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Country Blues => Weenie Campbell Main Forum => Books and Articles => Topic started by: SpikeDriver on December 19, 2005, 02:28:09 PM
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This is probably old news to the insiders on this forum, just wondering what others have heard about this:
Author looking for Blind Willie stories
5/19/2005
From: McDuffie Mirror, Georgia
By: Jerrie MacIntire, Staff Writer
Submitted by Leon Gilbert
British author Michael Gray has traveled a long way in his quest to bring the story of Blind Willie McTell to music fans.
Mr. Gray, critically acclaimed for his biography entitled Song and Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan, is wrapping up the life story of Blind Willie McTell, the great blues and gospel artist from Happy Valley in McDuffie County.
"I've been working very hard on it all this year, after many research trips in the previous few years. It's a labor of love," he said.
Mr. Gray appealed to McDuffie County residents for information on Blind Willie McTell in a letter to the editor of The McDuffie Mirror in December 2004.
He has traveled the back roads of Georgia and other states where Blind Willie McTell lived and played the guitar, and has come up with several interesting facts about the musician's life.
"Essentially, the research is done, but there are still a couple of mysteries I still hold out some hope of solving in the next few weeks," he said.
The book should hit the shelves of stores in England in June 2006, although the publication date for the United States is not yet settled. Mr. Gray's book will be the only biography about the extraordinary blues singer from McDuffie County.
"I was surprised to find that no one had ever written his biography - he's a very interesting figure, and he lived in an interesting time and place: the Georgia of the pre-Civil Rights era."
Mr. Gray is impressed with both the music and the man.
"Being born blind into a black working class family in rural Georgia in an era of strict segregation was a big combination of obstacles for anyone. But in the end, his blindness freed him from the fate of being a farmhand, and so enabled him to travel further afield and develop his musicianship," he said.
"Because he was a bright, resourceful man, who never behaved like he was handicapped, yet took the trouble to go to the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon and learn to read Braille, and because he was a brilliant 12-string guitar player and had a lovely voice, he succeeded."
Mr. Gray is a big fan of Blind Willie McTell's music, and especially enjoys, "Mama Taint Long Fore Day," "Broke Down Engine," "Sending Up My Timber" and "Hide Me In Thy Bosom."
His book won't be just about music, however.
"It's for anyone with an interest in the history of the 20th Century, and especially the history of the African Americans in Georgia. It's written for people who've never even heard of Blind Willie McTell, and it aims to be a rattling good story," he said.
Although the book is almost complete, Mr. Gray is still interested in any Blind Willie McTell stories. For those with information to share, contact Carolyn Gilbert, Chamber director, at 597-1000.
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...thanks for the info, SpikeD ... I'm looking forward to the publication and hope someone on board gives a heads up when it happens ...
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...thanks for the info, SpikeD ... I'm looking forward to the publication and hope someone on board gives a heads up when it happens ...
He's been working on this biography since 2000 but I believe his publisher has put back publication until spring 2007.
I've known Michael since late 60s when he was working in the press office of WEA in London. His knowledge of blues is verging on that of the music of Dylan and anybody who has read Song & Dance Man III can't but fail to be impressed with his 120 page chapter on blues or the rather less lengthy 30 pages devoted to McTell.
I somehow can't see the BWMcT book being the astonishing 900 pages that was S&DMIII.? :D
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anybody who has read Song & Dance Man III can't but fail to be impressed with his 120 page chapter on blues or the rather less lengthy 30 pages devoted to McTell.
Wasn't the chapter on blues available somewhere online at some point or as an excerpt somewhere? Or am I misremembering again...
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My set of the Routledge encyclopedia has arrived from Amazon.The McTell entry is contributed by Gray. IMHO it is an object lesson in something which I can't quite put my finger on. It not only makes the character 'come alive' but manages to capture culture, history, music etc etc with knowledge and without dogma - also makes one want to listen to the records! If the forthcoming book is researched/written to this standard then I think it will be worth the wait.
As a side issue,? the McTell entry is of an adequate length. Poor old Jesse Fuller is only deserving of 4.5 lines (born, recorded 50s/60s, died) whilst Stevie Ray Vaughan has a blow-by-blow account in a staggering 5 columns. I say no more...
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I had posted this in the McTell LoC discussion topic but have removed as probably better placed here. This is the blurb from Amzon UK who give a publication date of 2nd July (believe that when I see it)
Hardcover ?17.99
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2 Jul 2007)
ISBN-10: 0747565600
ISBN-13: 978-0747565604
Product Dimensions: 6 x 9.2 inches
Synopsis
Blind Willie McTell, 1903-1959, was one of the most gifted musical artists of his generation, with an exquisite voice and a sublime talent for the twelve-string guitar. As Bob Dylan wrote, "nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell" - yet his repertoire was infinitely wider than that. Why, then, did he drift in and out of the public eye, being 'rediscovered' time and again through chance meetings; and why, until now, has so little been written about the life of this extraordinary man? Blind from birth, McTell never behaved as if he were handicapped by his lack of sight and he explodes every stereotype about blues musicians. Michael Gray has travelled the American South and beyond to unearth the fascinating story of McTell's life - uncovering the secrets of his ancestry, the hardships he suffered and the successes he enjoyed at a time when recording contracts didn't lift you out of singing on the street. In this personal and moving odyssey into a lost world of early blues music, a vulnerable black population and more, Gray peels back the many layers of a tragic, occasionally shocking but ultimately uplifting story, giving us an intimate portrait of a remarkable man and showing how his life connects to the tumultuous sweep of history. Getting the story is part of the story itself, and Gray's quest for facts and details suggests that perhaps little has changed in the Deep South even today. Part biography, part travelogue, part social history, this is an atmospheric, unforgettable tale.
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I've been sent a rather small JPEG of the book's dust jacket. Apparently Bloombury's publication date of 2nd July for the UK is firm as is the price of 20GBP. Amazon UK already have it discounted to 12GBP.
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Bloomsbury must be confident that the book will be published in UK on 2nd July their web site has the following talk/signing session listed!
Michael Gray
Arnolfini Arts Centre
Date: 7 July 2007 Time: 19:30
Address: 16 Narrow Quay Bristol
Box Office: 0117 917 2300
Website: www.arnolfini.org.uk
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I've been speaking on the phone with somebody who last week received from Bloomsbury Press a review copy - all 435 pages of it - ahead of the publication date of 9th July. The UK price has been increased to 25GBP but I note that Amazon UK is virtually giving it away. :)
It seems that US, European and other foreign rights have yet to be negotiated so it may be some months before available outside of the UK and Commonwealth!
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I have a review copy of this but have yet to crack it open. I'll post a review just as soon as I get through it, looks tasty though!
Paul
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Just had notification from Amazon that they have dispatched my order of this - ahead of schedule
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Just had notification from Amazon that they have dispatched my order of this - ahead of schedule
Snap - me too!
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Amazon UK have it discounted from 25GBP to 10.68GBP which is a bargain for a hardback of 400 pages. Don't know how long this offer will last...even paying for airmail to US can't cost more than 5-10GBP. :)
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My copy has just been sent. It'll be another week before I see it as we are decamped to Cornwall to enjoy the rain.
