Blind Willie McTell ~ Last Session (Recorded the fall of 1956)

[MikeyT]

Recorded in a music store in Atlanta (some say pawnshop- maybe it was a combination ?) just a few years before he died. I hesitate to say that this was his best work, but this album has long been a favorite of mine. We not only get to hear Willie's great singing & playing, but we also get to hear him speak and tell stories.

They say the store owner lured Willie to record by offering him some corn liquor. (Mr. McTell had a reluctance to record again, possibly for a couple of reasons. One was that he felt he had been taken advantage of at an earlier recording date [with John or Alan Lomax? ], although it seems that there might have been a misunderstanding- That session was for the Library of Congress, and they don't usually pay you anything). Since the material was recorded later than the rest of his catalogue, the sound is a little better.

Will McTell was a blind street singer from Georgia who sang and played guitar, often 12 string, and recorded enough material for several LPs. He was an Atlanta fixture, but also traveled to many other places. Although blind, he was able to get around big cities satisfactorily on his own !

He is known as a Blues musician, but played Ragtime, Country, Gospel, and Pop songs, too; so he could perhaps properly be called a "songster". He was a fingerpicker, and also a very fine, subtle slide player and is considered by many to be one of the greatest Country Bluesmen.

Besides his own name, he recorded under the following names:
PIG 'N' WHISTLE RED, BLIND SAMMIE, GEORGIA BILL, HOT SHOT WILLIE,  BARRELHOUSE SAMMIE, The Country Boy.

Remember 'Statesboro Blues' from the Allman Brothers' LIVE AT FILLMORE EAST ? That's one of Willie's songs.

TRACK LIST:

1.   Baby, It Must Be Love"
2.   The Dyin' Crapshooter's Blues"
3.   Don't Forget It"
4.   Kill It Kid"
5.   That Will Never Happen No More"
6.   Goodbye Blues"
7.   Salty Dog"
8.   Early Life
9.   Beedle Um Bum"
10. A Married Man's a Fool"
11. A to Z Blues"
12. Wabash Cannonball
13. Pal of Mine"



I'd rather not go through all the songs, but I think WABASH CANNONBALL is a great old time song, and I really enjoy Blind Willie's version here.

I suppose the most interesting thing on the album, and part of what makes it a personal favorite is it's extended version of DYING CRAPSHOOTER'S BLUES. Mr. McTell had recorded the song before (at least once), but this version is even better than what he did previously. He tells the story of how he wrote the song before he starts playing. The music is suitably weird (appropriate to the subject) and the words are amazing. It's an outlandish but apparently true story.


Here's the version from LAST SESSION:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zYfahs9xpk

[Ranbat]

Something about these old recordings just makes me feel as if I was there. I have no concern of sound quality while listening to them, they just take me there. I'll have to look for this. Thanks for posting it.