Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller, born in Wadesboro, North Carolina, was a prominent figure in the Piedmont blues scene during the 1930s. He lost his vision entirely by 1928, which significantly shaped his life and career, compelling him to rely on his wife, Cora Mae. As the Great Depression affected employment opportunities, Fuller turned to music as his primary means of support, performing outside tobacco warehouses and at local gatherings. His musical journey began in earnest when talent scout James Baxter Long discovered him in 1934, leading to his first recordings with the American Record Corporation.
Fuller's unique style, characterized by a blend of blues, ragtime, and spirituals, produced notable songs like "Step It Up and Go," "I Want Some of Your Pie," and "Precious Lord." His collaborative work with other musicians, particularly harmonica player Sonny Terry, enriched his recordings and helped establish his legacy. Despite his untimely death at the age of thirty-three due to health complications, Fuller left behind a prolific body of work—over 130 recordings—that has continued to influence generations of blues artists. His music remains celebrated today, reflecting the resilience and creativity that defined his life and contributions to the genre.
Subject Terms
Blind Boy Fuller
American blues singer
- Born: July 10, 1907
- Birthplace: Wadesboro, North Carolina
- Died: February 13, 1941
- Place of death: Durham, North Carolina
Although his recording career lasted a mere six years, Fuller was one of the most recorded blues artists of his time. His eclectic repertoire included blues, ragtime, spirituals, and pop music. He was known for his finger-picking, bottleneck slide playing, and expressive vocal style.
The Life
Blind Boy Fuller was one of ten children born to Calvin and Mary Jane Allen in Wadesboro, North Carolina. Following the mother’s death in the mid-1920’s, the family moved to Rockingham, North Carolina, where Fuller met Cora Mae Martin. In 1926 he and Cora Mae married; he was nineteen, she was just fourteen. Also in 1926, Fuller began experiencing problems with his vision. He and his wife moved to Winston-Salem to look for work, and he labored in a coal yard for a short time. Completely blind by 1928, he became largely dependent on his young wife.
With little money and a lack of steady work, Fuller and Cora Mae moved around often, eventually settling in Durham, where they applied for blind assistance from the welfare department. Fuller earned extra money by singing and playing outside tobacco warehouses and for house parties.
In 1934 James Baxter Long, the manager of a local department store and a talent scout for the American Record Corporation (ARC), discovered Fuller performing on the street. Soon Fuller traveled with Long to New York to lay down his first recordings for ARC.
In 1940 Blind Boy Fuller underwent a kidney operation, after which his health continued to decline. He died in February, 1941, of blood poisoning caused by an infection. He was thirty-three.
The Music
Faced with blindness and an inability to work amid the Great Depression, Fuller found music the only viable means of earning money for himself and his wife. While much of the economy was suffering in the early 1930’s, the tobacco industry in North Carolina was thriving, and the workers created a demand for recorded and live music.
Fuller largely learned his repertoire by listening to recordings, but he also met two influential musicians in his early days who would accompany him on his first record dates. Gary Davis, a singer and masterful guitar player from South Carolina, was a profound influence on Fuller’s guitar technique. Bull City Red, a washboard player and singer, often served as Fuller’s guide on the streets.
In July, 1935, Long took Fuller, Davis, and Red to New York for their first recording session. Fuller recorded mostly solo pieces, playing a steel-bodied National Guitar, but on a few sides he was accompanied by Davis on guitar and Red on washboard. The session produced up-tempo dance pieces such as “Rag, Mama, Rag,” provocative numbers such as “I’m a Rattlesnakin’ Daddy,” and slow, mournful blues such as “Ain’t It a Crying Shame?” Fuller’s initial recordings were well received, and over the next six and half years Fuller recorded often. Almost all of his recordings were for ARC, but one July, 1937, session for Decca angered Long. Although he did not have an exclusive agreement with Fuller, Long threatened to sue Decca, which withdrew the recordings. Subsequently, Long bullied Fuller into an exclusive lifetime contract.
In 1937 Saunders Terrell, a blind harmonica player better known as Sonny Terry, became a regular recording partner. He is featured on many of Fuller’s late-1930’s recordings, including “I Want Some of Your Pie,” “Stop Jivin’ Me Mama,” “Pistol Slapper Blues,” and “Good Feeling Blues.” Fuller produced some of his finest material in the last two years of his life. The following works recorded during that time demonstrate his broad repertoire of blues, ragtime, and spirituals.
“Step It Up and Go.” Recorded in March, 1940, this up-tempo dance piece is an example of Fuller’s fine ragtime playing and features Red on washboard. A good-time dance number, “Step It Up and Go” was a big country-blues hit and became a standard among the Piedmont blues artists. Brownie McGhee recorded the tune soon after Fuller’s death, and it was later recorded by Bob Dylan, John Hammond, Leon Redbone, and many others.
