Blind Blake
1991
Complete Recorded Works
In Chronological Order
Volume 1
(July 1926 To October 1927)
01. Leola B. Wilson Dying Blues 2:45
02. Leola B. Wilson Ashley St. Blues 2:58
03. Blind Blake Early Morning Blues 2:52
04. Blind Blake West Coast Blues 3:09
05. Blind Blake Early Morning Blues 3:00
06. Blind Blake Too Tight 2:30
07. Blind Blake Blake's Worried Blues 3:03
08. Blind Blake Come On, Boys, Let's Do That Messin' Around 2:43
09. Blind Blake Tampa Bound 2:41
10. Blind Blake Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 3:05
11. Blind Blake Skeedle Loo Doo Blues 3:01
12. Blind Blake Stonewall Street Blues 2:53
13. Leola B. Wilson State Street Men Blues 3:09
14. Leola B. Wilson Down The Country 2:32
15. Leola B. Wilson Black Biting Bee Blues 2:45
16. Leola B. Wilson Wilson Dam 2:34
17. Blind Blake With His Kazoo Band Buck-Town Blues 2:53
18. Blind Blake Black Dog Blues 2:47
19. Blind Blake One Time Blues 2:36
20. Blind Blake Bad Feeling Blues 2:26
21. Blind Blake Dry Bone Shuffle 2:40
22. Blind Blake That Will Never Happen No More 3:02
23. Blind Blake Brownskin Mama Blues 2:36
24. Blind Blake Hard Road Blues 2:36
25. Blind Blake Hey, Hey, Daddy Blues 3:09
26. Blind Blake Sea Board Stomp 3:01
Recording date, location, matrix, catalog number:
1. circa July 1926, Chicago, 2655-2, Paramount 12392
2. circa July 1926, Chicago, 2656-2, Paramount 12392
3. circa August 1926, Chicago, 2668-2, Paramount 12387
4. circa August 1926, Chicago, 2669-2, Paramount 12387
5. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3057-1, Paramount 12387
6. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3059-2, Paramount 12431
7. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3060-2, Paramount 12442
8. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3061-2, Paramount 12413
9. circa October 1926, Chicago, 3062-2, Paramount 12442
10. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3073-1, Paramount 12413
11. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3073-2, Paramount 12413
12. circa November 1926, Chicago, 3081-1, Paramount 12431
13. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4010-2, Paramount 12426
14. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4012-2, Paramount 12444
15. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4013-2, Paramount 12444
16. circa November 1926, Chicago, 4014-2, Paramount 12426
17. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4359-1, Paramount 12464
18. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4362-1, Paramount 12464
19. circa March 1927, Chicago, 4363-2, Paramount 12479
20. circa April 1927, Chicago, 4443-1, Paramount 12497
21. April 13-14, 1927, Chicago, 4462-2, Paramount 12479
22. April 13-14, 1927, Chicago, 4468-2, Paramount 12497
23. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20106-2, Paramount 12606
24. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20107-2, Paramount 12583
25. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20108-1, Paramount 12606
26. circa October 1927, Chicago, 20109-1, Paramount 12583
Leola B. Wilson, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar Leola B. Wilson, vocal; accompanied Blind Blake, guitar; possibly Jimmy Blythe, piano. Blind Blake with Kazoo Band: Blind Blake, guitar; possibly Dad Nelson, kazoo. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; unknown, rattle-bones
Over a six year period Blind Blake recorded eighty-four titles together with numerous as house guitarist to artists like Papa Charlie Jackson, Ma Rainey, Leola B. Wilson and Irene Scruggs. This compilation covers his formative years and it has been surmised that initially he made three visits between August and December 1926 to Paramount’s Chicago studio. Blake’s first record West Coast Blues / Early Morning Blues was released on October 2 1926, the former title being basically a dance piece with Blake’s jaunty voice exhorting his listeners to do that old country rock, underpinning the spoken lyric with sophisticated, ragtime guitar accompaniment, taking the opportunity to incorporate a popular advertising slogan of the day (Good to the last drop, just like Maxwell House coffee). Early Morning Blues, on the other hand, was lyrically far more menacing, his warm, wistful and insinuating voice, at times reminiscent of Lonnie Johnson’s approach, giving lie to the seriousness of the subject (When you see me sleeping, baby don’t you think I’m drunk, I got one eye on my pistol, the other one on your trunk).
