Blind Boy Fuller: The Ultimate Guide to His Genius

Blind Boy Fuller stood on the corner of Durham’s tobacco warehouses in the 1930s. His National steel-bodied guitar rang out with a distinctive metallic tone. His fingers danced across the fretboard in intricate ragtime patterns. Workers streaming from their shifts dropped coins in his cup. They couldn’t resist the infectious rhythms of his Piedmont blues.

Blind Boy Fuller became the most commercially successful Piedmont blues artist of his era. Between 1935 and 1940, he recorded over 130 tracks. His songs captured the daily struggles of black Americans during the Great Depression. He sang about pawnshops and jailhouses. He sang about love and disappointment. He sang with a rough honesty that resonated with listeners across the South.

Blind Boy Fuller died at just thirty-three years old. However, his influence extended far beyond his brief career. His recordings shaped generations of blues musicians. His songs became standards covered by artists from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones.

Early Life in Wadesboro

Fulton Allen was born on July 10, 1904, in Wadesboro, North Carolina. Most sources cite 1907 as his birth year. However, researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc indicate 1904 based on state records. He was one of ten children born to Calvin Allen and Mary Jane Walker.

His mother died when he was young. Fulton moved with his father to Rockingham, North Carolina. In this small tobacco town, he learned to play guitar. He absorbed the field hollers, country rags, traditional songs, and blues popular in poor rural areas. Older singers passed down their knowledge. Young Fulton listened carefully and practiced constantly.

He married Cora Mae Martin in 1926 when he was about nineteen years old. He worked as a laborer in a coal yard. The work was hard and the pay was poor. However, he had his health and his eyesight.

Loss of Vision

Fuller began losing his eyesight in his mid-teens. The cause remains uncertain. Some accounts suggest untreated neonatal conjunctivitis. Others claim a former girlfriend threw acid in his face. By 1928, he had lost his vision completely.

The blindness transformed his life. As a blind black man in the Jim Crow South, his employment options vanished. He turned to music as his only viable means of support. Street performing offered one of the few ways a blind person could earn money.

Fuller moved to Winston-Salem in the mid-1920s. He played on street corners near tobacco factories and warehouses. Even during hard economic times, people continued to smoke. Factory workers had steady employment. They usually carried a few coins for street singers.

Blind Boy Fuller in Durham and the Blues Scene

By 1929, Fuller and his wife Cora Mae had moved to Durham. Durham was a major center of black culture and commerce. The tobacco industry dominated the city’s economy. Factories and warehouses lined Pettigrew Street and the surrounding area.

Blind Boy Fuller became a fixture on Durham’s streets. He played outside tobacco warehouses where workers gathered during breaks. His guitar playing attracted attention. His rough, direct singing style resonated with working people. He sang about their lives with unflinching honesty.

In Durham, Fuller met other musicians who would shape his career. Blind Boy encountered guitarist Floyd Council and Richard Trice. He met harmonica player Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry. He befriended washboard player and guitarist George Washington, who would become Bull City Red.

Learning from Reverend Gary Davis

Most importantly, Blind Boy Fuller met Reverend Gary Davis. Davis was already a respected guitarist in Durham’s blues community. He was known for his virtuoso fingerpicking technique and his spiritual conviction.

Fuller became Davis’s student. Davis taught Fuller extensively, particularly how to play in the key of A. Davis’s powerful bass lines and fast fingerpicking runs became hallmarks of Fuller’s style. Local bluesmen who knew both musicians corroborated the profound influence Davis had on Fuller’s playing.

Fuller absorbed Davis’s techniques and made them his own. He combined Davis’s Piedmont fingerpicking style with elements from recordings by Blind Blake and other blues artists. He developed an infectious, ragtime-influenced approach that set him apart from other blues guitarists.

Discovery by J.B. Long

In 1935, Fuller’s talent came to the attention of James Baxter Long. Long managed a record store in Burlington and the United Dollar Store in Durham. He had already established himself as a talent scout for “race records” – recordings marketed to black audiences.

Long recognized Fuller’s commercial potential immediately. He arranged a recording session with the American Record Company. In July 1935, Long took Fuller, Reverend Gary Davis, and George Washington to New York City.

Between July 23 and July 26, the musicians recorded several tracks. These included the traditional “Rag, Mama, Rag” and Fuller’s original “I’m a Rattlesnakin’ Daddy.” To promote the records, Long coined the stage name “Blind Boy Fuller” for Fulton Allen. He believed the name would sell better than Allen’s given name. Long also renamed Washington as “Bull City Red,” referring to both Durham’s nickname and Washington’s light complexion.