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My copy, ordered from Amazon at ?10.59, arrived this morning - looking forward to reading it.
Amazon e-mailed me yesterday to say it was on its way - excellent service.
One odd item - at over 400 pages the book feels remarkably light in weight - still that doesn't affect the content.
Cheers
Steve
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It would be great if one (or more) of you guys who have the book would post some comments on the contents. Though for the equivalent of $21.52 US, I'm tempted to just order the book from Amazon UK.
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I have ordered it too today! Looking forward to a good read on this great blues man.
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I ordered mine to the States today. I will post a review as soon as it arrives & I read the same.
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McTell on the buses! In Edinburgh there's a free newspaper that is distributed on the buses, for commuters to read on their way to work. Yesterday's edition featured a review of the McTell book and a picture of Blind Willie. Very unusual to get mainstream exposure in a mass circulation - and not very highbrow - paper. I think Michael Gray has kudos from having written the Dylan book, so that's probably why his latest attracted the journalist's interest? Anyway, I'm about half way through the book at the moment. I find it extremely well written and informative, dispelling a few myths along the way - not least BTW's birthdate, or the notion that he and Riley Puckett may have shared a school bench at one time. The travelogue aspect is vivid and atmospheric for those of us who live a long way from Georgia, and the socio-political themes that form the backdrop to the story of Willie's family are as fascinating as they are disturbing. I'd highly recommend this.
Prof S
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Having read the book I have refrained from passing comment on the grounds that I might be biased as Michael and I are friends. However (there's always a "however") for what it's worth I think that it's an absorbing read. The approach is refreshingly different to the accepted, and formulaic, nature of previous pre-war blues biography (Leadbelly, Charlie Patton, Memphis Minnie or Skip James). By placing McTell in his historical, geographical and cultural settings brings a fascinating (and literate) new perspective on the man, his music and his times. For those who haven't seen it there's a very perceptive write-up at The Woodshed
http://tinyurl.com/2n2tb7
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McTell on the buses! In Edinburgh there's a free newspaper that is distributed on the buses, for commuters to read on their way to work. Yesterday's edition featured a review of the McTell book and a picture of Blind Willie. Very unusual to get mainstream exposure in a mass circulation - and not very highbrow - paper. I think Michael Gray has kudos from having written the Dylan book, so that's probably why his latest attracted the journalist's interest? Anyway, I'm about half way through the book at the moment. I find it extremely well written and informative, dispelling a few myths along the way - not least BTW's birthdate, or the notion that he and Riley Puckett may have shared a school bench at one time. The travelogue aspect is vivid and atmospheric for those of us who live a long way from Georgia, and the socio-political themes that form the backdrop to the story of Willie's family are as fascinating as they are disturbing. I'd highly recommend this.
Prof S
I am so excited. McTell's music has always struck me on a very visceral and emotional level; perhaps more so than any other pre-war bluesman. At the same time, I have never been able to uncover anything about his life aside from the usual small writeups and whatever can be gleaned from the Lomax interviews (which fall short at best). I am very curious to know what research has been conducted aside from what is already known and how this will add to my understanding of the man. Again, I haven't been this excited about a biography of a musician for a long time. It is wonderful that a publishing house agreed to release this book.
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I finished the book a couple of days ago and would definitely recommend it. It's one of the most readable blues "biographies" I've come across. Quite often these, whilst interesting, are either overly academic and analytical or riddled with errors. As Scratchy mentioned, the travalogue and historical aspects of the book are fascinating and although not directly about McTell, contribute to the overall understanding of him. The book has obviously been throughly researched and turned up a great deal of new information. I would have liked to see some more photos, but apart from this, I would very highly recommend it.
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There's a tantalizing excerpt on Bloomsbury's site (http://www.bloomsbury.com/ezine/Articles/Articles.asp?ezine_article_id=2337&Quiz_id=0)
This is no doubt an important book and I'm dying to get my hands on it. Yet again I think we should give kudos to the British blues researchers, fans and publishers who have so many times over the last 60 years or so helped to keep the fire burning. Makes me proud to be an ex-pat.
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McTell on the buses! In Edinburgh there's a free newspaper that is distributed on the buses, for commuters to read on their way to work. Yesterday's edition featured a review of the McTell book and a picture of Blind Willie. Very unusual to get mainstream exposure in a mass circulation - and not very highbrow - paper. I think Michael Gray has kudos from having written the Dylan book, so that's probably why his latest attracted the journalist's interest? Anyway, I'm about half way through the book at the moment. I find it extremely well written and informative, dispelling a few myths along the way - not least BTW's birthdate, or the notion that he and Riley Puckett may have shared a school bench at one time. The travelogue aspect is vivid and atmospheric for those of us who live a long way from Georgia, and the socio-political themes that form the backdrop to the story of Willie's family are as fascinating as they are disturbing. I'd highly recommend this.
Prof S
Again, I haven't been this excited about a biography of a musician for a long time. It is wonderful that a publishing house agreed to release this book.
I agree with Prof. Scratchy re. Gray and the Dylan book. Gray has proven himself to be a very good writer, not just another researcher, which no doubt makes it much easier to sell this kind of idea to a publisher. I'm very much looking forward to reading his book.
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Three questions for Bunker Hill to pass on to Mr Gray: when and why did Blind Willie ditch McTear and adopt McTell? Why did his pals call him Doog or Doogie? And why did he get through so many guitars?? Now, I've still got a third left to read, so all may become apparent. Or I may have turned over two pages at once and missed the page that answers all these questions. This is the most enjoyable and instructive blues book I've read in a long time: entertaining, erudite, gripping, fun. Buy it if you haven't already.
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I can't decide between Shout Sister Shout or Blind Willie's biography, Ahh!!
Anyone here read both of 'em??
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It showed up today. Wow. From the preliminary browsing that I have completed, what a great book. Not only does it follow an interesting narrative detailing the modern south versus that of McTell's era, but it is literally chock full of new information that I had no idea existed about McTell and his contemporaries. I am guessing that this book is to some degree the definitive book on Curley Weaver and Buddy Moss as well (it isn't that a wealth of info exists on either man in the Gray's book, but there is very little in print info on either man anywere). This is probably the best researched book I have ever read on a pre-1940's blues artist. I highly recommend it to anyone that has an interest.
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About half way through- its fascinating and very obviously researched in imculate detail which is perhaps rare in many fields.
I have a little pet hate about the way the author slips into the present tense like a sports reporter ("he's slipped his marker and he's nodded it in at the back post") but thats probably just me being petty :-)
I have the JSP Mctell boxed set but embarrassingly I wsa unaware of the final session recording. The opening pages of this book prompted me to get out of bed, log on to Amazon, and get my order in immediately!
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Michael Gray has set up a blog at
http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/
where he states that Bloomsbury have already had to reprint the work.
He also has added one or two items that the publishers cut out from the manuscript. I shall be following this blog with keen interest. :)
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Here's a quote from one of Michael Gray's blog entries (August 9, 2007) that's worthy of wider dissemination and should be of particular interest to Weenies. Quotes this good seem usually to be apocryphal. I hope this one isn't...