The role of Blind Blake as accompanist to Leola B. Wilson, an artist who sang on the vaudeville circuit, displays his ability to use double and stop time phrases, as well as managing to copy her vocal range on Down The Country Blues, a number inspired by a Bessie Smith song. The instrumental, Buck Town Dance, with kazoo playing from Dad Nelson, was probably the model for the piece so often recorded by John Hurt and Gary Davis during the 1960s while Dry Bone Shuffle and That Will Never Happen No More have noticeable echoes of minstrel and white influence. As both were recorded as part of a hillbilly session by the Kentucky Thorobreds perhaps Paramount were hoping to sell Blind Blake to both markets. Blake’s true guitar genius is evinced with Sea Board Stomp (perhaps the basis for some of Big Bill Broonzy’s stomps) where, not satisfied with emulating instruments like cornet, saxophone and trombone, he also treats his audience to a lesson in the syncopations of Dixieland Jazz.
Volume 2
(October 1927 To May 1928)
01. Blind Blake You Gonna Quit Me Blues 2:43
02. Blind Blake Steel Mill Blues 3:10
03. Blind Blake Southern Rag 2:50
04. Blind Blake He's In The Jailhouse Now 2:42
05. Blind Blake Wabash Rag 2:51
06. Blind Blake Doggin' Me Mama Blues 3:11
07. Blind Blake C.C. Pill Blues 2:28
08. Blind Blake Hot Potatoes 3:01
09. Blind Blake Southbound Rag 3:19
10. Elzadie Robinson Pay Day Daddy Blues 2:51
11. Elzadie Robinson Elzadie's Policy Blues 3:10
12. Blind Blake Goodbye Mama Moan 2:46
13. Blind Blake Tootie Blues 2:59
14. Blind Blake That Lovin' I Crave 2:40
15. Bertha Henderson That Lonesome Rave 3:09
16. Bertha Henderson Terrible Murder Blues 2:58
17. Bertha Henderson Leavin' Gal Blues 2:49
18. Blind Blake No Dough Blues 2:52
19. Bertha Henderson Lead Hearted Blues 2:33
20. Bertha Henderson Let Your Love Come Down 2:27
21. Blind Blake Rumblin' And Ramblin' Boa Constrictor Blues 2:49
22. Blind Blake Bootleg Rum Dum Blues 2:54
23. Blind Blake Detroit Bound Blues 3:06
24. Daniel Brown Beulah Land 3:08
25. Blind Blake Panther Squall Blues 2:52
All titles recorded in Chicago.
Recording date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. circa October 1927 (20110-1, Paramount 12597)
2. circa October 1927 (20112-1, Paramount 12681)
3. circa October 1927 (20123-1, Paramount 12565)
4. circa November 1927 (20147-1, Paramount 12565)
5. circa November 1927 (20154-1, Paramount 12597)
6. circa April 1928 (20517-3, Paramount 12673)
7. circa April 1928 (20520-2, Paramount 12634)
8. circa April 1928 (20521-3, Paramount 12673)
9. circa April 1928 (20522-2, Paramount 12681)
10. circa April 1928 (20528-3, Paramount 12635)
11. circa April 1928 (20534-3, Paramount 12635)
12. circa May 1928 (20541-1, Paramount 12634)
13. circa May 1928 (20542-6, Paramount 12643)
14. circa May 1928 (20551-1, Paramount 12643)
15. circa May 1928 (20556-1, Paramount 12697)
16. circa May 1928 (20557-2, Paramount 12645)
17. circa May 1928 (20558-1, Paramount 12697)
18. circa May 1928 (20559-1, Paramount 12723)
19. circa May 1928 (20560-2, Paramount 12655)
20. circa May 1928 (20562-2, Paramount 12655)
21. circa May 1928 (20565-3, Paramount 12657)
22. circa May 1928 (20566-1, Paramount 12695)
23. circa May 1928 (20567-2, Paramount 12657)
24. circa May 1928 (20574-2, Paramount 12663)
25. circa May 1928 (20582-2, Paramount 12723)
Blind Blake, vocal / guitar Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Gus Cannon, banjo on 4. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Johnny Dodds, clarinet (except on 6); Jimmy Bertrand, slide Whistle on 7 and 8 / woodblocks on 8 / xylophone on 6 and 9 / vocal or speech on 6 and 8. Elzadie Robinson, vocal; acc. Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Blind Blake, guitar / whistle (on 10); Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar (except on 20)/ piano (on 20); Bertha Henderson, vocal on 15, 16, 17, 19 and 20. Daniel Brown, vocal; accompanied by. Tiny Parham, piano; Blind Blake, guitar; unknown, washboard. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; possibly George Bullet Williams or probably own harmonica.
