaver, cutting songs for the Regal label.
None of these records sold especially well, however, and while Willie
kept playing to anyone who would listen, the bitter realities of life
had finally overtaken him, and he began drinking on a regular basis.
He was rediscovered in 1956, just in time to get one more historic
session down on tape. He left music soon after, to become a pastor of
a local church, and he died of a brain hemorrhage in 1959, his passing
so unnoticed at the time that certain reissues in the 1970s referred
to Willie as still being alive in the 1960s.
Blind Willie McTell was one of the giants of the blues, as a guitarist
and as a singer and recording artist. Hardly any of his work as passed
down to us on record is less than first rate, and this makes most any
collection of his music worthwhile. A studious and highly skilled
musician whose skills transcended the blues, he was equally adept at
ragtime, spirituals, story-songs, hillbilly numbers, and popular
tunes, excelling in all of these genres. He could read and write music
in braille, which gave him an edge on many of his sighted
contemporaries, and was also a brilliant improvisor on the guitar, as
is evident from his records. Willie always gave an excellent account
of himself, even in his final years of performing and recording.
Statesboro Blues focuses on 17 classic performances by Blind Willie
McTell. These tracks were recorded between late 1927 through February
1932 for RCA Victor. This is revelatory material recommended to anyone
not familiar with the prewar blues master of the 12-string guitar.
"Dark Night Blues," "Stole Rider Blues," and the title cut,
"Statesboro Blues," are among the highlights along with four tracks
recorded under the pseudonym Hot Shot Willie & Ruby Glaze and two
featuring McTell and Alfoncy and Bethenea Harris.
http://www.blindwillie.com/
Tracks:
01. Statesboro Blues (2:35)
02. Mr. McTell Got The Blues (2:20)
03. Writin' Paper Blues (3:13)
04. Stole Rider Blues (3:12)
05. Mama, 'Taint Long Fo' Day (3:05)
06. Three Women Blues (2:45)
07. Dark Night Blues (2:57)
08. Loving Talking Blues (2:41)
09. Drive Away Blues (3:24)
10. Love Changing Blues (3:18)
11. Rollin' Mama Blues (3:01)
12. Lonesome Day Blues (3:15)
13. Mama, Let Me Scoop For You (3:12)
14. Searching The Desert For The Blues (3:09)
15. Teasing Brown (2:47)
16. This Is Not The Stove To Brown Your Bread (2:37)
17. Mr. McTell Got The Blues (Alternate Take) (2:19)
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