...one of those who talked to Willie towards the end of his life was Bruce Utah Phillips, and though this bit of the interview Mr. Phillips gave me (in May 2004) ended up pruned out of the book, he reported this:
"I was curious about what this music, when it was in the jazz houses and the jook joints: what did it sound like? [I asked Willie:] 'When you were young, what d?you sound like?' And he said 'You want to hear what we sounded like when we were your age, you listen to early Elvis Presley.'... I don?t think he was joking, either."
How did this ever get cut from the book?
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anyone have any idea as to when it will be available in the US???
Dave
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Bloomsbury Press have a New York office
http://www.bloomsburyusa.com/Authors/default.asp?id=615&cf=0
but neither author or nor title are listed. Maybe they are happy Harry Potter to bother about McTell. :)
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anyone have any idea as to when it will be available in the US???
Dave
Go to WWW.Bookfinder.com and type in the ISBN: 0747565600
Several sellers will come up. Powell's Books is the only U.S. bookseller. None are inexpensive. Perhaps the thing to do is for us to send the Bloomsbury Office (thanks for the link, BH) a message and ask them directly. Maybe sufficient interest will motivate them to distribute the book in the U.S.--hopefully sooner rather than later.
One of our stateside posters ordered it from the U.K. (I assume) and it arrived in about 10 days.
Added: I couldn't find an e-mail address at the BloomsburyUSA.com site, but here is the one I found at their main U.K. site:
customerservices@bloomsbury.com
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I ordered it from amazon.uk. It took 6 days from order to delivery. I haven't looked lately, but when I ordered, the book was heavily discounted, so even with a shipping charge and the terrible exchange rate it cost about what a hardcover book would cost in the US.
By the way, I'd highly recommend the book. It's a well-written, entertaining read which takes you through the last 150 years of Georgia's history. It's written for a general audience, so don't expect a lot of painstaking dissection of McTell's music, though this is usually adequately covered - if I could change one thing (besides including better illustrations and a map of Georgia, both of which were probably beyond the author's control), it would be to add a little better discussion of McTell's Decca recordings, which are pretty quickly glossed over.
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I sent an e-mail to Bloomsbury's UK office. Here's their reply:
"Dear Stuart,
Many thanks for contacting us. Unfortunately we do not hold the US
rights to this book, and are unaware of a US publisher. We are sorry we could not be more helpful."
I guess the options at the present time are obvious.
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Have any of y'all read the the new Michael Gray Book about Willie McTell? Is it great, just OK or blah?
I'm thinking of buying it but since it isn't currently distributed stateside it's a bit costly with importing cost, a weak dollar and all that.
Thanks.
OM
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Thought I would tuck your query over here, Orb, where we've already got two and a half pages on the subject.-G-
All for now.
John C.
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Orb, the book is 'great' .. If you have interest in pre-war music and U.S. history, I'd rate this a 'must have' .. one of the best I've read in the genre, and just a plain good read otherwise..I bought it off of Amazon for 30-something, if I remember, and took about a week to arrive, and about two days to read, it was so compelling..
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I went looking for Michael Gray's Hand Me My Travelin Shoes and found copies from around $50 to into the thousands of dollars. I know the dollar is tanking but good grief!! Have I got the blues now!
Rob
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Hi RobBob,
Have you tried www.amazon.co.uk? There's no US edition of the book yet, so you need to order from the UK, but it's pretty reasonable, even with the tanking greenback I'd guess.
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it's pretty reasonable
That's easy for you Canadians to say, with your strong dollar. ;D Amazon UK has the book for ?16.25, which is about $32.50 US. Add shipping and the total goes up to over $40. It's not cheap, but the book is worth it.
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Well, I'm not going to feel bad about a strong Canadian dollar. :) And I'm sorry to say I'm not going to feel too much sympathy either when every single American publisher continues to gouge Canadians relentlessly on book prices, despite the dramatic difference in the value of the dollar today. :D Not a dig at anyone here -- just annoyance at the conspiring publishers. $40 for a 450-page hardcover is pretty standard in Canada.
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Finally ordered it on Nov. 5 from a UK bookseller that I located via Bookfinder.com. It cost about $32.00 + $11 S&H (USD) and was delivered today (Nov. 15).
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I too got a copy for $41 and change from a seller through amazon UK. the book looks real good and have it in m queue for reading. I have gotten quite taken with David Fulmer's Dying Crapshooter's Blues, which is set in 1920's Atlanta. He has also written mysteries set in early 1900's new Orleans with characters like Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morten in them. Contrivances? Perhaps but he gets a good feel for the times and the music.
Rob
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from the latest Roots & Rhythm catalogue
HAND ME MY TRAVELIN' SHOES
In Search Of Blind Willie McTell by Michael Gray
BOOK $59.95
Back in stock. British Import. Hardbound, 432 pages, counts as 7 cds for shipping
Blind Willie McTell was one of the most gifted musical artists of his generation, with an exquisite voice and a sublime talent for the twelve-string guitar. As Bob Dylan wrote, "nobody can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell"--yet his repertoire was infinity wider than that. Why, then, did he drift in and out of the public eye, being `rediscovered' time and again through chance meetings; and why, until now, has so little been written about the life of this extraordinary man? In this personal and moving odyssey into a lost world of early blues music, a vulnerable black population and more, Michael Gray peels back the many layers of a tragic, occasionally shocking but ultimately uplifting story. He gives us an intimate portrait of a remarkable man, showing how his life connects to the tumultuous sweep of history. Getting the story is part of the story itself, and Gray's quest for facts and details reveals that little may have changed in the Deep South, even today. Part biography, part travelogue, part social history, this is an atmospheric, unforgettable tale.
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http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/
Apparently still no takers to publish a U.S. edition...
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http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/
Apparently still no takers to publish a U.S. edition...
What an embarrassment. One of the best-written books on the blues in years, about one of the best bluesmen ever, and no US publisher. Yet someone feels it worthwhile to publish a paperback edition of the Heroin Diaries of Nikki Sixx (or take your pick from the music section at amazon...)
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Apparently still no takers to publish a U.S. edition...
What an embarrassment. One of the best-written books on the blues in years, about one of the best bluesmen ever, and no US publisher. Yet someone feels it worthwhile to publish a paperback edition of the Heroin Diaries of Nikki Sixx (or take your pick from the music section at amazon...)
Crazy situation, isn't it? Perhaps that?s what happens when there?s no Robert Johnson connection. Maybe Michael should get Bob Dylan to endorse it over there!
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And STILL no US publisher - OUP offered a pittance, so I've been told. Hard to live on one of those! And so it goes.
Peter B.
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Dylan would definitely endorse it. The problem is that Dylan's agents and representatives are many, and each get 10,000 e-mails and letters a day. That's just my assessment of the situation.
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Campbelltonians -
I state my being a "source" for the book up front and that I was given a pb copy by the author as "Thanks".
This is probably not the book that serious blues anoraks would have wanted, but then it would have been an awfully slim volume! Gray has folded many "stories" into one: McTier (sic) family history, the US Civil War, lynching in GA, GA county histories, race relations in GA, Gray's stories of following leads (successful or not), Atlanta history, a.o. ... and interweaving into those threads, the life story of William Samuel McTell (as best as can be done from this point in time). All the stories unfold into Willie's - before and after - in a well written whole that held this reader's attention and kept him up WAY past his bed time! Gray has done his homework and it shows. I could find nothing but little niggley bits to bring to his attention!