National Steel Guitar Sound

Blind Boy Fuller played a National brand steel-bodied guitar. These instruments featured a metal resonator that produced a loud, clear tone. Before electric amplification, the National guitar’s volume made it ideal for street performing and recording.

The instrument became Fuller’s trademark. Its distinctive metallic sound perfectly complemented his assured and articulate voice. The guitar’s bright tone cut through the noise of crowded streets and tobacco warehouses.

Blind Boy Fuller’s Prolific Recording Career

Fuller’s first recording session marked the beginning of a prolific five-year career. Between 1935 and 1940, Blind Boy Fuller recorded over 130 sides for various labels including ARC, Decca, and Vocalion.

In April 1936, Fuller recorded ten solo performances, and also recorded with guitarist Floyd Council. In 1937, after auditioning for talent scout J. Mayo Williams, he recorded for Decca Records. However, he soon returned to ARC after signing a permanent management contract with Long.

Later in 1937, Fuller made his first recordings with Sonny Terry. Terry’s whooping harmonica added a new dimension to Fuller’s music. The combination of Fuller’s guitar, Terry’s harmonica, and Bull City Red’s washboard created a winning formula. Long kept the team together for most of Fuller’s subsequent sessions.

Musical Style and Repertoire

Fuller’s singing style was rough and direct. His lyrics were explicit and uninhibited. He drew on every aspect of his experience as an underprivileged, blind black man living on the streets. He sang about pawnshops and jailhouses. He sang about sickness and death. He expressed desire, love, jealousy, disappointment, menace, and humor with an honesty that lacked sentimentality.

Hokum Songs and Double Entendres

His repertoire included ragtime-influenced “hokum” songs – double-entendre numbers with sexual innuendo. Songs like “I Want Some of Your Pie,” “Truckin’ My Blues Away,” “Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon,” and “Get Your Yas Yas Out” became hugely popular. The Rolling Stones would later adapt “Get Your Yas Yas Out” for their live album “Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!”

Fuller also recorded dance pieces and country rags. “Step It Up and Go,” recorded in March 1940, became one of his biggest hits. The up-tempo ragtime piece sold over half a million copies. It became a standard among Piedmont blues artists and was later covered by Bob Dylan, John Hammond, Leon Redbone, and many others.

Slide Guitar Mastery

Blind Boy Fuller demonstrated exceptional talent on slide guitar. His down-home blues numbers showed the emotional depth beneath his playful hokum songs. Versions of “Lost Lover Blues,” “Rattlesnakin’ Daddy,” and “Mamie” revealed his ability to convey profound feeling.

Trouble and Imprisonment

In 1938, Fuller’s fiery temper led to serious consequences. He was described as a diminutive man with an attractive face and pleasant smile. However, he also had a volatile temperament. He usually carried a .38 pistol. On one occasion, he threatened his manager J.B. Long with it.

In 1938, Fuller shot his wife Cora Mae in the leg. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Durham County Jail. His imprisonment had two significant consequences.

First, it caused him to miss John Hammond’s prestigious “From Spirituals to Swing” concert in New York City. Sonny Terry performed in his place. The Carnegie Hall concert launched Terry’s long and successful career in folk music.

Second, Fuller recorded an autobiographical song about his incarceration. “Big House Bound,” recorded in October 1938 in Columbia, South Carolina, detailed his time in Durham’s jailhouse. His wife apparently recovered and forgave him. Fuller was released from prison, possibly due to his connections with Long and his wife’s unwillingness to testify against him.

Declining Health and Final Recordings

Fuller’s last two recording sessions took place in New York City in June 1940. By then, he was increasingly physically weak. Much of the material didn’t match the quality and energy of his earlier recordings. His voice sometimes sounded strained.

Blind Boy Fuller underwent a suprapubic cystostomy in July 1940. The surgery addressed a urethral stricture – a narrowing or blockage of the urethra. The condition could have been caused by sexually transmitted infections. Despite the surgery, Fuller continued to require medical treatment.

“Night Rambling Woman” was the last song Blind Boy Fuller ever recorded. Those present at the Chicago session could see he was seriously ill.

Death and Immediate Aftermath

Fuller refused admission to the hospital as his condition worsened. He was cared for at his home at 904 Massey Avenue in Durham by his wife Cora Mae. On February 13, 1941, Blind Boy Fuller died at home. He was between thirty-three and thirty-six years old, depending on which birth year is accurate.

