Blues

Blind Boy Fuller: “Truckin’ My Blues Away” and “Step It Up and Go”

Fulton Allen – Blind Boy Fuller – was born in 1908 in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He became completely blind by 1928. An examination near the end of his short life revealed that he suffered the long-term effects of neonatal conjunctivitis. People sing the blues for a reason.

Prospects almost certainly were not great for Fuller once he lost his sight. The Wikipedia profile said that he turned to singing and entertaining to make due as best he could. He studied the records of Blind Blake and took lessons from Rev. Gary Davis, who also was blind. He became, in the profile’s words, a “formidable” guitarist and played around Danville, Virginia and Winston-Salem and Durham, North Carolina. One of his followers was Saunders Terrell, who eventually broke through as Sonny Terry.

Fuller played in the Piedmont style and was influential. Indeed, Terry’s long-time partner, Brownie McGhee, sounded so much like Fuller that for a time he was known as “Blind Boy Fuller No. 2.”

Fuller was discovered by a talent scout and record store manager named James Baxter Long. In 1935, he brought Fuller – along with Davis and George Washington (who had the great nickname “Bull City Red”) to New York City for a recording session on the ARC label. This led to more recordings and his eventual notoriety. Fuller died in 1941 — when he was all of 33 years old.

Above is “Truckin’ My Blues Away,” which Hot Tuna fans certainly will recognize. Below is “Step It Up and Go.”

Wikipedia and Musician Profiles were used to write this post.

Our New Things: Links to Music Sites and Info on Analog Tech and Vinyl

TDMB has focused on music and musicians. We will continue to do that, of course. We're also expanding our coverage to include vinyl and analog equipment.

More specifically, we'll look at this huge and interesting world from the perspective of music lovers who want a better experience, not committed non-audiophiles.

Check out is some of what we've written so far:

-- Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: An Overview

-- 7 Quick Tips on Optimizing Your Turntable Cartridge

-- Why Vinyl Records Continue to Thrive

-- Finding the Best Amplifier

-- Finding the Best Phono Preamp

-- What Speakers Do I Need for My Turntable?

Check out more articles on analog equipment and vinyl.

The site also is home to The Internet Music Mapping Project, an effort to list and describe as many music-related sites as possible.

Our Music

--A Tribe Called Quest to The Dick Hyman Trio (In other words, A to H)

--Indigo Girls to Queen Ida (I to Q)

--Radiohead to ZZ Top (R to Z)

Reading Music

The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.

Here are some books to check out.

Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.

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What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.

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The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").

David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.

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