Browse by Artist: BLIND BLAKE

Artist:	BLIND BLAKE
Title:	Bahamian Songs
Label:	MEGAPHONE UK (UK)
Format:	CD
Price:	$9.00
Catalog #:	MEGA 022CD

"Summer starts here with this absolute gem of a release from Megaphone. Blind Blake's first ever CD including tracks that later went on to be covered by everyone from The Beach Boys to Johnny Cash!. As label owner Stephane Bismuth explains: 'I was introduced to Blind Blake's music by Joe Loop, the man who for almost five decades hung onto Karen Dalton's earliest known recordings (1962 private recordings now known as The Loop Tapes). Joe had a cassette made from his heavy vinyl Blind Blake LP that had broken in two halves. This broken LP is now bound by Scotch tape and gets played whenever Joe needs a new cassette. I am glad I can now offer Joe the first CD ever made out of Blind Blake's LPs, recorded in the 50s for the tiny ART label.' Blind Blake was from the 30s to the 60s the singer and leader of the house band at the Royal Victoria Hotel in Nassau, Bahamas. His music was a strange mix of old island classics, more recent calypso compositions and American ballads. His musicians combined jazz guitar licks with vocal harmonies and West Indian rhythms, with the result that his recordings have an easy humor and swing that few musicians from any continent can match. This CD is drawn from a series of recordings made in the early 1950s. His band The Royal Victoria Hotel Calypsos featured Dudley Butter (guitar, maracas), Chatfield Ward (guitar), Freddie Lewis (lead guitar), George Wilson (bass fiddle), and at times Lou Adams on trumpet. Its popularity with tourists led to them being widely heard in the US, and they became an inspiration to many folk revival musicians. Josh White and Johnny Cash covered 'Delia,' Pete Seeger 'Foolish Frog,' Dave Van Ronk 'Yas, Yas, Yas,' and 'Run, Come See Jerusalem' was done by dozens of groups, not to mention Blake's influence on Harry Belafonte."

Artist:	BLIND BLAKE
Title:	Back Biting Bee Blues
Label:	MONK (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$24.00
Catalog #:	MK 313LP

"Maybe Arthur 'Blind' Blake did not live too long but it was certainly enough to prove to the world that he was one of the blind geniuses the history of blues seems to be made of. Born in Florida in 1893, he died at the age of 40 in controversial circumstances -- booze? Car accident? -- leaving a good number of recordings for Paramount that made him famous as 'the king of ragtime guitar.' His astonishingly odd style made his riffs sound like a ragtime piano and his particular finger picking inspired many modern blues artists, Jorma Kaukonen among the best known."

Artist:	BLIND BLAKE
Title:	That Will Happen No More
Label:	MONK (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	MK 331LP

"After their success with Blind Lemon Jefferson, Chicago's Paramount was scouting for more male blues talent, and they found it in 1926 in a man called Blind Blake (1893-1933), a sophisticated guitar player who was the antithesis of Delta blues. Like many, he played his guitar like a piano but few did it with the talent of this man. Called the 'King of Ragtime-blues', no one had fingers as fast as Blind Blake, but by 1933 he was dead (some say his drinking killed him). These recordings taken from 1927-28 are a collection of Blind Blake's early material, showcasing the man at his musical peak, before alcohol began to take its toll."

Artist:	BLIND BLAKE
Title:	That Lonesome Rave
Label:	MONK (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	MK 336LP

"Presumably born in Jacksonville, Fla. in 1893, Blind Blake came to prominence recording for Paramount from 1926 until the label closed in 1932. In fact, Blake was Paramount's best-selling and most recorded artist, with over a hundred sides to his name. Blake--one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time--is best known for his development of the 'ragtime' guitar style, the sheer complexity of which has baffled would-be imitators for the past eight decades. His mastery of this approach was so complete that none have ever come close to being able to imitate him. The tracks on this LP were recorded in the Paramount Studios in Chicago in May of 1928, with blues singer Bertha Henderson on vocals on 'That Lonesome Rave,' 'Leavin' Gal Blues' and several others. Guest vocalists also appear on 'Beulah Land' (Daniel Brown) and 'Elzadie's Policy Blues' (Elzadie Robinson). Many of these songs have long been considered early American blues classics."

Artist:	BLIND BLAKE
Title:	The Vanished Bluesman In Richmond
Label:	MONK (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$22.00
Catalog #:	MK 339LP

"After their success with Blind Lemon Jefferson, Chicago's Paramount was scouting for more male blues talent, and they found it in 1926 in a man called Blind Blake (1893-1933), a sophisticated guitar player who was the antithesis of Delta blues. In fact, Blake soon became Paramount's best-selling and most recorded artist, with over a hundred sides to his name. Blake--one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time--is best known for his development of the 'ragtime' guitar style, the sheer complexity of which has baffled would-be imitators for the past eight decades. His mastery of this approach was so complete that none have ever come close to being able to imitate him. These recordings from 1929 are a collection of sessions Blake recorded for Paramount in the Gennett Studios in Richmond, Indiana. Blake is accompanied by Charlie Spand on piano on several tracks. Spand was the king of the 1920s barrelhouse piano style and one of the most influential piano players of his day."

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