It is Blind Blake's guitar playing abilities though that gives him his place in the development of a style that commentators now classify as "ragtime guitar". A dazzling display of this technique can be heard on Southern Rag, a number which hints at his background and perhaps his influences. Accompanying himself with a series of chord changes and alternating thumbed bases he begins a spoken commentary which suddenly moves into the vernacular of the Gullah and Geechie peoples of the Georgia Sea Island, underpinned by a demonstration of an African rhythm on his guitar ("I'm goin' to give you some music they call the Geechie music now"), finally lapsing back into his usual speech patterns. Blake's repertoire also extended to popular black medicine and minstrel show material as in He;s In The Jailhouse Now. In this recording he uses the song to make oblique reference to the exploitation of black political representation by carpet-bagging politicians. Some months later, probably in April 1928 Blind Blake recorded with two of Chicago’s best known jazz musicians, clarinetist Johnny Dodds and drummer Jimmy Bertrand, who for the session played only woodblocks or slide whistle. How this unlikely alliance came into being is unknown but of the four numbers recorded two, Hot Potatoes and Southbound Rag, were basically instrumentals, presumably intended to feature Dodds' famous virtuosity and perhaps sell Blind Blake to the jazz buying public, whilst Doggin' Me Mama Blues and CC Pill Blues (C.C. standing for Compound Cathartic) were vocal blues by Blake. One of Blind Blake's greatest strengths was as accompanist to other artists and in this respect he took part in the recordings of a dozen other singers. One such was Elzadie Robinson, who recorded prolifically for Paramount, and was also present at the Dodds / Bertrand session. Jimmy Bertrand on this occasion abandoned his slide whistle in favour of the more orthodox xylophone, only to have Blake periodically warble with it during the trenchant Pay Day Daddy. Singer Bertha Henderson, like Leola B. Wilson on volume one, had her origins in the vaudeville stage but what commands attention here is Blake's piano accompaniment on Let Your Love Come Down, showing his ability to play a syncopated, almost stride, style with his left hand whilst chording with the right. A further measure of his musical versatility can be heard on Panther Squall on which he accompanies himself simultaneously on harmonica and guitar. The harmonica is obviously racked around his neck since the instrument never coincides with the vocal, precipitating a very basic guitar figure, the end result so reminiscent of bluesmen, like Daddy Stovepipe, who also adopted this one-man band technique.
