Blind Willie McTell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Blind Willie McTell
McTell recording for John Lomax in an Atlanta hotel room, November 1940
Background information
Birth name	William Samuel McTier
Also known as	Blind Sammie, Georgia Bill, Hot Shot Willie, Blind Willie, Barrelhouse Sammy, Pig & Whistle Red, Blind Doogie, Red Hot Willie Glaze, Red Hot Willie, Eddie McTier
Born	(1898-05-05)May 5, 1898 Thomson, Georgia, US
Died	August 19, 1959(1959-08-19) (aged 61) Milledgeville, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Country blues, Piedmont blues, ragtime, Delta blues, gospel
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, songster, accompanist, preacher
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, accordion, kazoo, violin
Years active	1910s–1956
Labels	Victor, Columbia, Okeh, Vocalion, Decca, Atlantic, Regal, Prestige, Transatlantic
Associated acts	Curley Weaver, Kate McTell

Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was an amazing American blues musician. He was known for his unique guitar playing and smooth singing. He played a style of music called Piedmont blues and ragtime.

McTell was special because he often used a twelve-string guitar. This made his music sound fuller and louder. He was also very good at slide guitar, which is a way of playing the guitar using a special tube or slide. His voice was calm and clear, which was different from many other blues singers of his time. He played many types of music, including blues, ragtime, and religious songs.

Willie McTell was born in Thomson, Georgia. He started playing the guitar when he was a teenager. He became a street musician in cities like Atlanta and Augusta. His first recordings were in 1927. Even though he never had a huge hit song, he recorded a lot of music for different record companies. He even used different names for his recordings!

In 1940, a person who studied folk music, John A. Lomax, recorded McTell for the Library of Congress. McTell kept playing music in the 1940s and 1950s, often on the streets of Atlanta with his friend Curley Weaver. He recorded a few more times, with his last recordings happening in 1956. He passed away three years later. Even without being famous, he was one of the few blues musicians who kept playing and recording for many years.

McTell's music has influenced many artists. The Allman Brothers Band covered his song "Statesboro Blues". Bob Dylan also wrote a song called "Blind Willie McTell" to honor him. Other musicians like Taj Mahal and Jack White have also been inspired by his work.

Biography

William Samuel McTier was born in a community called Happy Valley, near Thomson, Georgia. Most people believe he was born in 1898. Willie was born blind in one eye and lost his sight completely by the time he was a child. He went to special schools for the blind in Georgia, New York, and Michigan.

Willie showed a talent for music from a young age. He first learned to play the harmonica and accordion. He even learned to read and write music using Braille. When he was a teenager, he started playing the six-string guitar. Music was important in his family; both his parents and an uncle played the guitar. He was also related to Thomas A. Dorsey, a famous gospel music pioneer.

Willie's father left the family when Willie was young. After his mother passed away in the 1920s, he left his hometown. He became a traveling musician, often called a "songster". He began his recording career in 1927 with Victor Records in Atlanta.

In 1934, McTell married Ruth Kate Williams, who is known as Kate McTell. She sometimes performed and recorded with him. Later, in 1939, she became a nurse. For most of their marriage, they lived in different cities. Kate lived near Augusta, and Willie worked around Atlanta.

Before World War II, McTell traveled a lot and performed widely. He recorded for several different record companies. He used many different names for his recordings, such as:

• Blind Willie McTell (for Victor and Decca)
• Blind Sammie (for Columbia)
• Georgia Bill (for Okeh)
• Hot Shot Willie (for Victor)
• Blind Willie (for Vocalion and Bluebird)
• Barrelhouse Sammie (for Atlantic)
• Pig & Whistle Red (for Regal)

The name "Pig & Whistle" came from a chain of barbecue restaurants in Atlanta. McTell often played music for tips in the parking lot of one of these restaurants. Like other street musicians, McTell liked to use the twelve-string guitar. This guitar was louder, which was good for playing outdoors.

In 1940, John A. Lomax and his wife, Ruby Terrill Lomax, recorded McTell. They recorded him for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress. This recording session lasted two hours and took place in their hotel room in Atlanta. These recordings show McTell's special musical style. It mixed the raw country blues with the smoother, ragtime-influenced blues from the East Coast. The Lomaxes also asked him to play traditional songs like "The Boll Weevil" and "John Henry". He also sang spiritual songs like "Amazing Grace". These were not usually part of his commercial recordings. The Library of Congress paid McTell $10 for this session.

