Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vo… Read Full Bio ↴Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. Fuller was born in July 10, 1907 in Wadesboro, North Carolina and died February 13, 1941 in Durham, North Carolina. He played a steel National resonator guitar.

As a boy Fuller learned to play the guitar and also learned from older singers the field hollers, country rags, and traditional songs and blues popular in poor, rural areas. It is reported that around 1926 he suffered from ulcerated eyes and became partially blind. His vision continued to deteriorate until 1928, when he was completely blind.

He started playing at informal gatherings and as he grew older, the opportunities for a blind black man being limited, he turned to getting what employment he could as a singer and entertainer at dives, street corners, house parties, and dances for pay.

He became well known enough that in 1935 he received an offer to record. Over a period of five years, Fuller made over 120 sides and his recordings appeared on several labels.

His style of singing was rough and direct, and his lyrics explicit and uninhibited as he drew from from every aspect of his experience as an underpriviledged person on the streets -- pawnshops, jailhouses, sickness, death -- with an honesty that lacked sentimentality. Although he was not sophisticated, his artistry as a folk singer lay in the honesty and integrity of his self-expression. His songs contained desire, love, jealousy, disappointment, menace and humor.[1]

Blind Boy Fuller was one of the most popular of the Piedmont blues artists that counted Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake amongst its number. He was so popular that when he died, his protégé Brownie McGhee reluctantly began a short lived career as Blind Boy Fuller No. 2 so that Columbia Records could cash in on his popularity. His song, 'Trucking My Blues Away', also gave America the famous saying 'Keep On Trucking'. He was often accompanied on harmonica by Sonny Terry.

Blind Boy Fuller died from a severe bladder infection in 1942, when he was only 33 years old. Blind Boy Fuller was an expressive vocalist and a masterful guitar player, best remembered for his uptempo ragtime hits "Rag Mama Rag," "Trucking My Blues Away," and "Step It Up and Go." At the same time he was capable of deeper material, and his versions of "Lost Lover Blues", "Rattlesnakin' Daddy" and "Mamie" are as deep as most Delta blues. Because of his popularity, he may have been overexposed on records, yet most of his songs remained close to tradition and much of his repertoire and style is kept alive by North Carolina and Virginia artists today.

The location of the final resting place of Blind Boy Fuller is Grove Hill Cemetery, located on private property in Durham, North Carolina. State records indicate that this was once an official cemetery, and Fuller's interment is recorded. The only remaining headstone is that of Mary Caston Langey.

Blind Boy Fuller has been recognized on two different plaques in the City of Durham. The North Carolina Division of Archives and History plaque is located a few miles north of Fuller's gravesite, along Fayetteville St. in Durham. The City of Durham officially recognized Fuller on July 16, 2001, and the commemorating plaque is located along the American Tobacco Trail, adjacent to the property where Fuller's unmarked grave is located (several hundred feet east of Fayetteville St.).

Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind
Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
I woke up this morning, 'bout half past four
Somebody knockin' at my back door
But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you,
Mama, you got to change your mind, I mean
You got to change your mind

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
What you're doin', mama, you'll do it again
Stay out at night 'til about half past ten
But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you
Mama, you better change your mind, I mean
You got to change your mind

Spoken: Play that thing, boy

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you better change your mind
Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you better change your mind
Up before the judge, my eyes full of tears
For beatin' up my gal I got four, five years
But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you,
Mama, you got to change your mind, I mean
You got to change your mind

But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you,
Mama, you got to change your mind, I mean
You got to change your mind

Spoken: Play that thing, boy! Do it a long time

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
My gal like whiskey, like her rye and gin
We can't get her whiskey, drink most anything she can
Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout

You, you got to change your mind, I mean
You got to change your mind

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Blind Boy Fuller's "Baby You Gotta Change Your Mind" talk about a relationship that is failing due to the woman's actions. The persona in the song warns the woman that she has to change her mind if she thinks he is crazy about her. He wakes up at 4 am and finds someone knocking at his back door. He thinks it might be her, but he is not sure whether she is causing him trouble or not. He goes ahead to say that she stays out late until half past ten, and if she continues with such behavior, then she needs to change her mind. He even tells her that he was beaten up and is facing four to five years in jail for beating her up.

Through his lyrics, Blind Boy Fuller is conveying a message: If you think you can do whatever you want and expect him to always come back to you, then you need to "change your mind." He is warning his partner that her actions and habits are taking a toll on their relationship, and he will not stand for them anymore. The lyrics are a reflection of the social norms at the time, where women were not expected to go out late and drink excessively. The persona is warning his partner to change and save their relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

I woke up this morning, 'bout half past four
I woke up early this morning

Somebody knockin' at my back door
Someone is knocking at my back door

But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, Mama, you got to change your mind, I mean You got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

What you're doin', mama, you'll do it again
You've been doing the same thing over and over again

Stay out at night 'til about half past ten
You stay out at night until about half past ten

But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you Mama, you better change your mind, I mean You got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

Spoken: Play that thing, boy
Instrumental break

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you better change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

Up before the judge, my eyes full of tears
I had to stand before the judge, and it made me cry

For beatin' up my gal I got four, five years
I got four or five years in prison for beating up my girlfriend

But if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, Mama, you got to change your mind, I mean You got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

Spoken: Play that thing, boy! Do it a long time
Instrumental break

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout you, you got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

My gal like whiskey, like her rye and gin
My girlfriend likes whiskey, rye, and gin

We can't get her whiskey, drink most anything she can
We can't get her whiskey, so she will drink anything else instead

Baby, if you think I'm crazy 'bout You, you got to change your mind, I mean You got to change your mind
If you believe that I'm overly attached to you, you need to reconsider

Writer(s): FULTON ALLEN

Contributed by Molly V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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