Volume 3
(May 1928 To August 1929)
01. Elzadie Robinson Elzadie's Policy Blues 3:12
02. Elzadie Robinson Pay Day Daddy Blues 3:07
03. Blind Blake Walkin' Across The Country 3:06
04. Blind Blake Search Warrant Blues 2:59
05. Blind Blake Ramblin' Mama Blues 2:48
06. Blind Blake New Style Of Loving 2:37
07. Blind Blake Back Door Slam Blues 2:45
08. Blind Blake Notoriety Woman Blues 2:45
09. Blind Blake Cold Hearted Mama Blues 2:50
10. Blind Blake Low Down Loving Gal 3:09
11. Blind Blake Sweet Papa Low Down 3:13
12. Blind Blake Poker Woman Blues 2:40
13. Blind Blake Doing A Stretch 2:36
14. Blind Blake Fightin' The Jug 2:53
15. Blind Blake Hookworm Blues 2:54
16. Blind Blake Slippery Rag 2:44
17. Blind Blake Hastings St. 3:12
18. Blind Blake Diddie Wa Diddie 2:56
19. Blind Blake Too Tight Blues, No. 2 2:54
20. Blind Blake Chump Man Blues 2:46
21. Blind Blake Ice Man Blues 3:09
22. Blind Blake Police Dog Blues 2:50
23. The Hokum Boys I Was Afraid Of That - Part 2 3:14
24. Blind Blake Georgia Bound 3:20
25. Blind Blake Keep It Home 3:15
Recording location and date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. Chicago,circa May 1928 (20583-2, Paramount 12635)
2. Chicago,circa May 1928 (20584-, Paramount 12635)
3. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20868-2, Paramount 12754)
4. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20871-3, Paramount 12737)
5. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20872-2, Paramount 12767)
6. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20873-2, Paramount 12767)
7. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20874-1, Paramount 12710)
8. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20875-2, Paramount 12754)
9. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20884-1, Paramount 12710)
10. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20887-5, Paramount 12695)
11. Chicago,circa September 1928 (20888-1, Paramount 12737)
12. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15248-A, Paramount 12810)
13. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15249-A, Paramount 12810)
14. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15250-, Paramount 12863)
15. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15251-A, Paramount 12794)
16. Richmond, Ind., June 20, 1929 (15252-A, Paramount 12794)
17. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15457-, Paramount 12863)
18. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15459-A, Paramount 12888)
19. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15460-, Paramount 12824)
20. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15461-, Paramount 12904)
21. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15462-, Paramount 12904)
22. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15463-, Paramount 12888)
23. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15464-A, Paramount 12882)
24. Richmond, Ind., August 17, 1929 (15466-, Paramount 12824)
25. Chicago, circa August 1929 (Paramount 12964)
Elzadie Robinson, vocal, acc. Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Blind Blake, guitar / whistle (on 1); Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; unknown, cornet on 11; unknown, piano on 11; Jimmy Bertrand, xylophone on 11. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; Alex (?) Robinson, piano. No vocal but incidental talking on 16. Blind Blake, vocal (speech on 17) / guitar; Charlie Spand, piano on 17; Aletha (possibly Aletha Dickerson), piano on 23 Blind Blake, vocal / guitar.
Blind Blake, one of the top blues guitarists and singers of the 1920s, is a mystery figure whose birth and death dates are not definitively known. He recorded 84 selections in six years (1926-1932), and all have been reissued on four Document albums (DOCD-5024, DOCD-5025, DOCD-5026, DOCD-5027). By 1928 Blind Blake had gathered a faithful following, his appeal probably being due to the scope of his material, his popularity rivaling that of Blind Lemon Jefferson. The third volume in the series opens featuring Blake in the role of sideman, lending his brilliant guitar leads in support of Elzadie Robinson on Elzadie’s Policy Blues and Pay Day Daddy Blues. Returning