Willie McTell was a masterful twelve-string guitarist and singer. He recorded from 1927 to 1955. His most famous song, "Statesboro Blues" has been covered by many artists including Taj Mahal, The Allman Brothers Band, and Bob Dylan. Dylan wrote and recorded a tribute to him.
He was blind from birth, and was an adept Braille reader. He learned to play six string guitar as a child and was a very skilled musician. I love his smoth voice, his quick delivery and his excellent guitar playing.
mp3s
"Mama 'Tain't Long for Day" (2:57, 517kB) - 40310-1, 18 Oct, 1927
"Statesboro Blues" (2:30, 439kB) - 47187-3, 17 Oct, 1928
"Broke Down Engine Blues" (3:08, 551kB) - 15905-1, 23 Oct, 1931
References
Blind Willie McTell (1898-1959) @ The New Georgia Encyclopedia
Blind Willie McTell @ Wikipedia
Blind Willie McTell Festival
File under;
blues mp3 music Georgia Video
5 comments:
Fantastic.Thank you for that.
You are welcome. Glad that you liked it. If you like Dylan, would might like many of the prewar bluesmen.
I really like Blind Willie McTell too - in fact I named one of my cats Willie because when he was a kitten he howled the blues all the time!
Nice video of Weird Bob. I think that if you think about Bob Dylan in the context of the blues tradition, some of his vocal approaches over the years make more and more sense. I've been a Dylan fan since I was a teenager. Back then, a lot of people said things to me like, "oh, he's a great song-writer and I like his lyrics but he can't sing..." I thought that was really strange because from the start I thought that Dylan was really a master at attacking a song, working out really inventive phrasing and using his limited range to great effect. While his voice is all smoked to hell, I think he is still a really interesting singer.
mister anchovy, your cat must be cool.
I've always liked Bob's singing. Even back when he was using that really strange phrasing. In my mind he is a great musician on so many levels. Voice, lyrics, showmenship, he is just a delight to watch and hear.
Awesome - I was just trying to find some McTell MP3's (with VERY limited success).
I think I read somewhere that he was born blind in one eye and lost sight in the other very young. Or is that someone else I'm thinking of?
Either way, Thanks!
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