Following on a discussion over at the earworms, I’ve been thinking a lot about Blind Willie McTell. I see him as an artist that transcends genre labels. He plays the blues, certainly, but to my ears he encompasses so many other styles as well. He was adept at finger-picking piedmont-style blues, but he could also play in a ragtime style, and a bottle neck blues style. He seems to break out at the seams of pattern and repetition that defines the blues, in a way that reminds me of early jazz. According to professor Wiki…
His playing…is masterful, fluid and inventive; based on multiple recordings of the same song (for example, “Broke Down Engine”), he never played a song the same way twice. His style could almost be called “stream of consciousness,” as he would vary the bar pattern and sometimes even the rhythm and chord progression from verse to verse.
Dylan loved him – you can hear folk songs in some of his tunes. And, of course, lovers of indie music and Rock n Roll will instantly recognize the influence he had on Jack White of the White Stripes, who covered many of his songs and dedicated an album to him.
Here are a ten songs in different styles, including some repeats so you can hear how each version is different.
Well, you know I’m another fan.
Have you read Michael Gray’s biography, “Hand Me My Travellin’ Shoes”? Michael Gray made his name as a Dylanologist and wrote one of the better books about Dylan and his music and then he went on to do this book about Blind Willie McTell.
If you haven’t read it (and if your local library can’t get it) we’ll have to set up a library shelf in the mid-Atlantic bar.
Thanks, Mnemonic, that sounds really good! I can probably get it through inter-library loan.
Steen – Great post. Had these on while getting dinner ready & it was great. I first heard of Blind Willie McTell from Dickie Betts in an old roadhouse in Jacksonville, Fla. One of the the luckiest moments of my life was getting stationed there in the late 60s & seeing the Allman Brothers band form. Betts, Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, local musicians like Larry Reinhard (later with Iron Butterfly, Richard Price, Tommy Talton & Scott Boyer ( formed Cowboy) & others I’ve either forgotten or never new their name. On a fairly regular basis in ’69 they played this dive called the Forest Inn on sundays (often for free). I remember in one of the early ones they were playing acoustic inside. Betts, Duane & this black guitarist from Macon & I think Larry Price dropping in on bass sometimes. They worked through a buncha of blues standards & then Betts got the bunch into a Blind Willie mode. These were really informal gigs & they probably spent as much time talking as playing. It was great fun. You could listen or not didn’t matter. They did Statesboro Blues , Married Man’s A Fool, Motherless Children & That’ll Never Happen No more. & others maybe 10 McTells in all. One of the conversations I remember they were talkin’ about the pace of Blind Willie & how it sorta stuttered sometimes & that was maybe from playing in the roadhouse with only an acoustic guitar & you’re voice. Made it necessary to feel your way through the crowd noise or something like that was the topic. Anyway this has made me ramble & I just did a search for the Forest Inn & damn there’s a picture of Duane outside the Inn on one of those summer gigs. I feel damn sure I was at that one and ain’t it nice to have this global memory thing goin’ on. Stripped 40 years off me it did. Cheers!
Thanks, Fintan…that’s quite a story!! He seems to be somebody that other musicians really take to, doesn’t he?
I’m glad you enjoyed listening, and thank you for commenting..
Steen – yeah he seemed to touch the right buttons for a lot of players. Ry Cooder & Jorma Kaukonen come to mind. Clapton & others.
One of the greats. I can never have enough Willie.
I concur.
Steen, I’ve listened to these and the earworm a few times now, trying to analyse my own reaction to them.
The guy undoubtedly had talent, and now I realise that I know Ry Cooder’s versions of a few of his songs, I’m a little shame-faced about not recognising him. His voice and the way he uses it are sincerely engaging; his guitar-playing is full of life, imagination and feeling. Within the fairly narrow confines of blues chord structures, he paints some satisfying sound pictures. I don’t know how unique he was in his range of styles but I’d like to think any musician would explore how far they could travel; similarly, the idea of trying out different ways of playing the same song seems eminently sensible, both to see if there’s a better way and to stop yourself from going mad with the repetition. The danger of ‘making it up as you go along’ – especially when playing solo – is that the tempo can go a bit awry and not all the paths chosen lead where you want them to. Sometimes even that works, but sometimes not.
I think my earworm point about performance and recording quality stands, though. Not your fault, of course (and I hope you didn’t take that implication); maybe there just isn’t too much around. Which is a great pity.