“I Want Some of Your Pie.” Throughout his career, Fuller recorded many blues that contained sexual innuendo. “I Want Some of Your Pie” is a typical example. A common form of blues in the 1920’s and 1930, these often humorous songs were known as hokum or party blues. Other examples from Fuller are “I’m a Rattlesnakin’ Daddy,” “Truckin’ My Blues Away,” and “Get Your Yas Yas Out.” “Precious Lord.” This spiritual features Terry on harmonica. Fuller increasingly recorded gospel numbers late in his career. “Precious Lord” was recorded in his last session, only a few months before his death. Other spirituals recorded were “No Stranger Now,” “Jesus Is a Holy Man,” and “Must Have Been My Jesus.” Although not a deeply religious man, Fuller promised to join the church if he survived his 1941 illness.
“Night Rambling Woman.” This slow and devastating song is a plea to an unfaithful woman. Fuller’s emotive vocals and adept fingerpicking are reminiscent of Delta bluesman Robert Johnson’s style. Perhaps because of his deteriorating health, Fuller’s voice is sometimes strained. “Night Rambling Woman” was the last song Fuller ever recorded.
Musical Legacy
Immediately following Fuller’s death, Long recorded McGhee and released the record under the pseudonym Blind Boy Fuller, No. 2. McGhee recorded “Death of Blind Boy Fuller” in addition to several of Fuller’s biggest hits. Afterward, Terry and McGhee often played together, eventually moving to New York and joining the folk-music scene there.
Fuller’s recordings were an important influence on subsequent Piedmont artists. Several of his songs—such as “Step It Up and Go,” “Truckin’ My Blues Away,” and “Rag, Mama, Rag”—were often covered by young artists in the Piedmont region and later by blues revivalists. Although Fuller’s music career was short, it was prolific, producing more than 130 sides in less than seven years. Today almost all of Fuller’s recordings have been reissued on compact discs, a testament to his continued importance in the blues genre.
Principal Recordings
albums:Blind Boy Fuller with Sonny Terry and Bull City Red, 1966; Truckin’ My Blues Away, 1978; Blind Boy Fuller, 1935-1938: Shake That Shimmy, 1979; Blue and Worried Man, 1983 (with Sonny Terry); Blind Boy Fuller, 1935-1940, 1990; East Coast Piedmont Style, 1991; Harmonica and Guitar Blues, 1937-1945, 1996 (with Terry); Untrue Blues, 1998; Rag, Mama, Rag, 2000; Get Your Ya Yas Out, 2007.
singles: “Ain’t It a Crying Shame,” 1935; “Good Feeling Blues,” 1935; “Homesick and Lonesome Blues,” 1935; “I’m a Rattlesnakin’ Daddy,” 1935 (with Gary Davis and George Washington); “Rag, Mama, Rag,” 1935 (with Davis and Washington); “Cat Man Blues,” 1936; “Bye Bye Baby Blues,” 1937 (with Sonny Terry); “Weeping Willow,” 1937; “Big House Bound,” 1938 (with Terry); “Pistol Slapper Blues,” 1938 (with Terry); “Stop Jivin’ Me Mama,” 1938; “I Want Some of Your Pie,” 1939 (with Terry); “You’ve Got Something There,” 1939 (with Terry and Washington); “Good Feeling Blues,” 1940; “Harmonica Stomp,” 1940 (with Terry); “Precious Lord,” 1940; “Step It Up and Go,” 1940.
Bibliography
Bastin, Bruce. “Blind Boy Fuller.” In Red River Blues: The Blues Tradition in theSoutheast. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1995. This chapter contains biographical information, as well as a detailed account of Fuller’s relationship with Long and his recording sessions.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Truckin’ My Blues Away: East Coast Piedmont Styles.” In Nothing but the Blues, edited by Lawrence Cohn. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993. Places Fuller in the Piedmont blues tradition. Mostly biographical, it also provides insight into Fuller’s influence on the blues genre.
Charters, Samuel B. “Hey, Mama, Hey, Pretty Girl.” In The Country Blues. New York: Da Capo Press, 1959. This chapter focuses on Fuller’s relationship with Terry.
Oliver, Paul. “Piccolo Rag.” In Blues Off the Record: Thirty Years of Blues Commentary. New York: Da Capo Press, 1984. Analyzes the meaning behind several of Fuller’s songs.
Pearson, Barry Lee. “Blind Boy Fuller.” In All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues. 3d ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2003. This guide contains only a short biography but includes reviews of reissues of Fuller’s work.
Whirty, Ryan. “Blues Legend Inspires Quest.” News & Observer, Raleigh, North Carolina, January 22, 2006. New biographical data as well as analysis of Fuller’s significance in the blues genre.