to recording under his own name, a session, or sessions, held during September 1928 seemed to find Blake obsessed by women and the problems they were causing him, at times sounding lachrymal and despondent Search Warrant, Back Door, desperate Walkin' Across The Country and positively violent as in Notoriety Woman, "To keep her quiet I knocked her teeth out her mouth, that notoriety woman is known all over the south". The final number recorded that month, Sweet Papa Low Down, with its cornet, piano and xylophone accompaniment, evoke the kind of bouncy tune popular with practitioners of the Charleston dance craze. It was to be a further nine months before Blake recorded again, this time in company with pianist Alex Robinson. The five titles cut were of a far less suicidal nature than previous and on one number in particular, Doin' A Stretch, his approach owed much to the style of Leroy Carr. There then followed a session in August 1929 which teamed him with Detroit pianist Charlie Spand that was to produce some of Blind Blake’s most vital and memorable recordings of his career. Hastings St., a swinging, boogie based piano and guitar duet, is primarily a showcase for the talents of Spand with the vocal banter between the pair celebrating the good times to be found in Detroit's Black Bottom, "Out on Hastings Street doing the boogie, umm, umm, very woogie" in much the same manner as John Lee Hooker did in "Boogie Chillun" twenty years later. One of the best known mythical themes in black folklore is that of Diddie Wa Diddie, a kind of heaven on earth, a utopia of no work, no worries and all the food one could wish for. Blind Blake, while playing some mesmerising guitar, pokes fun at the idea, claiming that as far as he's concerned it's a "great big mystery", his Diddie Wa Diddie is one for sexual gratification. The following year he cynically accepted the meaning (see Document DOCD-5027). The theme was taken up by in the 5Os by popular R&B singer, Bo Diddley. The unmistakable resonance of the steel-bodied National guitar introduces Police Dog Blues, one of Blake's most lyrical songs and is notable for his use of the harmonics during the instrumental breaks, where he makes the guitar sound "most like a piano" (to borrow Leadbelly's description of the technique). The haunting melody of Georgia Bound is common to the blues having been used by Charlie Patton (Tom Rushen Document DOCD- 5009), Big Bill Broonzy (Shelby County Blues document DOCD-5051) and Robert Johnson (From Four Till Late), to name but some, the sentiments of the song bearing an air of weary resignation suggesting that Blind Blake had more than just a passing acquaintance with the State. Despite the onset of the Depression, Blake went on recording, albeit sporadically, until 1932, lasting longer than many others as demonstrated in the final Document album of his work, Volume 4 (DOCD-5027).
Volume 4
(August 1929 To June 1932)
01. Blind Blake Sweet Jivin' Mama 2:56
02. Blind Blake Lonesome Christmas Blues 3:36
03. Blind Blake Third Degree Blues 3:19
04. Blind Arthur Guitar Chimes 2:57
05. Blind Arthur Blind Arthur's Breakdown 2:59
06. Blind Blake Baby Lou Blues 2:59
07. Blind Blake Cold Love Blues 2:54
08. Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part I 3:14
09. Papa Charlie Jackson And Blind Blake Papa Charlie And Blind Blake Talk About It - Part II 3:16
10. Chocolate Brown Stingaree Man Blues 3:21
11. Chocolate Brown Itching Heel 3:16
12. Chocolate Brown You've Got What I Want 2:29
13. Chocolate Brown Cherry Hill Blues 3:00
14. Blind Blake Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2 3:25
15. Blind Blake Hard Pushing Papa 2:34
16. Blind Blake What A Low Down Place The Jailhouse Is 2:55
17. Blind Blake Ain't Gonna Do That No More 3:11
18. Blind Blake Playing Policy Blues 2:24
19. Blind Blake Righteous Blues 2:35
20. Laura Rucker Fancy Tricks 2:55
21. Blind Blake Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 2 2:46
22. Blind Blake Rope Stretchin' Blues - Part 1 2:58
23. Blind Blake Champagne Charlie Is My Name 2:29
24. Blind Blake Depression's Gone From Me Blues 3:30
Tracks 1 to 5 recorded in Chicago.
Tracks 6 to 24 recorded in Grafton, Wis.
