Show 27: The Blind Musician Tradition
Blind musicians stand all through the history of the blues and related roots music, and this show treats that fact with care instead of sentimentality. It argues that blindness shaped routes into music, street performance, repertory, and style, but never explains away the artistry itself.
For today's 27th episode of the CC Blues Show, we will be focusing on the many blind musicians who sang the blues. The first musician of interest I'll play for ya is Blind Boy Fuller, who set the rules and repertoire of the East Coast, or Piedmont, blues region. The tremendous success of Fuller's records between 1935 and 1940 encouraged musicians to express themselves in the East Coast style, which even today remains surprisingly alive. Here's "Get Yer Yes Yes Out" by Blind Boy Fuller, which was famously appropriated by Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones for the title of their 1970 live album.
| # | Track | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Get Your Yas Yas Out | Blind Boy Fuller |
| 2 | Truckin' My Blues Away | Blind Boy Fuller |
| 3 | Rag, Mama, Rag | Blind Boy Fuller |
| 4 | Untrue Blues | Blind Boy Fuller |
| 5 | Homesick and Lonesome Blues | Blind Boy Fuller |
| 6 | Diddie Wah Diddie | Blind Blake |
| 7 | Police Dog Blues | Blind Blake |
| 8 | Early Morning Blues | Blind Blake |
| 9 | Too Tight Blues No.2 bridge | Blind Blake |
| 10 | He's in the Jail House Now bridge | Blind Blake |
| 11 | West Coast Blues | Blind Blake |
| 12 | Statesboro Blues 📖 Story | Blind Willie McTell |
| 13 | Mr. McTell Got the Blues | Blind Willie McTell |
| 14 | You Got to Die | Blind Willie McTell |
| 15 | Last Dime Blues | Blind Willie McTell |
| 16 | On the Cooling Board | Blind Willie McTell |
| 17 | Kill It Kid bridge | Blind Willie McTell |
| 18 | I Got the Cross the River Jordan bridge | Blind Willie McTell |
| 19 | See That My Grave Is Kept | Blind Lemon Jefferson |
| 20 | Match Box Blues | Blind Lemon Jefferson |
| 21 | Rabbit Foot Blues | Blind Lemon Jefferson |
| 24 | Lord I just can't keep from crying | Blind Willie Johnson |
| 25 | Death Don't Have No Mercy 📖 Story | Rev. Gary Davis |
| 26 | Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning bridge | Rev. Gary Davis |
| 27 | There Was A Time That I Was Blind bridge | Rev. Gary Davis |
| 28 | Sitting on the Top of the World | Ray Charles |
| 29 | Come Back Baby | Ray Charles |
| 30 | Worried Life Blues - Rehearsal Session with Ahmet Ertegun, 1953 | Ray Charles,Ahmet Ertegun |
| 31 | The Midnight Hour | Ray Charles |
| 32 | How Long | Ray Charles |
| 33 | Some Day Baby | Ray Charles |
| 34 | Better Day | Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee |
| 35 | Trouble In Mind | Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee |
| 36 | Blues For Gamblers | Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee |
| If I had my way I'd tear the building down | Blind Willie Johnson | |
| It's nobody's fault but mine | Blind Willie Johnson | |
| Jesus make me up my dying bed | Blind Willie Johnson |