Born in the town of Thomson, Georgia, McTell learned how to play guitar in his early teens. He soon became a street performer around several Georgia cities including Atlanta and Augusta, and first recorded in 1927 for Victor Records. Although he never produced a major hit record, McTell's recording career was prolific, recording for different labels under different names throughout the 1920s and 30s. In 1940, he was recorded by folklorist John A. Lomax and Ruby Terrill Lomax for the Library of Congress's folk song archive. He would remain active throughout the 1940s and 50s, playing on the streets of Atlanta, often with his longtime associate, Curley Weaver. Twice more he recorded professionally. McTell's last recordings originated during an impromptu session recorded by an Atlanta record store owner in 1956. McTell would die three years later after suffering for years from diabetes and alcoholism. Despite his mainly failed releases, McTell was one of the few archaic blues musicians that would actively play and record during the 1940s and 50s. However, McTell never lived to be "rediscovered" during the imminent American folk music revival, as many other bluesmen would.
McTell's influence extended over a wide variety of artists, including The Allman Brothers Band, who famously covered McTell's "Statesboro Blues", and Bob Dylan, who paid tribute to McTell in his 1983 song "Blind Willie McTell"; the refrain of which is, "And I know no one can sing the blues, like Blind Willie McTell". Other artists influenced by McTell include Taj Mahal, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Ralph McTell, Chris Smither and The White Stripes.
Born William Samuel McTier in Thomson, Georgia, blind in one eye, McTell had lost his remaining vision by late childhood. He attended schools for the blind in the states of Georgia, New York and Michigan and showed proficiency in music from an early age, first playing harmonica and accordion, learning to read and write music in Braille, and turning to the six-string guitar in his early teens. His family background was rich in music, both of his parents and an uncle played guitar; he is also a relation of bluesman and gospel pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey. His father left the family when McTell was still young, and, when his mother died in the 1920s, he left his hometown and became a wandering musician, or "songster". He began his recording career in 1927 for Victor Records in Atlanta.
McTell married Ruth Kate Williams, now better known as Kate McTell, in 1934. She accompanied him on stage and on several recordings before becoming a nurse in 1939. Most of their marriage from 1942 until his death was spent apart, with her living in Fort Gordon near Augusta and him working around Atlanta.
In the years before World War II, McTell traveled and performed widely, recording for a number of labels under many different names, including Blind Willie McTell (Victor and Decca), Blind Sammie (Columbia), Georgia Bill (Okeh), Hot Shot Willie (Victor), Blind Willie (Vocalion and Bluebird), Barrelhouse Sammie (Atlantic), and Pig & Whistle Red (Regal). The "Pig 'n Whistle" appellation was a reference to a chain of Atlanta barbecue restaurants, one of which was located on the south side of East Ponce de Leon between Boulevard and Moreland Avenue, which later became a Krispy Kreme. McTell would frequently played for tips in the parking lot of this location. He was also known to play behind the nearby building that later became Ray Lee's Blue Lantern Lounge. Like his fellow songster Lead Belly, who began his career as a street artist, McTell favored the somewhat unwieldy and unusual twelve-string guitar, whose greater volume made it suitable for outdoor playing.
In 1940 John A. Lomax and his wife, Ruby Terrill Lomax, Classics professor at the University of Texas at Austin, interviewed and recorded McTell for the Library of Congress's Folk Song Archive in a two-hour session held in their hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia. These recordings document McTell's distinctive musical style, which bridges the gap between the raw country blues of the early part of the 20th century and the more conventionally melodious, Ragtime-influenced East-Coast Piedmont blues sound. Mr. and Mrs. Lomax also elicited from the singer a number of traditional songs (such as "The Boll Weevil" and "John Henry") as well as spirituals (such as "Amazing Grace"), which were not part of his usual commercial repertoire. In the interview, John A. Lomax is heard asking if McTell knows any "complaining" songs (an earlier term for protest songs), to which the singer replies somewhat uncomfortably and evasively that he does not. The Library of Congress paid McTell $10, the equivalent of $154.56 in 2011, for this two-hour session. The material from this 1940 session was issued in 1960 in LP and later in CD form, under the somewhat misleading title of "The Complete Library of Congress Recordings", notwithstanding the fact that it was in fact truncated, in that it omitted some of John A. Lomax's interactions with the singer and cut out entirely the contributions of Ruby Terrill Lomax.
Postwar, McTell recorded for Atlantic Records and Regal Records in 1949, but these recordings met with less commercial success than his previous works. He continued to perform around Atlanta, but his career was cut short by ill health, predominantly diabetes and alcoholism. In 1956, an Atlanta record store manager, Edward Rhodes, discovered McTell playing in the street for quarters and enticed him with a bottle of corn liquor into his store, where he captured a few final performances on a tape recorder. These were released posthumously on Prestige/Bluesville Records as Last Session. Beginning in 1957, McTell occupied himself as a preacher at Atlanta's Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
McTell died in Milledgeville, Georgia, of a stroke in 1959. He was buried at Jones Grove Church, near Thomson, Georgia, his birthplace. A fan paid to have a gravestone erected on his resting place. The name given on his gravestone is Eddie McTier. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981, and into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1990.
One of McTell's most famous songs, "Statesboro Blues," was frequently covered by The Allman Brothers Band and is considered one of their earliest signature songs. A short list of some of the artists who also perform it includes Taj Mahal, David Bromberg, The Devil Makes Three and Ralph McTell, who changed his name on account of liking the song. Ry Cooder covered McTell's "Married Man's a Fool" on his 1973 album, Paradise and Lunch.