A fascinating story of one who cannot be romanticized in quite the same way as others have been; Willie McTell was a professional musician proud of his work who managed to succeed in some fashion and support he and his wife for most of his life; he recorded in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s... not all commercial sessions. Quite an accomplishment for a blind Black man during the pre-civil rights decades of the US, not to mention The Great Depression. One seriously successful busker with a broad songster repertoire who also happened to be one hell of a blues singer and guitarist, not to mention his church songs and singing. I always said that if you went up to Willie at The Blue Lantern on Ponce de Leon, gave him a quarter, and asked for "The Beer Barrel Polka"... he'd do it for you! A well-liked Black man (by White and Black) who was as independent and "free"as possible at that point in time.
He is the one old muso I wish I had been able to meet - both his music and his personality (from what I gleaned in my decade of field work) I find admirable. I think that having a conversation with McTell would have been wonderful. I'm sure that other bits of information will show up over time, but they will not alter the fact that this is one fine read that I can recommend highly.
yrs,
Peter B.
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Michael tells me that he has not yet given up on getting a US publisher... that'd be nice! Stranger things than that have happened in this world!! It's worth risking ten quid though!!
Peter B.
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Having received my copy from the author (he interviewed me a few times for the book), I must say that it has been a compelling read. This is WAY more than "the Willie McTell story" - there is geneology, national and local history, social history, travelogue, "on the trail" stories, a.o. all folded into one another. Maybe not what the blues anoraks may have had in mind, but theirs would have been a pamphlet! Not that there a lack of "story" on Willie, just that it's all contextualized in deep and wide ways that add much to the reader's understanding. Face it, folks, we're not poor, Black, blind, and living in the segregated South in the two middle quarters of the past century - we'll never REALLY know. Done by an outsider with writing talent (similarly to SPINNING BLUES INTO GOLD, journalist Nadine Cohodas' excellent book on Chess Records), this is a good book... as they say, I had a hard time putting it down!
Peter B.
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The book was remarkably researched. You're right about the story of McTell as a Blues singer and guitarist being more like a pamphlet than a book. I'm glad that his life and his recordings were really put into context, resulting in an epic book, and not a mere pamphlet.
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This book can be purchased for $10 from Amazon UK's used dealers. There's no excuse for us Americans to whine that's too expensive, or unobtainable.
And yes, as an American I'm embarrassed this has no US publisher. Particularly since both commercial and academic presses here crank out tons of books far less interesting and important than this. There's no excuse.
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***UPDATE***
Gray's website now says that the book will be published in the USA Sept. 2009.
:D
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Yay, finally 8)
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***UPDATE***
Gray's website now says that the book will be published in the USA Sept. 2009.
Not bad, only two years after the event, see original press release (click to enlarge).
[attachment deleted by admin]
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Received book today. Looks good, though the lack of a glossy photo section is disappointing.
One caveat for Americans: purchasing through Amazon.co.uk will probably cause your bank account to be temporarily frozen. The reason for this, I was told, is that a lot of credit card fraud originates from there.
So you may just want to wait for the US edition.
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One caveat for Americans: purchasing through Amazon.co.uk will probably cause your bank account to be temporarily frozen. The reason for this, I was told, is that a lot of credit card fraud originates from there.
That's what they tell us when we buy from Amazon.com! :P
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140 pages into this and very, very disappointed, to the point that I probably will not be able to continue. Gray must be the most shining living stereotype of the ostentatious British "expert-on-everything" working today. His "observations" on Georgians and Georgia cultural life are utterly pretentious bullcrap, and completely irrelevant to the biography of Blind Willie McTell. And this goes on and on and on and on...he can't find French cuisine in Statesboro, so he whines like some Diva who didn't get her Dom Perignon backstage. Jesus. Did an editor even glance at this?
Does McTell ever enter the story??? I've learned more irrelevant details about his grandfather than I ever needed to know.
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Bear with it - Sightless William eventually shows up in the saga. I enjoyed the book, myself, and found it a fascinating and gripping read. An apropos corollary, VSOP, never eat in a Chinese restaurant in Macon, GA. I know of what I write - the H&H is a MUCH safer bet, if still extant!
Peter B.
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His "observations" on Georgians and Georgia cultural life are utterly pretentious bullcrap
It's always interesting to me to see familiar territory through the eyes of strangers.
Mr Gray does spend a lot of time relating background information before McTell actually appears, but, for me at least, once I got to reading the details of McTell's life, I was glad I had the background. And remember, even if you're an expert on Georgia's history, geography, and culture, 90% of the people who read this book are not.
As for French cuisine in Statesboro, all I can say is that i sympathize entirely with Michael Gray. I'm at the point in my life where I get downright cranky if I can't find a good restaurant in town! (Though my most frequent complaint anywhere in the US is that you just can't get a decent cup of tea. :( )
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Yes, I totally agree with VSOP. I didn't enjoy the book at all. I read a lot, but this book just could not hold my attention. A more plodding, boring read I've yet to find.
PS If anyone wants to take this book off my hands, email me privately. I'll sell it for $25 +postage in US. I think I paid around $50 for it from Amazon UK.
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A more plodding, boring read I've yet to find.
That's because you've never read things like "Some Ramblings on Robert Johnson's Mind: Critical Analysis and Aesthetic Value in Delta Blues" by James Bennighof, one of the more poorly written essays in Ramblin' On My Mind: New Perspectives On The Blues. :P
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I'd have to say that Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes would be on my list of the 10 best books on the blues published in the 21st century. My description would be more "an endlessly interesting, easy read" than "plodding and boring".
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Yes, I totally agree with VSOP. I didn't enjoy the book at all. I read a lot, but this book just could not hold my attention. A more plodding, boring read I've yet to find.
"Chacun ? son go?t" as the French might say.
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...ostentatious British "expert-on-everything"
Hey! I resemble that remark.
I haven't read it yet, when I do, I'll get back to ya'! (as ostentatious American expert-on-sweet-f*-all, Sarah Palin, might say) ;)
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What's with the hate-on for the British?
Setting that aside, I'm a little surprised at the negative reactions, not because I expect everyone to enjoy this book but because the viewpoints diverge so dramatically. I have to say this is the only book about blues I have ever finished and felt like turning back to page 1 and starting over again. It is well-written, witty, provides a cultural and social history beyond the music (like dj, I was glad of all the background), is part travelogue and memoir. I never found it pretentious at all. My only criticism of the book is that it did not tackle the songs as much as it could have. Perhaps that would have made it is as dull as so many blues books out there can be, perhaps it's for another writer to deal with.
Like dj, I also lament the utter incomprehension when it comes to tea here in coffee-obsessed North American restaurants and cafes. (Not just the US, dj. It's Canada too.)
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What's with the hate-on for the British?
Since on one else has replied, I guess I'll have to. Our main complaints against the British:
- The men are handsome, the women are beautiful, and all the kids are, as my wife would say, cute as hops.
