Topic: New Information About Paramount Blues Artist Blind Blake About to Be Revealed

[Johnm]

Congratulations to all who contributed to the discovery of this information and thanks for their labor and persistence in unearthing this documentation.
All best,
Johnm

[eagle rockin daddy]

wow, this is great, Thanks to all who found this out, How about a Blake fest at the site?  I'll be there.  


Mike

[misterjones]

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like he died of tuberculosis in 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was buried not far from Paramount's Grafton recording studio.  It sounds to me like he was in the process of (or thinking about) recording more sides for Paramount.  Could that be the case?  (Off-hand, I'm not too sure about the viability of Paramount in 1934 or whether it's possible he actually recorded songs that were lost in Paramount's imminent demise.  I believe Patton recorded for Paramount in 1934.) 
 
 

[Saltmarsh Bill]

He sounded like he was educated, and he probably attended a school for the blind in his youth, but the chances of any documentation of a formal education, surviving all these years, are very slim, at best.

[LaughingJazz]

Where can we find the information to read?  I truly think this information should be available for free.

I will hold out on commenting in full until after reading it but it must be said that although I do appreciate the legwork of everyone involved and truly hope that this is indeed THE Blind Blake, much more information would need to be available than simply a listing of a Arthur Blake listed as a musician. Arthur Blake is nearly as common as John Smith and I'm sure several were musicians.

So I will be looking forward to more evidence but if this is all there is I believe we would be doing a disservice to the field of research and to Blake himself by immediately proclaiming that this is him simply because a man named Arthur Blake who was black and was a musician was found.

[uncle bud]

Welcome to WeenieCampbell, LaughingJazz. I agree that key to all of this is the evidence that the Arthur Blake who died in Milwaukee was the Blind Blake. And I presume the authors prove that in the article, or surely Blues and Rhythm wouldn't have published it. I think it's great that this information has been uncovered, though part of me still prefers him as a mystery, and all involved should be congratulated. Getting such results from what is no doubt mostly drudgery (searching through endless public records, not my idea of a good time) is a great payoff.

As for it being free, well, the magazine published it at a cost to themselves, so it seems reasonable that there would be a cost associated for readers.

[Stuart]

Thanks, Angie, and also to everyone who participated in the project. It certainly was no easy task. There will always be unanswered questions about his life, but your efforts resolve some of the uncertainties surrounding the man and the myth. 

[dj]

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like he died of tuberculosis in 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was buried not far from Paramount's Grafton recording studio.  It sounds to me like he was in the process of (or thinking about) recording more sides for Paramount.  Could that be the case?

Paramount ceased operations in 1932.

Patton's 1934 recordings were made for Vocalion.

[LaughingJazz]

Thanks for the welcome, Uncle Bud. Yes, that is why I'm looking forward to reading it. Hope it's him. It's just difficult without word of mouth acknowledgement or some other sufficient evidence other than just listings of a name.  Especially with this mystery where we really didn't have much to go on as far as I could tell, no relatives or wives names to match, etc.

As for it being free, well, the magazine published it at a cost to themselves, so it seems reasonable that there would be a cost associated for readers.

Yes, I agree that the magazine would charge but I'm just saying the core information, IMO, would have been better released by the researchers and then have the magazine go deeper into the story.

That being said, if it's him and some relatives are able to be contacted somehow - maybe they can start getting some royalties and get the man a grave stone! May not be RJ money but gotta give 'em something.

[ParamountAngie]

Hi all,

A key component in this search was a newspaper clipping found by Rob Ford (UK) in the Dec. 15, 1934 Chicago Defender that read:

"The Raynor Funeral Home report the following funerals:  Creed Thomas, Mrs. Lulu (?) Baker and Miss Pleasant.....Arthur Blake, an old timer in Milwaukee, who though blind won fame with his recordings, passed away at his home, 1844 North 10th Street, on Saturday December 1. The body will lie in state at the Raynor funeral home."

From there, city directories, death certificates, cemetery documents, Coroner's report, etc....have all lined up to provide consistent evidence.  The article goes into detail about this. 

[eric]

No doubt all the details will come out sooner rather than later.  I'm delighted that there is a physical location where those of us for whom Blake is a hero can pay our respects.  By the way, Alex Van Der Tuuk has been researching Paramount history for a very long time.  May Angie and friends bask in the glow of their discovery.

I'll pledge 25 bucks to the headstone fund.

[LaughingJazz]

Arthur Blake, an old timer in Milwaukee, who though blind won fame with his recordings, passed away at his home, 1844 North 10th Street, on Saturday December 1.

Thank You! This makes much more sense.

[ParamountAngie]

The area that he lived in was known for being a huge African American district with a strong music scene.  It was called Bronzeville in Milwaukee.  Duke Ellington and more performed there.  Recent awareness has been raised on that topic.  He was probably trying to make it as a musician.

In fact, playwright Kevin Ramsey began his first scene in the musical, "Grafton City Blues" (also "Chasin' Dem Blues) in a Milwaukee, WI attic.  My guess is that he became familiar with the Milwaukee music scene as a result of recording in Grafton, WI.  There are many reports of the Paramount recording artists staying in Milwaukee after recording.  It is only about 15-20 miles south of Grafton.

In my opinion, more research needs to be done on the Milwaukee music scene during that time period.  

[LaughingJazz]

Oh, and thanks for all the work of you and your partners.  Time to make things right.

[misterjones]

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds like he died of tuberculosis in 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and was buried not far from Paramount's Grafton recording studio.  It sounds to me like he was in the process of (or thinking about) recording more sides for Paramount.  Could that be the case?

Paramount ceased operations in 1932.

Patton's 1934 recordings were made for Vocalion.

Do we know why he ended up in Wisconsin then, or are we just left with speculation that he just preferred living there for some reason?  [I note ParamountAngie's above theory, which seems plausible.]

Also, is it possible he spent any time in a tuberculosis sanatorium?  I found the following reference after a quick Google search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muirdale_Tuberculosis_Sanatorium

It appears to have been a few miles from his listed residence.