The cause of death was pyemia – blood poisoning due to an infected bladder, gastrointestinal tract, and perineum, plus kidney failure. His death certificate noted kidney failure as a contributing factor.

Fuller was so popular when he died that his passing shocked the blues community. He was buried in Grove Hill Cemetery in Durham. The cemetery was located on private property but state records confirm his interment.

Brownie McGhee as Blind Boy Fuller No. 2

Immediately after Fuller’s death, J.B. Long recognized an opportunity. He recorded guitarist Walter “Brownie” McGhee using Fuller’s own guitar. McGhee recorded “The Death of Blind Boy Fuller” for Okeh Records as a tribute. Long then convinced McGhee to record under the name “Blind Boy Fuller No. 2” so Columbia Records could profit from the deceased musician’s popularity.

McGhee reluctantly agreed to the arrangement. He recorded several of Fuller’s biggest hits. However, the career as “Blind Boy Fuller No. 2” was short-lived. McGhee soon partnered with Sonny Terry. The duo became one of the most successful acts in the folk and blues revival.

The Enduring Legacy of Blind Boy Fuller

Blind Boy Fuller became the most commercially successful Piedmont blues recording artist of his era. His records sold in large quantities throughout the South. Through his recordings, the gentle fingerpicked blues of the Piedmont reached listeners from North Carolina to California.

Fuller’s influence extended far beyond his lifetime. His recordings shaped subsequent generations of Piedmont blues artists. Musicians throughout the region learned his songs and copied his style. Young artists in the Piedmont region covered classics like “Step It Up and Go,” “Truckin’ My Blues Away,” and “Rag, Mama, Rag.”

Blues Revival and Modern Influence

The blues revival of the 1950s and 1960s introduced Fuller’s music to new audiences. White folk and blues enthusiasts discovered his recordings. Artists including Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and many others drew inspiration from his work.

Fuller’s impact on popular music includes some surprising connections. In 1962, a Philips album of Blind Boy Fuller recordings included liner notes mentioning Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. A young Syd Barrett saw these names and combined them to create “Pink Floyd” – the name of one of rock’s most influential bands.

The Rolling Stones acknowledged Fuller’s influence. They adapted his “Get Your Yas Yas Out” for their 1970 live album title. Robert Crumb drew inspiration from Fuller’s “Truckin’ My Blues Away” for his famous “Keep On Truckin'” comic.

Recognition and Honors

In 2001, Durham honored Blind Boy Fuller with historic markers. The city unveiled a state historic marker on Fayetteville Street beside the Stanford L. Warren Library. A city historic marker was placed along the American Tobacco Trail near his grave. Mayor Nick Tennyson proclaimed June 16, 2001, as “Blind Boy Fuller Day.”

In 2019, the Sesquicentennial Honors Commission recognized Blind Boy Fuller alongside Reverend Gary Davis as Main Honorees at the Durham 150 Closing Ceremony. The posthumous recognition celebrated their contributions to Piedmont blues.

North Carolina Blues Tradition

Fuller’s legacy lives on in North Carolina’s blues tradition. Contemporary North Carolina artists continue to play in his style and perform his songs. Musicians including Etta Baker, Algia Mae Hinton, John Dee Holeman, and George Higgs all acknowledge Fuller’s influence.

Lightnin’ Wells, a folk and blues player who tours internationally, noted that Blind Boy Fuller’s music was the most popular in jukeboxes in African-American hangouts across North Carolina. His songs provided the soundtrack for an entire generation of working people.

Recordings and Continued Relevance

Fuller’s complete recorded works remain available through various reissues and compilations. Albums like “East Coast Piedmont Style” and “Truckin’ My Blues Away” introduce new generations to his music. His recordings demonstrate the breadth of his repertoire – from ragtime and jazz-influenced numbers like “Rag, Mama, Rag” to prayerful gospel pieces like “Precious Lord.”

Despite his brief career and early death, Blind Boy Fuller left an indelible mark on American music. His recordings captured a specific moment in time and place. They documented the lives of working-class black Americans during the Great Depression. They preserved the Piedmont blues tradition for future generations.

Fuller’s raw emotion and timeless appeal continue to captivate audiences decades after his death. His music reminds listeners of the power of honest self-expression and the enduring nature of the blues.

Give a listen to what made Blind Boy Fuller great!