- They're sophisticated, well-spoken, witty, dapper, and urbane. And they write well.
- The accent(s).
- The fact that every one of them has a butler and a crew of servants gets our republican blood up. (Don't try to deny it, we've seen the TV shows!)
- They had Monty Python years before we did.
- Most unforgivable of all, all of them, including the queen, have a better blues library and a much more extensive blues LP/CD collection than I do. I think I'm safe in taking Bunker Hill as representing the "average" native of the British Isles in this respect.
I'm surprised you didn't know all this, uncle bud.
(Note to the gullible: there's just a bit of satire contained in the above.)
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Interesting disparities in the reactions to the bio of Visually-Challenged Mr. McTell (to be politically correct!). This book does WAY more in the way of contextualizing the individual, both in his time, and in what came before that. While some of what Mr. Gray writes comes as no surprise to "American" readers, his painting with a really broad brush is distinctive and edifying, in my opinion. Willie is there embedded in a bigger story than just "guitar-playing Black Man". I'd have liked more comment on the songs, but it wasn't that kind of book. For those who hated it, pass it on - someone else might enjoy it!
Peter B.
p.s. - Here in Australia, Pommie-bashing is the second most popular national sport. Cute.
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What's with the hate-on for the British?
I reckon it's because we've never been forgiven for publishing the first English language blues magazines, Blues Unlimited (1963) and Blues World (1965) and the U.S didn't come up with one until 1970. But seriously, don't you think it speaks volumes that a Brit has to write this book because the recognised authority on this particular artist seems reluctant to do so?
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because the recognised authority on this particular artist seems reluctant to do so/quote]
Who's (s)he and why?
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because the recognised authority on this particular artist seems reluctant to do so
Who's (s)he and why?
David Evans. Why is the question that's probably been on the lips of most since those three issues of Blues Unlimited in 1977 astounded blues fans with his interview with Kate McTell and family. David Evans would have seemed the obvious contender for the task. I'm not knocking the Gray effort, I think it's a brilliant and absorbing read, but I wouldn't mind betting that DE has McTell data which Michael Gray would have given his right arm for. ;)
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Well, BH - somebody should write a book about DE, cover his BWMcT research in detail, then excise the bits about DE? Just an idea....
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Evans wrote the notes to Sony's 1994 CD release of the complete recordings McTell made for Columbia/Okeh/Vocalion. The notes are a good read, but, all-in-all, I'm glad Michael Gray wrote Hand Me Down My Travelin' Shoes and not David Evans. A book by Evans would have been an entirely different animal, and while it might have had a few more facts about McTell and certainly would have had much more musical analysis, it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable to read.
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Evans also wrote the notes to the BMG release "When the Sun Goes Down - Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues" in the unfortunately named "The Secret History of Rock and Roll" series (how many names can one CD have?). This is still worth picking up if you're a McTell obsessive and already have everything, because the remastering is excellent and the disc is usually cheap as dirt. Though I have no idea why they felt obliged to include two tracks from Alfoncy and Bethenea Harris (why include any) and two from "Ruby Glaze" on a single-disc compilation. Anyway, Evans' notes are fairly lengthy - for a bargain CD in particular - but I don't know that any new information is contained in them. Nothing that jumps out at me anyway.
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I hate the British because they ended slavery and instituted universal healthcare years before we did (still waiting....). We fought a revolution why?
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We fought a revolution why?
It's so simple O'Muck - so that your ruling elite were free to exploit their own local proles, peasants and slaves rather than paying taxes to be allowed to do so. But I think you know that.
I find the criticism of David Gray solely on the basis that he is British very strange .There would be little coherent writing on the blues at all if Paul Oliver (British) had not paved the way in the '50s & '60s when there were less people in the US giving a ***s for the music than in the UK and Europe.
We can only be thankful that a few of you colonials saw the light and that we have benefited from the belated research of our own Oddenda, George Mitchell, David Evans & others. You guys were late, but you got there in the end and the weenie is one of the splendid results.
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And don't forget Lonnie Donnegan coming over here and teaching Leadbelly everything he needed to know to sing the Blues! >:D
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I saw Lonnie Donnegan back in the days of gas lighting and what bundle of energy he was, positively amazing
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It's not just the English, but the FRENCH who led the way when it comes to studying vernacular musics in the US of A. The first major piece on jazz was by Swiss conductor Ernst Ansermet on Sydney Bechet in a travelling large Black orchestra! This was in the teens of the last century, way before all the N.O. focus of C.E. Smith, et al. African American music was first recorded in Europe in the late 19th Century!!! Well before in its homeland. While we could look down our noses at those less well-off, today we're all in the same damn boat, so give credit where credit's due and swallow it! Freedom Fries or Freedom Toast be damned. So few actually gave a damn, and far fewer actually did anything... let's be kind to each other and not be proprietary about all this stuff - share it equally. Unfortunately, this sort of thinking is in the minority.
Peter b.
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I saw Lonnie Donnegan back in the days of gas lighting and what bundle of energy he was, positively amazing
Lonnie Johnson appeared at London's Royal Festival Hall on 23rd June 1952, the support act was Donegan and his Jazz Band. Also on the bill was singer Neva Raphaello whom Johnson accompanied on her version of Prisoner Of Love.
Now that's irrelevant information if ever there were....
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Donegan adopted the "Lonnie" to style himself after Mr.Johnson.
I've got an ancient Folkways album with songs by Leadbelly, Sonny & Brownie, Woody Guthrie etc, and this was clearly the source for the skiffler's first few records. I recollect seeing a few of the Donegan discs in someone's collection and he took writing credits (unless, as O'Muck surmises he'd spent the 40s in New York teaching the songs to those guys!!!)
Oddenda,
Let's not forget the Belgians who went to Chicago in the 50s and found Kokomo Arnold.
Anyway you're right, we share the s*** evenly because the system makes sure its spread worldwide and what we need to do is maintain our sense of decency by building friendships through common interests such as this music. (Preaching over!)
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Isn't there a 30 minute film done by a Belgian director which features Bill Broonzy singing and playing in a club? It's some amazing footage which can be found on Youtube. I believe it was filmed in the early 1950s.
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Hi all,
I think it's great that it's been agreed that all the different nations should get along, but I think more to the point of the discussion here is that it is idiotic, on the face of it, to imagine that an individual's accomplishments confer some sort of shared status and sense of achievement on the residents of the city/state/country from which he hails. Whenever I hear such statements being made, I'm reminded of Chicago Bulls fans during the Michael Jordan era, constantly telling everyone, "We whipped your butts last night!". My response generally was, "Which quarter did you play? I watched the whole game and don't recall having seen you on the floor once."
Paul Oliver's achievements are not British achievements, nor are Ernst Ansermet's achievements Swiss achievements, nor are Hughes Panassie's achievements French achievements. They are individual achievements by persons who happened to come from England, Switzerland and France.
All best,
Johnm
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John:
I agree--its ultimately a world of individuals--but it brings up another interesting topic (or topics), and that is the relationship(s) and associations between individual identity, cultural identity, national identity, regional identity, etc. I find it a fascinating aspect of the human condition, but one that I don't have much of an insight into or understanding of, even though I'm obviously a participant. (Where's that old social psych textbook??)