In 1949, Ahmet Ertegun from Atlantic Records visited Atlanta to find blues artists. He found McTell playing on the street and arranged for him to record. Some of these songs were released, but they did not sell well. All the songs from this session were later released in 1972 as "Atlanta Twelve-String." McTell also recorded for Regal Records in 1949, but these songs also did not become popular.

He continued to perform in Atlanta. However, his health started to decline due to diabetes. In 1956, a record store owner in Atlanta named Edward Rhodes found McTell playing on the street. He convinced McTell to come into his store, where he recorded some of McTell's last performances. These recordings were released after McTell's death as Last Session. From 1957, McTell also became a preacher at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Atlanta.

Blind Willie McTell passed away from a stroke in Milledgeville, Georgia, in 1959. He was buried at Jones Grove Church, near his birthplace in Thomson, Georgia. In 1992, a gravestone was placed on his resting place. His gravestone shows his name as Willie Samuel McTier. He was honored in the Blues Foundation's Blues Hall of Fame in 1981. He was also inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1990.

Influence

Label of "Statesboro Blues", one of McTell's most notable works

McTell's most famous song is "Statesboro Blues". This song was first played by Taj Mahal and later covered by the Allman Brothers Band. Many other artists have performed this song, including David Bromberg and Dave Van Ronk. Ralph McTell even changed his name because he liked the song so much!

Ry Cooder covered McTell's song "Married Man's a Fool" on his 1973 album. Jack White of The White Stripes sees McTell as a big influence. The White Stripes' album De Stijl (2000) is dedicated to McTell. It also includes their cover of his song "Southern Can Is Mine". The White Stripes also covered McTell's "Lord, Send Me an Angel" in 2000. In 2013, Jack White's record company, Third Man Records, worked with Document Records to release a collection of McTell's complete recorded works.

Bob Dylan has honored McTell in his songs many times. In his 1965 song "Highway 61 Revisited", he mentions "Georgia Sam," which was one of McTell's recording names. Dylan's song "Blind Willie McTell" was recorded in 1983 and released in 1991. Dylan also covered McTell's songs "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, World Gone Wrong. Another Dylan song, "Po' Boy" (from 2001), uses a line from McTell's "Kill It Kid."

The band Kill It Kid is named after McTell's song of the same title.

There is a bar in Atlanta called Blind Willie's that is named after him. It features blues musicians. The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held every year in Thomson, Georgia, his birthplace.

Discography

Singles

As an accompanist

Long-plays

Selected compilations

• Blind Willie McTell 1927–1933: The Early Years, Yazoo L-1005 (1968)
• Blind Willie McTell 1949: Trying to Get Home, Biograph BLP-12008 (1969)
• King of the Georgia Blues Singers (1929–1935), Roots RL-324 (1969)
• Atlanta Twelve String, Atlantic SD-7224 (1972)
• Death Cell Blues, Biograph BLP-C-14 (1973)
• Blind Willie McTell: 1927–1935, Yazoo L-1037 (1974)
• Blind Willie McTell: 1927–1949, The Remaining Titles, Wolf WSE 102 (1982)
• Blues in the Dark, MCA 1368 (1983)
• Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1, Document DOCD-5006 (1990)
• Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 2, Document DOCD-5007 (1990)
• Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 3, Document DOCD-5008 (1990)
  • These three albums were issued together as the box set Statesboro Blues, Document DOCD-5677 (1990)
• Complete Library of Congress Recordings in Chronological Order, RST Blues Documents BDCD-6001 (1990)
• Pig 'n Whistle Red, Biograph BCD 126 (1993)
• The Definitive Blind Willie McTell, Legacy C2K-53234 (1994)
• The Classic Years 1927–1940, JSP JSP7711 (2003)
• King of the Georgia Blues, Snapper SBLUECD504X (2007)

Selected compilations with other artists

• Blind Willie McTell/Memphis Minnie: Love Changin' Blues, Biograph BLP-12035 (1971)
• Atlanta Blues 1933, JEMF 106 (1979)
• Blind Willie McTell and Curley Weaver: The Post-War Years, RST Blues Documents BDCD 6014 (1990)
• Classic Blues Artwork from the 1920s, vol. 5, Blues Images – BIM-105 (2007)

See also

In Spanish: Blind Willie McTell para niños