Let's give some much deserved attention to Blind Boy Fuller.
Fulton "Blind Boy Fuller" Allen, b. 7/10/07, Wadesboro, NC - d. 2/13/41, Durham, NC

Fuller was a great guitar player and songwriter and his blues recordings sold in large numbers. He He was very popular and influential. He underwent a kidney operation in 1940, but later suffered resultant blood poisoning and died at home. He is buried in Grove Hill Cemetary in Durham, NC. His untimely death 1941 at the age of 33 was quite a shock to the blues world, and later in 1941, Brownie McGhee recorded a 'newsy' popular blues song called, "Death of Blind Boy Fuller," which sold quite well. Brownie was sometimes known as "Blind Boy Fuller's Buddy."

I learned Fuller's style from Brownie McGhee many years ago when I frequently hung out his home in Oakland, CA.

"Step It Up And Go," "Bottle Up And Go," "Borrow Love And Go," "Shake It Up And Go," ... there are lots of titles for the song below ... and it should be easy enough to accomplish with practice.

As always, go slow ... if you can't hit the notes/chords on time ... then slow down ... crawl, then walk, before you try to run ... get familiar with the notes and chords and play at a speed at which you can have success ... speed comes later.

As Always .... Have fun!

(If you enjoy this one ... let me know and I'll put up another Fuller song. I like his stye. )

Happy pickin' and grinnin',

Hawkeye



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... and here's page 2 of "Step It Up And Go/Bottle Up And Go" ... etc.

Don't forget to hammer-on when called for.

Hawkeye

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thanks hawkeye

Blind Boy Fuller

Born Fulton Allen on July 10, 1907 in Wadesboro, NC, Blind Boy Fuller did not become seriously interested in playing blues until after he became blind in 1928. When he was 25, he married Cora Mae Martin, only 14 at the time, and two years later began going blind, a result of ulcers behind his eyes. In 1929, he and Cora Mae moved to Durham, and there he met Gary Davis and James Baxter Long, the man who eventually became his manager.

Besides managing a United Dollar Store in Kinston, Long also hunted for talent for the American Record Company. After Long moved his store to the tobacco center of Durham, he heard Fuller sing one day as he was marketing his new store location to local businessmen, and soon Long, Fuller and Davis were boarding a plane to American Record Company in New York to record songs. Although Fuller admired Davis as a musical mentor, it was not long before they both began arguing over style.

Unlike most musicians, Fuller was not born to a musical family; he did not begin showing interest in playing until after he became blind. However, his talent impressed Long and other record companies, and before long another record company, Decca, swayed him into recording with them. While he was recording for Long, he partnered with George Washington, otherwise known as Bull City Red, and harmonica player Sonny Terry. Between this year and 1941, Fuller found himself at a legacy of the Piedmont Blues movement, proven by the overwhelming popularity of his performances.

In 1938 Fuller's fortune turned, and one tune that he wrote alluded to a shooting accident that cost him a short time in jail and some nasty rumors. During that same year a doctor diagnosed him with arrested syphilis and failing kidneys and bladder. By 1940 he had limited his travels and recordings. During this year he recorded "Step It Up and Go," a song that Long adapted after hearing it in Memphis and that would live long after Fuller's death. Fuller's last recording session was in 1941, and he died on February 13, 1941.

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thanks hawkeye, i am getting a good little songbook together here, everything is printed off and stapled together, i hope there is going to be a few more to come, some "easy" blind willie mctell would be nice.

jaycee,
So glad you're collecting my transcriptions and keeping them on hand ... and enjoying the process.
I'll be posting some McTell ... probably "Statesboro Blues" ... because a number of folks have requested a McTell transcription ... and that tune in particular ... plus ... the song is included on my "Blues Alive!" CD ... so it shouldn't take much time/effort for me to transcribe it in music and tab.

Upcoming ... tunes in the style of Son House, Charley Patton, T-Bone, Abert King, Memphis Minnie, and Robert Johnson ... and more ... as time allows.

Thanks for enjoying the posts.

Cheers,

HAwkeye

you keep em coming hawkeye, and i will keep on collecting em.

okay jaycee
... keep an eye out for a McTell piece uphere at the BBF/Trading Post before the weekend it out.

Cheers,

Hawkeye