Jack White of The White Stripes considers McTell an influence, as their 2000 album De Stijl was dedicated to him and featured a cover of his song "Southern Can Is Mine". The White Stripes also covered McTell's "Lord, Send Me an Angel", releasing it as a single in 2000.
In 2013 Jack White's Third Man Records teamed up with Document Records to reissue The Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order of Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and The Mississippi Sheiks.
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to McTell on at least four occasions: Firstly, in his 1965 song "Highway 61 Revisited", the second verse begins with "Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose", referring to one of Blind Willie McTell's many recording names; later in his song "Blind Willie McTell", recorded in 1983 but released in 1991 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3; then with covers of McTell's "Broke Down Engine" and "Delia" on his 1993 album, World Gone Wrong; also, in his song "Po' Boy", on 2001's "Love & Theft", which contains the lyric, "had to go to Florida dodging them Georgia laws", which comes from McTell's "Kill It Kid".
Also, Bath-based band "Kill It Kid" is named after that song.
A blues bar in Atlanta is named after McTell and regularly features blues musicians and bands. The Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival is held annually in Thomson, Georgia.
Kind Mama
Blind Willie McTell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She ain't got nobody to hold her hand
Way down yonder on Cripple Creek
Hemp don't grow but sixteen feet
Would go to bed but it ain't no use
They pile up on the bed like chickens on a roost
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
And she ain't got nobody to hold her hand
Said he can't shimmy but he struts his stuff
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
And she ain't got nobody to hold her hand
See that fella with that derby on
Look good to me just as sure as you're born
I'll tell you the truth and it's a natural fact
Coulda been a rule about being that black
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
Play it Boy
See that fellow that's standing right there
He don't live here but he's somewhere
Little patch of hair right around his mouth
Like he swallowed a mule and left his tail hanging out
Real kind mama looking for another man
She ain't got nobody to hold her hand
Wake up in the morning at a half past three
Thanks pretty mama done put out what I need
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
Soon in the morning at half past four
Hot shot rider rappin' at her door
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
She ain't got nobody in town to hold her hand
Went to the door and the door was locked
Think that baby tryin' to eagle rock
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
Real kind mama looking for another man
And she ain't got nobody here to hold her hand
Kind mama looking for another man
In this blues song, Blind Willie McTell sings about a woman he refers to as “kind mama” who is looking for another man to hold her hand since she doesn't have anyone. The verse “Way down yonder on Cripple Creek, hemp don't grow but sixteen feet” refers to the Cripple Creek area in Virginia which was known for its poor soil that wasn't conducive for growing hemp. The line “they pile up on the bed like chickens on a roost” refers to the woman having multiple sexual partners and there’s not enough space in her bed for all of them. Blind Willie McTell also refers to the racial issues and stereotyping that existed in the society during his time when he says, “See that fella with that derby on, look good to me just as sure as you're born. I'll tell you the truth and it's a natural fact, coulda been a rule about being that black.” He observes that the man dressed smartly would have been judged differently if he were black.
The song's chorus highlights the woman's loneliness, and how she needs someone to hold her hand. The lyrics suggest that she is sexually liberated and free, and doesn't care about societal norms. She invites different men into her life without any qualms, and her house seems to be a popular stop for men.
Line by Line Meaning
She's a real kind mama looking for another man
A woman who is generous and caring is searching for a new romantic partner.
She ain't got nobody to hold her hand
She is lonely and lacks emotional support.
Way down yonder on Cripple Creek
Referring to a specific location on the outskirts of town.
Hemp don't grow but sixteen feet
The type of plant being referred to has a short growth limit.
Would go to bed but it ain't no use
Despite wanting to sleep, the bed is already crowded.
They pile up on the bed like chickens on a roost
The bed is so crowded that they resemble a bunch of chickens perching on a roost.
The rooster chew tobacco and the hen dip snuff
An unusual and humorous characterization of farmyard animals.
Said he can't shimmy but he struts his stuff
The rooster may not be able to dance, but he still manages to show off in his own way.
See that fella with that derby on
Referring to a specific man who is wearing a particular type of hat.
Look good to me just as sure as you're born
The woman finds this man physically attractive.
I'll tell you the truth and it's a natural fact
The following statement is honest and based on reality.
Coulda been a rule about being that black
An acknowledgment of the potential for racial discrimination and oppression.
See that fellow that's standing right there
Referring to another man who is present in the same location.
He don't live here but he's somewhere
He may not be from the immediate area, but he is still around.
Little patch of hair right around his mouth
A description of a small area of facial hair on the man's face.
Like he swallowed a mule and left his tail hanging out
A humorous simile used to describe the man's facial hair.
Wake up in the morning at a half past three
A specific time of day when the woman awakes.
Thanks pretty mama done put out what I need
A reference to sexual activity between the woman and her partner.
Soon in the morning at half past four
Another specific time of day when something happens.
Hot shot rider rappin' at her door
A person, possibly a man, who may be interested in the woman arrives at her house.
Went to the door and the door was locked
The woman was unable to answer the door due to it being locked.
Think that baby tryin' to eagle rock
A suspicion that the person at the door may be attempting to perform a specific dance move, called the 'eagle rock.'
Contributed by Ian V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.