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I can relate to VSOPs post though. There's nothing worse than sitting down to a new book, keenly anticipated, that doesn't meet your expectations. A. Lomax's writing drives me crazy, for different reasons, specifically not being documentary enough, dates, locations, and too much subjective musing teetering on cod poetic. D. Evans for making intuitive leaps, it seems to me, not clearly supported by, among other things, the narrative. Many more, Steve Calt I have a love/hate relationship with his writing. Chris Smith sometimes drives me totally up the wall where I want to scream, and other times I think he's one of the best.
It's easy to get into a "slagging off an entire social reference group" mode to vent frustration, it's a bigger and also less direct target than the writer themselves and way more satisfying to bash. Hey I left the UK a looong time ago so it don't worry me none. I get my kicks from reading that famous Oxford University Press work by Brit & Aussie authors Dixon, Godrich & Rye, and anything that turns up that sheds any further glimmer of light is a blessing. :P
PS My wife says this thread is turning into "blues meta-scholarship".
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So what has any of this to do with the McTell book? Really!
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So what has any of this to do with the McTell book? Really!
Speaking only for myself, nothing directly and perhaps just a little tangentially--just participating in the conversation as it veers off topic, as is sometimes the case here.
Having purchased and read the book over a year ago, I suggest that you try to find (or wait for) a reasonably priced copy, read it for yourself, form your own opinions and draw your own conclusions when time permits. After all, as John pointed out, it is a world of individuals and we are not all the same.
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About 3/4s of the way through and, sorry dj, I must agree with VSOP. There is just so much extraneous filler. If one is trying to maintain a mental time line of Willie's life it is best to keep a notebook handy to jot down the occasional mention. Constant tangents into the lives of people Willie never even met, even bios of architects of buildings Willie never saw, like the libraries the author visits. His constant anthropomorphizing of buildings. It would have been cleaner if he'd kept his travelogue writing persona in check, not to mention any chance to mention the subjects of his other books, Dylan and Elvis, no matter how OT, can't be missed. The writing is overly florid and it seems one adjective can never suffice when two or three will soon add up to another page of bulk. Did you know that deer leap "ineffably"?!?! And when he finally gets around to a discussion of Willie's birth date, about halfway through, he also has to spend two pages listing about 10 country blues artists for every year from about 1890 to 1910. Clearly the assumption is that the book will eventually be online and will respond to search engines for any CB artist entered. And whenever any artist is mentioned in connection with Willie, we get a page of rewritten Bruce Bastin or David Evans. Then there is the five or six page rant, ending one chapter and starting the next, about how unfair to the writer it is that no one in Willie's culture understood the importance of keeping good records. He doesn't even bother to mention that no one could read or write until he is denigrating the white newspapers for not listing the names of blacks involved in murders and such, several pages later. Clearly his editor took a back seat, perhaps in the rumble seat. It's as if he made a decision to include every piece of info he came across in his investigation, regardless of it's import to Willie. And then there are his opinionated personal analysis of those folks he met and whose interviews he read, never failing to point out what he considers to be someone else's pettiness or untrustworthiness, often based on only minutes of his experiences with them.
Sure, setting the scene and explaining the history of the culture which spawns our hero are important aspects of a personal history, but this is just too much grandiose filler and not enough substance. This could have been a pamphlet given the amount of material actually pertinent to Willie.
And here's something he hasn't really mentioned. Atlanta is at the end of the end of the Appalachian Mts.. This is why all the railroads passed through, why the entire downtown area was elevated, which he mentions but doesn't really give the cause, and why so many artists would have passed through on their way from the east coast to Chicago. He totally misses this?
This is a very disappointing, often maddening read for something that has been so long anticipated. Yes, it gets me that heated. VSOP is right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
Wax
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My only response to Waxwing's rant is to say that I have enjoyed the book as a stand-alone read without bringing my own expectations and prejudices to the party - so much so that I have just finished re-reading it for the 2nd time. Rather this than S.Calt.
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If you are looking for the Joe Friday treatment ("Just the facts, Ma'am"), this isn't it. I guess the title ("In Search of...") should tip us off, but it is nevertheless somewhat misleading. I enjoyed the book, but I can certainly understand VSOP's and John C's disappointment and negative reactions. My suggestion for stateside Weenies would be to wait until it is published in the U.S. and then try to get it through your local library. That way you can read it without shelling out any $$ for something that may not be to your liking. And of course if you decide after reading it that it really is a book that you want to add to your collection, you can always buy a copy.
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In his defence, I think Gray tells us all there is know. Yes, he adds a lot more, which might meet with mixed reception (although I thoroughly enjoyed it). However, some naysayers seem to think that he's somehow robbing them of factual information in favour of over-florid descriptions of Atlanta. Okay, sometimes it's a little over the top, but it doesn't do the solidly-researched core of the narrative any harm. If he did just give us the bare bones facts the book would be a) devoid of any cultural frame of reference and b) written on the back of a coaster ;)
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Well the book obviously evokes strong negative opinions in some people. I'm surprised at the criticism of the writing though. 97% of blues writing is about as entertaining as a good, slow bloodletting. I have a couple shelves of the stuff and while I can say that a number of the books are essential, very few are actually readable. For several years, I was wondering why I was no longer the voracious reader I used to be, and I finally realized it was because all I'd been reading was books about the blues. Once I switched to something else that involved decent writing, I could read once again. Gray is clearly a much better writer than most who have attempted such books. I'll forgive him some overly florid moments for keeping me awake and truly entertained.
As for deer leaping ineffably, perhaps it's not the mot juste, but as a lifelong urban dweller where deer only appear on plates, I can say that every time I see an actual deer actually leap in front of me in that effortless, spring-loaded way they have, I think "well there's one of the great moments of the universe". I realize that for lots of people living closer to wooded territory that's more likely to be "the deer are in the f***ing garden and crapping in the driveway again", but hey, I sympathize with those who find deer ineffable.
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Bud -
You've made a salient point... the guy can WRITE! I found the book hard to put down, and not because it was too bulky, either!! AND the information's there, too.
Peter B.
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Well the book obviously evokes strong negative opinions in some people. I'm surprised at the criticism of the writing though. 97% of blues writing is about as entertaining as a good, slow bloodletting. I have a couple shelves of the stuff and while I can say that a number of the books are essential, very few are actually readable.
You and me both. :)
Over the years blues biographies have tended to be researched using an artist?s discography as a starting point and adding ?flesh? to that (Wolf or Little Walter for example). Given that discography usually provides an adequate underlying chronological ?picture? of an artist, this approach is understandable.
Muddy Waters had two biographies written about him within five years of one another. The first was from Sandra Tooze, and little more than an annotation of Phil Wight?s published MW discography with lots of quotes from the great and good of the blues and rock world. The second came from Robert Gordon who took a more ?Michael Gray? approach to his subject trying to get an understanding of his subject?s culture, environment etc. Many hated Gordon?s work, but it?s gone through various reprints which the Tooze never has, so guess that speaks for itself.
But I digress. Getting back to McTell, no doubt before long there will a David Evans/Larry Cohn view of McTell which, hopefully, will please those unhappy with Gray's approach.
