Pioneers of Piedmont, Part 2
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Brownie McGhee, Blind Willie McTell, Josh White
by Don Erickson
This month we continue with Part 2 of The Pioneers of Piedmont Blues.
Last month we featured Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis and Blind Boy
Fuller. We will pick up where we left off and talk about Walter
"Brownie" McGhee, who was born November 30, 1915 in Knoxville,
Tennessee. McGhee, like Davis and Fuller, came to Durham, North
Carolina.
After moving to Durham, he caught the attention of talent scout J.B.
Long, who was responsible for the success of Blind Boy Fuller. Long
arranged a Chicago recording session in 1940. McGhee's first record was
a remake of Fuller's "Step It Up and Go" for the OKeh label.
Blind Boy Fuller was so popular at the time of his death, Long had
McGhee use Fuller's guitar while cutting a song McGhee wrote called
"The Death of Blind Boy Fuller." For a while McGhee even
performed as Blind Boy Fuller #2.
McGhee moved to New York where he teamed up with the harmonica player,
Sonny Terry. The legendary musician Leadbelly helped secure some
performances for the duo at folk gatherings around the city. Brownie
opened his own School of Blues in Harlem where he gave guitar lessons.
He and Sonny Terry continued to record frequently on numerous labels
throughout the '40s and '50s. In the early '60s, with country blues
reaching bigger audiences than ever before, they played nearly every
folk and blues fest of note, plus dozens of colleges. Through the years
they retained their original Piedmont blues style, and eventually toured
Europe, appeared on national television and in blues documentaries. They
continued to tour into the mid-'70s, when their partnership began to
unravel. Sonny Terry, who was born Saunders Terrell on October 24, 1911
in Greensboro, North Carolina, died March 12, 1986 in New York City.
Brownie just recently past away on February 16, 1996.
Blind Willie McTell, born May 5, 1901 in Thompson, Georgia, was the dean
of Atlanta blues. He was a fluid fingerpicker on six and 12-string
guitars with a softly stated, articulate vocal style. He was a prolific
recording artist, playing blues, rags, ballads, pop and folk for many
labels from 1927 to 1956. He didn't enjoy the commercial success of the
aforementioned artists, but had a profound influence on others.
His masterpiece, "Statesboro Blues," has been recorded by many
artists, including a very popular version by the Allman Brothers Band.
"Broke Down Engine Blues" was another McTell classic. Johnny
Winter covered this song on his excellent album Progressive Blues
Experiment.
McTell died August 19, 1959 in Milledgeville, Georgia and was inducted
into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1981. Both Yazoo and
Document, among others, have released albums by McTell.
Josh White was born February 11, 1914 in Greenville, South Carolina. His
debut as a recording artist was in 1928 with Joe Taggart in Chicago for
the Paramount label. White first recorded as a solo artist in 1932 for
the American Record Company. Early on he used the pseudonym Pinewood Tom
when he recorded blues and went as Joshua White (The Singing Christian)
when he recorded religious material.
During the '40s he performed for President Franklin Roosevelt and toured
Mexico for the U.S. State Department. He was a major part of the folk
and country blues revival in the late '50s and early '60s. He died
September 5, 1969 in Manhasset, New York.
Other important artists from the Piedmont School of Blues include PegLeg
Howell, Buddy Moss, Robert "Barbecue Bob" Hicks and Curley
Weaver.
If you would like to hear some current examples of this style of blues,
you need look no farther than local recording artist Willie James Shay.
Willie can perform in a variety of styles, but his vocals and guitar
mastery are excellent vehicles for the Piedmont style of blues. I urge
all of you to support the many talented artists that are keeping the
blues alive right here in Iowa.
For next month's column, we are going to feature the many classic women
vocalists who were the first artists to become popular blues
stars. Check January's "Legends of the Blues" to read about
Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox and Memphis Minnie, along with other
talented women of the blues.
Reprinted with permission from the December 1996 issue of the Blues Crier