Recording date (matrix, original catalog number):
1. c. August 1929 (21357-2, Paramount 12964)
2. c. September 1929 (21420-1, Paramount 12867)
3. c. September 1929 (21421-2, Paramount 12867)
4. c. September 1929 (21459-2, Paramount 12892)
5. c. September 1929 (21460-2, Paramount 12892)
6. c. October 1929 (L-23-3, Paramount 12918)
7. c. October 1929 (L-24-2, Paramount 12918)
8. c. October 1929 (L-27-, Paramount 12911)
9. c. October 1929 (L-28-, Paramount 12911)
10. c. May 26, 1930 (L-325-1, Paramount 12944)
11. c. May 26, 1930 (L-326-3, Paramount 12944)
12. c. May 28, 1930 (L-348-2, Paramount 12978)
13. c. May 28, 1930 (L-353-2, Paramount 12978)
14. c. May 29, 1930 (L-437-2, Paramount 12994)
15. c. May 29, 1930 (L-438-2, Paramount 12994)
16. c. May 29, 1930 (L-439-2, Paramount 13016)
17. c. May 29, 1930 (L-440-2, Paramount 13016)
18. c. December 1930 (L-647-1, Paramount 13035)
19. c. December 1930 (L-648-1, Paramount 13035)
20. c. May 1931 (L-909-1, Paramount 13138)
21. c. October 1931 (L-1099-2, Paramount 13103
22. c. October 1931 (L-1101-2, Paramount 13103)
23. c. June 1932 (L-1475-2, Paramount 13137)
24. c. June 1932 (L-1476-2, Paramount 13137)
Blind Blake, vocal / guitar. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar; possibly Tiny Parham or Aletha Dickerson, piano. Blind Blake (as by Blind Arthur), guitar solo. Blind Blake, vocal / guitar / speech; Papa Charlie Jackson, banjo / vocal / speech. Chocolate Brown: Irene Scruggs, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar / comments. Laura Rucker, vocal; accompanied by Blind Blake, guitar.
Despite the name of Blind Arthur being used for two guitar solos recorded in October 1929, there can be little doubt that it is Blind Blake who is playing his "famous piano-sounding guitar" (to quote a Paramount advertisement) on Guitar Chimes. It has the same use of harmonics as in Police Dog Blues (DOCD-5026) but played in the key of C and latterly commented on by a noted musicologist thus, "most country blues guitarists were not sufficiently well versed in C to have hazarded such an instrumental". By comparison, Blind Arthur's Breakdown is an object lesson in finger-picking, the playing more in keeping with the technique of Virginian, William Moore. For Baby Lou and Cold Love, Blake again returns to his theme of the mistreating lover, Baby Lou having the chord structure and tempo of the South American tango. In May the following year Blake was in the studio, both in his own right and as accompanist to former St. Louis vaudeville singer, Irene Scruggs. Recording as Chocolate Brown, on one song, Itching Heel, Scruggs scoffs at chauvinistic blues singers ("he don't do nothing but play on his old guitar, while I'm busting suds in the white folks yard") to which Blake, in knee-jerk reaction, responds by speeding up the rhythm indicating that the remark hadn’t escaped unnoticed. Diddie Wa Diddie No. 2, unlike the first song (DOCD-5026), now finds Blake admitting that he knows what "diddie wa diddie means" which he delivers with heavy irony. In his long career Blind Blake only once recorded a two part blues and in Rope Stretchin' Blues, suitably sung to the tune of "St James Infirmary", he uses the occasion to recount, with a degree of morbidity, the ultimate penalty resulting from the infidelities of others; Don't trust no woman who mistreats a man, when you think she's in your kitchen cooking, she’s got a stranger by the hand, I have a lots of women I sure don’t want none now, she always milks me dry, than ever you milk a cow.
Blind Blake's final two recordings took place in June 1932 and so uncharacteristic is one of the songs that commentators have argued that perhaps two singers were involved with the session. Despite doubts it is fairly certain that Blake sings on Champagne Charlie Is My Name, a song composed by George Leybourne and set to music by Alfred Lee in 1868, found fame in the Victorian music hall. The equally topical Depression's Gone From Me, appropriately sung to the tune of “Sitting On The Top Of The World, witnessed Blind Blake ending his six year recording career and, one assumes, his life, on a positive note.
"Arthur "Blind (Blind)" Blake (according to other sources, Phelps) (Arthur "Blind" Blake (Phelps)) born in the 90s of the XIX century, in Jacksonville (Jacksonville), Florida, d. c. 1933
One of the pre-war blues' most virtuoso guitarists, Blind Blake nevertheless remains a very mysterious figure.Very little is known about his youth, but it is generally accepted that he traveled along the east coast of the United States, since it was there that many other bluesmen met him - according to their own recollections, where he first recorded in 1926 for the record label Paramount.
