Blind Willie McTell.txt
Blind Willie McTell
AKA born: William Samuel McTell
Born May 5, 1901 in Thomson, GA
Died Aug 19, 1959 in Milledgeville, GA
Genres Blues
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
Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill, as a backup musician to
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
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
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
This recording has a less-than-stellar reputation, principally because it was
done so late in McTell's career, and it is true that he lacks some of the
edge, especially in his singing, that he showed on his other postwar
recordings. On the other hand, his 12-string playing is about as nimble as
ever and a real treat. McTell cut these sides for record store owner Ed
Rhodes, who had begun taping local bluesmen at his shop in Atlanta in the hope
then turned up one night and played for the microphone and anyone who happened
pricelessly intimate document, some of the words slurred here and there, but
brilliantly expressive and stunningly played. No apologies are needed for "The
Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues," "Don't Forget It," or "Salty Dog," however. McTell
lived a few more years but never recorded again, which is a pity because based
on this tape he still had a lot to show people. Rhodes never did anything with
the tapes, and might've junked them if he hadn't remembered how important the
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