Blind Roosevelt Graves

Blind Roosevelt Graves was a Mississippi guitarist and singer who mixed secular and sacred material and cut some entertaining, celebratory party tunes as well as reverential spirituals in the '20s and '30s. He played with pianists Will Ezell and Cooney Vaughn, clarinetist Baby Jay. Graves was also a member of the Mississippi Jook Band, along with his brother -- singer and tambourine player Uaroy Graves -- and Vaughn. Very few biographical details of Blind Roosevelt Graves' life are known. He and his brother Uaroy began playing juke joints in the Mississippi Delta in the early '20s. In 1929, the two brothers cut a number of sides for the Paramount and American Record Companies, which all appeared under Blind Roosevelt's name. They would continue to record until 1936. In the mid-'30s, the pair formed the Mississippi Jook Band with pianist Cooney Vaughn. The band recorded for the American Record Company in the mid- and late '30s. After leaving behind these handful of recordings, Graves disappeared in the early '40s. It is not known where he settled, nor is his death date known.