Along with Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blake became one of the first black guitarists to record a commercially successful record. After the release of his first hit (the ragtime solo "West Coast Blues"), he regularly released new recordings, totaling about eighty. There are varying opinions on the validity of Blind Blake being a blues musician - in fact, his repertoire ranged from pure blues and traditional stuff like "Georgia Bound" to vaudeville numbers like "He's in the Jailhouse Now". However, regardless of the requirements and canons of any particular form, Blake's accompaniment always represents an example of good taste, skill and creative imagination; the sound of his guitar is clear and sonorous, the rhythm of the game is stable. His talent as a musician found perhaps most striking embodiment in such virtuoso ragtime solos as "Southern Rag" and "Blind Arthur's Breakdown". Other examples of Blake's fine craftsmanship can be found in his accompaniment work on LPs by other artists such as Ma Rainey and Irene Scruggs; he also recorded the unforgettable duet "Hastings Street" with Charlie Spand. Blake mostly recorded solo, occasionally also releasing records as part of a small group.
Blake died in obscurity, most likely shortly after the dissolution of Paramount in the early 1930s, but his undoubted influence can be traced in the subsequent history of the blues, in particular in the work of such representatives of the eastern blues as, for example, Blind Boy Fuller (Blind Boy Fuller) and others.
songster "Papa" Charlie Jackson and others, becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] becoming the "house" (studio) guitarist for Paramount Records. The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] The company maintained a long-term relationship with Blake, recording and releasing him as a solo musician, sometimes with the support of pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson (Alex Robinson). In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] sometimes supported by pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson. In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci] sometimes supported by pianists Charlie Spand or Alex Robinson. In April 1928, Blake recorded with famed New Orleans clarinetist Johnny Dodds and percussionist Jimmy Bertrand: "CC Phill Blues", "Hot Potatoes" and "South Bound Rag"... guitar playing filled out the trio with a strong, swinging beat), wrote Samuel Charters about these recordings, and we agree with him, adding that Blake's vocals also connect the trio's playing, and Jimmy Bertrand's washboard and slide whistle add color to the swing. [xci]
Blind Blake also had other recordings with jazz musicians, for example with pianist Tiny Parham (Hartzell “Tiny” Parham, 1900-1943) ... Stephen Colt, the author of comments on one of Blake's LPs published on Biograph, suggests that the singer and guitarist made good money : If you follow the Paramount rates ($50 per recorded song), then in 1928 alone, Blake could earn a thousand dollars. In total, he recorded almost seven dozen songs for this label! Therefore, Colt finds it strange that such a commercially successful musician should have vanished from Chicago in 1933 of his own free will.[xcii] There were various rumors about his disappearance, including that Blake returned to Florida, where he died in 1933. There is no exact information about his death, as well as information about his birth ... Blind Blake's recordings were released on four LPs on Biograph, and reissued on CD by Document, Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf in the 1990s and later. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. Yazoo, Classic Blues and Wolf. Blake's playing can also be heard on reissues of other musicians, in particular on Johnny Dodds records ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He played the guitar very rhythmically" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - Davis said about him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still return to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. in particular on the records of Johnny Dodds ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - said Davis about him… Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica… But let's still get back to the direct country connection -blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. in particular on the records of Johnny Dodds ... Blind ragtime reverend guitarist Gary Davis, who considered himself a follower of Blake, rated him as the best of all guitarists: "He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar" (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), - said Davis about him… Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and, by the way, except for the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica… But let's still get back to the direct country connection -blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. “He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar” (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), Davis said of him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and , by the way, in addition to the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still get back to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. “He had a very rhythmic way of playing the guitar” (He had a sporty way of playin' guitar), Davis said of him ... Little Brother Montgomery, who played with Blake in the late twenties in Chicago, claimed that he could play everything he heard once, and , by the way, in addition to the guitar, Blake played the piano and harmonica ... But let's still get back to the direct connection of country blues with early jazz and the question of who can still be considered a representative of country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. who can still be considered a representative of the country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits. who can still be considered a representative of the country blues. So, under this criterion, Blind Blake hardly fits.
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