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.).
Pistol Slapper Blues
Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I know my rider
if I see her in the dark
Well I'd know my dog anywhere I hear him bark
Well, I'd know my rider if I see her in the dark
Ain't it cold for you, mother when you say you don't love me?
Well that's alright woman, you gonna need my help someday
You didn't say you didn't love me, when you were stretched out across my bed
whisky and talking all outta your head
Ain't but two kinda people in this world that I can't stand
That's a lying woman and a cheatin', knockin' man
Well, I feel like slapping my pistol in your face
I'm gonna let the graveyard be your resting place
Well I'd know my dog anywhere I hear him bark
Well, I'd know my rider if I see her in the dark
The lyrics to Blind Boy Fuller's "Pistol Slapper Blues" paint a picture of a man who is tough and unafraid to stand up for himself. The first two lines reveal his close relationship with his dog and rider, implying that he is fiercely loyal to those he cares for. However, the tone takes a dramatic shift when he confronts a woman who claims not to love him. He tells her that she will need his help someday, suggesting that he is not one to forget past slights. He references their intimate past and accuses her of being drunk and delusional in her current state. Finally, he declares that he despises liars and cheaters and threatens to slap his pistol in her face and let the graveyard be her resting place.
Overall, the lyrics of "Pistol Slapper Blues" show Blind Boy Fuller's willingness to stand up for himself and his loved ones, as well as his disdain for those who are dishonest or unfaithful. The song also captures the rough and tumble nature of blues music, showcasing the raw emotions and gritty realism that define the genre.
Line by Line Meaning
Know my dog anywhere I hear him bark
I can recognize my dog by his bark
Well I know my rider
if I see her in the dark
I can recognize my significant other even in the dark
Well I'd know my dog anywhere I hear him bark
I can recognize my dog's bark instantly
Well, I'd know my rider if I see her in the dark
I could spot my significant other even in total darkness
Ain't it cold for you, mother when you say you don't love me?
Isn't it a harsh reality for you, woman, to say that you don't love me anymore?
Well that's alright woman, you gonna need my help someday
It's alright if you don't love me because you will require my assistance one day
You didn't say you didn't love me, when you were stretched out across my bed
You didn't deny your love for me while resting on my bed
You're drinkin' moonshine
whisky and talking all outta your head
You seem to be under the influence of moonshine whisky and talking nonsense
Ain't but two kinda people in this world that I can't stand
That's a lying woman and a cheatin', knockin' man
I despise only two types of people in the world, one being deceitful women and the other being adulterous, abusive men
Well, I feel like slapping my pistol in your face
I have the urge to slap my pistol in your face
I'm gonna let the graveyard be your resting place
I will make sure that your final resting place is the graveyard
Well I'd know my dog anywhere I hear him bark
I can instantly recognize my dog's bark
Well, I'd know my rider if I see her in the dark
I can instantly recognize my significant other even if she is in darkness
Contributed by Brooklyn V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.