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It is of course a matter of personal opinion but mine is that this is one of the very best books ever written about the blues or any aspect of it.
A 20 page pamphlet would cover the known facts but this book simply left me engrossed as it wandered into every possible aspect of McTell's life and times and his family history whilst focusing on the journey Grey made in trying to discover all this.
He's a serious and very readable writer and I thought he did a first class job.
But that of course is just my opinion.
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I'm glad my post has caused so much positive feedback for the book.
Unfortunately I came to it not already in possession of a file on Willie, containing all known info, and was actually looking more for his biography. My mistake.
Also, rather than compare the writing to other blues writers, I was comparing to actual writers. Lately I've been doing a Raymond Chandler/Dashiell Hammett retrospective. Now those guys knew how to set the scene and advance the plot, without losing the beat.
Wax
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The book contains most of what is known about McTell, and until David Evans shares the rest, which probably won't be a whole lot more, that's all we'll get unfortunately. If you've got Red River Blues, some liner notes, and this book, you've got what everyone else has got.
I was also basing my evaluation on actual writers. Not necessarily the great writers in history, but say perhaps not being surprised seeing an excerpt in the Atlantic or New Yorker or something. Chandler and Hammett are highly stylized, their prose steeped in writerly affectation. This book is quite different, of course, though still lots of writerly affectation, which in this case is obviously not to everyone's taste, as is the case with someone like Chandler (I like him fine). Gray's book was called a "great rambling shaggy dog of a biography" in review and I think that's a fair description.
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Forget the biography! Somewhere in a basement in Atlanta or surrounding areas is a roll of super 8 home movie film from the forties or early fifties with two minutes of a small man sitting on a street corner playing a huge Stella Twelve string and singing. I have no proof of this and have never even heard a rumor to this effect, but I can smell it! I KNOW ITS THERE!
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Mr. O'Muck, the day I see that piece of footage will be the day that Denny's produces edible food.
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In all seriousness, at least half of the book was hard to get through, though it was well-written and mindblowing in terms of the details involved. Even more shocking was the racial dynamic involved. Sure, we've all been told that Blues is about whites oppressing blacks down south, but this is quite an oversimplification of things. When we read that McTell was born while his white grandfather sat in his home several hundred feet away, it really makes us think (or perhaps I'm speaking for just us Americans). Actually, it's been at least a year since I've read the (British edition of the) book, so I hope I'm getting my facts right. I liked how Gray also related McTell's neighborhood to Martin Luther King, Jr., and how he exposed what a tragic and disgusting place Milledgeville (spelling?) was, but, again, simply stated that it was a product of its time; far from imperfect and riddled with racism.
Once the actual life of Blind Willie was discussed, things became much more interesting. The biography of the man could not have been written on the back of a coaster! Gray did an excellent job! Not to get off topic, but just look at how many shitty Clapton and Hendrix biographies there are, even with all the information, video footage and audio we have of the two of them. Now, imagine trying to write the biography of a man born around 1901.
Gray also came across as a gentle and refined man in a recent Bob Dylan dvd which discussed Blind Willie.
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http://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/catalog/showBook.cfm?ISBN=1556529759
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Highly praised book and I am enjoying it even though I'm slaving through endless data, civil war history speckled with some interesting McTell stories. Especially the Decatur last recordings details. I can really picture myself in all these streets and home places but I'm still beginning to get that old feeling I get when people outside of the south visit, write or document it. And I'm not a racist redneck cracker with a complex. Well I might be a redneck... I just mean that it always degrades into comments and clever snotty jabs about the food, backwards people, ignorance, racism, civil war and the blood of blacks is what made the dirt red, not clay .. (burp, taste, swallow) Who cares if Thompson Ga doesn't have a damned Tea shoppe or a salad bar?
So I'm going to take a deep breath and hope the rest of the book develops into something more than genealogy, civil war history and Mississippi burning. I'm pretty confident the author will save the situation at this 1/2 way point but I'd love to hear other viewpoints on the book and the different approach this author is taking. Pretty much a NON musical history of a great musician.
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Hi Little Brother,
I just moved your post about the Michael Gray McTell book over here since there was a long-standing thread on that very topic.
All best,
Johnm
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Thanks JM.. I thought I'd seen a thread on it but just couldn't find it with the search tool. Probably fat fingering it.
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Thanks JM.. I thought I'd seen a thread on it but just couldn't find it with the search tool. Probably fat fingering it.
This is possibly why the TAGing system was introduced some years ago by the moderators. :)
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A short entry on Art Satherly, record producer:
http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/2011/02/uncle-art-satherley.html
A radio interview with Michael Gray:
http://1690wmlb.com/michael-gray-blind-willie-mctell/
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Still laughing from UB's excellent piece a couple of pages back involving, among other things, the habits of deer, I figured I'd better read it. I ordered the kindle edition. Naturally, I used the amazon link on the left. I'll post a review at some point.
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Half way through. While I'm thinking it would benefit from editorial snippage and citations here and there, the general impression is it's probably one of the most three-dimensional historical bios that I've read so far. The author goes out of his way to put you in the context of time and place. UB is right, MG can write.
If that was all there was to it I would agree with the previous posters who were critical of the long lead in, but it's not. I'm finally into the description of Willie's first session with Ralph Peer in Bristol TN. Can't disagree with any of his perceptions about McTell's performances from that one. If you haven't already done so check out Chris Albertson's Jimmy Rodgers bio for more cool details about those sessions.
The other thing that struck me is that McTell, set against the time and place he grew up in, becomes even more outstanding as a musician, lyricist and all-round exceptional human being. Greatly looking forward to the rest of the book.
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Half way through. While I'm thinking it would benefit from editorial snippage and citations here and there, the general impression is it's probably one of the most three-dimensional historical bios that I've read so far. The author goes out of his way to put you in the context of time and place. UB is right, MG can write.
If that was all there was to it I would agree with the previous posters who were critical of the long lead in, but it's not. I'm finally into the description of Willie's first session with Ralph Peer in Bristol TN. Can't disagree with any of his perceptions about McTell's performances from that one. If you haven't already done so check out Chris Albertson's Jimmy Rodgers bio for more cool details about those sessions.
The other thing that struck me is that McTell, set against the time and place he grew up in, becomes even more outstanding as a musician, lyricist and all-round exceptional human being. Greatly looking forward to the rest of the book.
Just wanna say that I'm halfway through too. Not sure if that's a coincidence...
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I finished it a couple of weeks ago. The author, at the end of the book, communicates a certain amount of frustration with the task at hand. I can totally see why given the available data and tantalizing leads that unfortunately hit the brick wall of human longevity; most of the witnesses are deceased. You can sense he really wanted to nail something new that would throw BWMcT's life into sharper relief. Actually I think he achieves that anyway but indirectly, by giving us a rich portrait of his life, location and times, and by sketching out Willie's unique personality within that context from first-hand reports. At the same time he does a good job turning up new leads and exploring old ones, and generally giving us all the background.
The research seems to me to be pretty intense bordering on obsessive which is a good thing. There are the usual "blues researcher bashing other blues researchers" aspect though it's pretty gentle compared to other books, you know the ones I'm talking about, comes with the territory. It doesn't detract all that much, and does feed into the final impression of frustration.
