"I'm gazing out the window
Of that old Saint James Hotel
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell" - Bob Dylan
Like so many other Delta blues musicians of the 1930s and 40s, rock
music owes a debt of gratitude to the works of Blind Willie McTell. Considered one of the finest guitarists and vocalists of the era,
noteworthy for his then unheard of usage of a 12-string guitar, artists
and bands from The Allman Brothers to The White Stripes to Taj Mahal
have listed the blind bluesman as a key influence.
Today's freeload Blind Willie McTell '1927-1933 The Early Years', is an easy on the ears blues album from Yazoo Records, and long a favorite of mine (I bought the original Yazoo release in '68). There's something very special how Willie combines humor and sorrow in a
mixture that can have you laughing at the same time you feel the
presence of that lonesome melancholy. Most of these songs are full of fun, and they don't have the dark, deep themes of death and loss that
we find so abundantly in the work of some of his peers. By
all accounts, Willie was a good-natured man, and it becomes apparent
from the start, he's having fun and wants you to do the same. But make no mistake, this is
real blues music, driven by Willie's excellent and very inventive guitar
work, his high,
wistful voice and a strong knack for story telling. Sometimes he sings, sometimes he talks and rhymes his
way through a verse. But in either case, he is deep inside the heart of
the blues, and his melodic slide guitar pushes the whole production over
the top, making this album one that should be in everyone's music collection.
For the freeload, tell us what's your favorite saying?
