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.
Statesboro Blues
Blind Willie McTell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
Have you got the nerve to drive poor papa Taj from your door?
Woke up this mornin' baby, I had them Statesboro blues.
Statesboro Georgia, that is.
Woke up this mornin, had them Statesboro blues.
Looked over in the corner, well my baby had 'em too.
Mama died and left me reckless, Papa died and left me wild,
I ain't good lookin baby, but I'm someone's sweet angel child.
Going to the country, baby do you want to go?
I know if you can't make it, your sister Lucille say she wanta go.
You know I loved that woman better than any woman I'd ever seen.
Yes I loved that woman better than any woman I'd ever seen.
She treat me like a king, I treat her like she was a doggone Queen.
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
Have you got the nerve to drive papa Taj from your door?
The opening lines of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" is a plea to his lover to wake up and turn the lamp down low. McTell is asking her to dim the light so that they can be alone and express their love in a romantic, intimate setting. However, McTell seems to be encountering a bit of trouble in his relationship with his lover. He asks his lover if she has the nerve to drive "poor papa Taj" from her door, suggesting that he might be at risk of being kicked out. Despite this issue, McTell finds solace in the fact that his lover is experiencing the same feeling of melancholy as he is. They both have the "Statesboro Blues", a deep sense of sadness that is associated with the town of Statesboro, Georgia.
As the song continues, McTell shares his backstory with the listener. His parents have both passed away, leaving him to fend for himself. However, he still considers himself to be someone's "sweet angel child". He also suggests that he isn't the best-looking guy in town, but he still manages to attract lovers. He asks his current lover if she wants to go to the countryside with him, and if she can't make it, her sister Lucille is willing to come instead.
The last stanza of the song talks about McTell's past relationship with a woman whom he loved deeply. He claims that he loved her more than any other woman he had ever met. McTell was treated like a king by his former lover, and he returned the favor by treating her like a queen. These lines are bittersweet, as they suggest that McTell has moved on from this relationship, but he still thinks fondly of his past lover.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes now, wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
I want you to wake up and dim the light, mama
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
Turn down the light, mama
Have you got the nerve to drive poor papa Taj from your door?
Do you really have the courage to make Papa Taj leave?
Woke up this mornin' baby, I had them Statesboro blues.
I woke up feeling blue this morning, Statesboro Georgia-style.
Woke up this mornin, had them Statesboro blues.
I woke up this morning feeling down.
Looked over in the corner, well my baby had 'em too.
I saw my baby in the corner, feeling the same blues as me.
Mama died and left me reckless, Papa died and left me wild,
My mom passed away and left me unstable, my dad passed and left me untamed,
I ain't good lookin baby, but I'm someone's sweet angel child.
I may not be attractive, but I am still a cherished angel.
Going to the country, baby do you want to go?
Do you want to come with me to the countryside?
I know if you can't make it, your sister Lucille say she wanta go.
If you can't come, your sister Lucille wants to come along.
You know I loved that woman better than any woman I'd ever seen.
I loved her more than any other woman I knew.
Yes I loved that woman better than any woman I'd ever seen.
Yes, I truly loved her more than any other woman.
She treat me like a king, I treat her like she was a doggone Queen.
She treated me like royalty, and I treated her like a queen.
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
Turn down the light, mama
Wake up mama, turn your lamp down low.
I said turn down that light, mama
Have you got the nerve to drive papa Taj from your door?
Do you have the courage to make Papa Taj leave?
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Willie McTell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@user-ku9jl3ix3x
Just imagine England in the late fifties when records like this were coveted by the music loving youth. Young musicians who would go on to be The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, (I could go on and on) All because of Blind Willie McTell and all the other greats of Blues music.
@Raiwons
I made this video with photographs, greetings https://youtu.be/nreDuwqBx-w
@jeremyreagan9085
As a blind musician myself I got to say he was gifted on that 12 guitar we shall never hear another like him that is for certain!
@ElliottJamal
How are you typing if your blind
@jeremyreagan9085
@@ElliottJamal Technology even allows us the blind to join in the conversation. Be glad it has advanced enough to target us all from drones miles in the sky. Is not life grand?
@renh9858
@@jeremyreagan9085Power to you brother!
The gift of sight is delivered via the eyes.... But, the gift of true vision comes from the mind, heart and the soul!
✌🏽🙏🏽👍🏽
@jeremyreagan9085
I depise how stupid the non disabled are. We have learned nothing from the T4 Program. I have no hope for humanity.
@rubenskiii
I am from the Netherlands and the year is 2024 but thanks to the internet and the uploader of this music i am able to appreciate this man’s great voice. Thanks!
Warm greetings from the Netherlands🇳🇱.
@michaelvance1118
Makes my spine tingle! This is real country music,in it's truest form!
@MrWinklbauer
Like country blues