As a mere reader I found the book to be very worthwhile and quite unlike anything in the genre I'd read before. I found it to be well worth the read and it did shift my perceptions, in fact I had no idea beforehand what Willie's life must have been like day to day and now I have some clues. And the writing is, as stated in earlier posts, top notch. Very cool book, recommended.
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I just finished the book. At first I was baffled that the first quarter of the book is devoted to Willie's ancestors (all those chapters set in the Civil War seemed a bit much), but it did pick up when he finally started discussing McTell himself. This has probably been said by someone else here, but to me the main weakness of the book is its discussion of McTell's recordings. He tries to discuss the songs Willie recorded in the earlier chapters, but it seems pretty thin (rather heavy on "this song is great!"). Eventually his discussion of McTell's recordings really starts tapering off: he barely even mentions Willie's 1935 Decca session, even tho it was notable for several reasons: more gospel songs than he'd ever recorded before, great sound quality, Kate's tuneless singing, and McTell's attempt to do a white song, Hillbilly Willie's Blues. He also barely discusses the songs in McTell's 1949 Atlantic session and his 1950 Regal session. This seems like a real shortcoming to me. It's quite a contrast with many other bios of long-dead mysterious musicians, where so little info is available on the artists, that the author is forced to discuss the songs at great length in order to flesh the book out.
Also, I noticed that when he briefly mentioned Blind Blake's influence on WM, he said that he saw no direct influence, even tho McTell's Georgia Rag is a straight cover of Blake's Wabash Rag. Rather a glaring oversight.
I agree, tho, by and large it's a good book, which gives a very good sense of what he went through in researching the book, and what kind of dead ends one hits trying to research the life of someone's who's been dead for 52 years.
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I liked the book enormously because Mr Gray gave the reader the sense that he was participating in the search for information about McTell.
A straight fax n info book wouldn't stretch beyond 10 pages and I really didn't need to be given excessive detail on the songs recorded. I've lived with them for 40 years.
I found it a gripping read partly because it was well written and partly because I didn't know what was coming next.
I've just finished the Lightnin Hopkins book which is a thoroughly workmanlike effort. The author's done his best and produced something worthwhile and yet what I wanted was more about Hopkins early life and there was little, I suppose, that the author could find. As it is there's a chronology of 60s concerts and record dates but the author is struggling to find any significance in many of them. Ultimately it becomes tedious.
I read all the biographies of great bluesmen and am usually disappointed whilst recognising that by and large the authors are doing their best with the material available.
I just think Michael Gray took it to a higher level.
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I've just finished the Lightnin Hopkins book which is a thoroughly workmanlike effort. The author's done his best and produced something worthwhile and yet what I wanted was more about Hopkins early life and there was little,
Just so. Those who over the decades have written at any length about Hopkins will attest to the fact that researching LH's early life is rife with contradiction and little, or no, documentary evidence to support the received wisdom. One's only got to compare the 1959/60 published MacCormick LH interviews with, say, those of Chris Strachwitz a few years later to appreciate that. Perhaps this is why we've had to wait so long for a biography. I seem to have veered off topic. ;D
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I don't know anything about this -- how are McCormick's interviews different from Strachwitz's?
Those who over the decades have written at any length about Hopkins will attest to the fact that researching LH's early life is rife with contradiction and little, or no, documentary evidence to support the received wisdom. One's only got to compare the 1959/60 published MacCormick LH interviews with, say, those of Chris Strachwitz a few years later to appreciate that.
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A straight fax n info book wouldn't stretch beyond 10 pages and I really didn't need to be given excessive detail on the songs recorded.
I wasn't looking for excessive detail. I think adequate detail would have been a big improvement. Especially considering the large amount of filler that is in the book.
If nothing else, it seems to me a better discussion of his songs would have been a higher priority than mapping out every detail of WM's great-grandfather's Civil War experiences.
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Here's my take on it. Sketching out the background of the ancestors within the context of the Civil War, and particularly its aftermath in the old south, is to throw light on the social mores that had developed in Georgia by the time Willie came innocently into a complicated world.
We are all at least partially a product of our times and places. So to really get inside a character you have to set their story against that background in order to throw into sharp relief exactly how and why they were different. Willie McTell was an exceptional individual, we have all no doubt always thought so. The book totally confirmed it for me.
I liked it a lot and think everyone should read it. Preferably with McTell's music playing in the background.
I put it right up there with Wardlow/Calt's Patton bio, which is similarly determined to force the reader to imagine themselves back in the time and place.
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Started it and found the first chapter on McTell's last session interesting and a good place to start. It was downhill from there. It was too much about the author himself. Leafing through it, I couldn't locate the part I was looking for - namely, the straightforward chronological account of McTell's life (to the extent it is known or can be deduced). I'm more of a "just the facts, ma'am" reader when it comes to biographies. I guess by "Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes" Gray meant his own rather than McTell's.
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I finally finished the book and it still rings the same for me. Some of my initial disappointment faded but I think the book has some good things that make it worth having yet has no McTell information I didn't already know, read or heard. I did find out a lot about the civil war, difficulty finding salad and coffee in a hick town in the middle of nowhere, and the fact all southern food is evidentally a big red bowls of mush and meat. Okay... I would recommend a much better use of money, that is listening to McTell's library congress early 40s recordings and interviews as well as the 1950s last recordings which both have lots of music and his own voice telling stories. To be sure I've spent decades listening to stories from the few people that knew him. Lots of good stuff and some negative as well. Too bad more of those stories were not recorded but at the same time it's really about the music. Not how some traveling author wanders in a rental car, GPS and a laptop. Amazing how many blues books build excitement then miss the bullseye. Maybe documenting blues in a book is not entirely possible.
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The problem, surely, is that genuinely exciting new information is generally not available, and any massive new insight into a dead blues musician is near impossible, given that us enthusiasts already know most of what there is to be known through familiarity with their work and influences.
I liked the book- but it is certainly the story of the search for information, and the wider background to the emergence and formative influences of McTell (and by reference, other players from similar backgrounds) rather than a "this is his life" story.
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Here's a quote from one of Michael Gray's blog entries (August 9, 2007) that's worthy of wider dissemination and should be of particular interest to Weenies. Quotes this good seem usually to be apocryphal. I hope this one isn't...
...one of those who talked to Willie towards the end of his life was Bruce Utah Phillips, and though this bit of the interview Mr. Phillips gave me (in May 2004) ended up pruned out of the book, he reported this:
"I was curious about what this music, when it was in the jazz houses and the jook joints: what did it sound like? [I asked Willie:] 'When you were young, what d?you sound like?' And he said 'You want to hear what we sounded like when we were your age, you listen to early Elvis Presley.'... I don?t think he was joking, either."
How did this ever get cut from the book?
This is a fascinating quote, and it's not simple to find the blog entry (there are no archive links) so here ya go
http://handmemytravelinshoes.blogspot.com/2007/08/elvis-willie.html
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That quote was in the copy of the book I read. In fact some of those sections were the most enjoyable for me of the whole book because they connected to the source.
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I love the fact that Phillips met McTell. Two of my all time musical heroes.