Blind Blake (1896 - 1934)
Pre-war blues & ragtime guitar
We’re back with more ragtime guitar, which was the style of the time.
Not much is known about Arthur “Blind” Blake, except that he recorded about 80 tracks for Paramount Records from 1926 to 1932, when they stopped recording (and later went out of business).
He was one of the most accomplished guitarists of the genre though and he influenced many who came after him, such as Reverend Gary Davis, Ry Cooder, Big Bill Broonzy and even Charlie Hunter to this day.
His style of playing formed the foundation of what would become Piedmont blues.
Here’s a 1929 recording of Police Dog Blues.
A transcription of the first part (after the first solo) is available below.
He also accompanied singers such as Ma Rainey and Coot Grant as well as clarinettist Johnny Dodds, making him of the few country-blues guitarists to perform with both blues and jazz artists.
There’s a very fine article written about him just a couple of days ago by Hans Ros (it’s in Dutch, but I guess you can use any kind of translater nowadays).
Below you can find some very nice covers of “Police Dog Blues” and even an instruction video made by Woody Mann.
Charlie Hunter also played (and credited) Blind Blake in some instagram posts.
You can also get a pdf of the version played by Woody Mann if you want to compare.
It’s pretty incredible how much force Charlie Hunter puts in his thumb strokes (something to be mindful of if you want to practice this style of playing).
You can find an entire playlist of Blind Blake recordings here.
As mentioned before, in the pdf you’ll find a partial transcription of Blind Blake’s version of Police Dog Blues and also the Charlie Hunter Instagram post above.
