Review

Think you’ve had enough? You haven’t suffered half the sorrow of Blind Willie.
The most resourceful of the urbane Piedmont blues artists who brought a jazz/ragtime flavor to acoustic blues, Blind Willie was a pioneer of twelve-string guitar whose quivering voice conveyed by itself the strength and sorrow of a man all alone in this mean ol’ world. Though capable of Delta-like darkness (“Death Cell Blues”), there was also a sweetness to his style that recalls Mississippi John Hurt. His “Statesboro Blues” became a staple for the Allman Brothers and others, and he’s also had a notable song written about him (Bob Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell”).