Name Blind Reed | Role Musical Artist | |
Albums Blind Alfred Reed (1927-1929), Jazz Figures / Blind Alfred Reed , (1927 - 1929), Money Cravin' Blues Similar People Ernest Stoneman, Ralph Peer, B F Shelton, Fiddlin' John Carson, Bruce Springsteen |
1316 there ll be no distinction there blind alfred reed
Blind Alfred Reed (June 15, 1880 – January 17, 1956) was an American folk, country, and old-time musician. He was one of the artists who recorded at the Bristol Sessions in 1927, alongside more famous names such as Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. He played the fiddle along with his son Arville, who played the guitar.
Contents
- 1316 there ll be no distinction there blind alfred reed
- Blind alfred reed west virginia music hall of fame
- Early life
- Career
- Legacy
- Discography
- Songs
- References
Blind alfred reed west virginia music hall of fame
Early life
Reed was born completely blind, in Floyd, Virginia. He was raised in a very conservative family, and acquired a violin at a young age. Later, he began performing at county fairs, in country schoolhouses, for political rallies, and in churches. He even played on street corners for tips. He used to sell out printed copies of his compositions for ten cents each. This is about all the information that can be gathered from him in his early life, as most of the events during this time were not written down nor talked about much in his later years.
Career
While playing during a convention in 1927, Ralph Peer, who was the director of Bristol Sessions, heard Reed playing "The Wreck of the Virginian", and asked him if he wanted to make some recordings. Reed consented, and he recorded four songs, one solo, "The Wreck of the Virginian", and three with Arville's guitar accompaniment: "I Mean to Live for Jesus", "You Must Unload", and "Walking in the Way with Jesus". After the Bristol Sessions, Reed kept recording until 1929, which was the year of his most famous song's release "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?".
After 1929, he stopped recording and lived out the rest of his life mostly in the Princeton area in Mercer County, West Virginia. Reed continued to perform locally until 1937 when a statute was passed prohibiting blind street musicians. In addition to being recording artist and a musician, he also served as a lay Methodist minister. In 1956, Reed died, supposedly of starvation. He is buried in Elgood, West Virginia.
Legacy
Reed's lyrics, all of which he composed himself, were ostensibly very conservative, but always were presented with a sense of humor; for example "Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?" was an over-the-top commentary against women's hair style fashion of the 1920s, in which women who wore a shingle-bob were instructed to "ask Jesus to forgive" their hair style. More than half of the songs he recorded were religious or political or spoke out against society's ills. Because of his social commentary, which was somewhat uncommon then, some people today consider Reed an early "protest" singer.
In 2007, Blind Alfred Reed was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, alongside other famous musicians from West Virginia. Also in 2007, a tribute album to Blind Alfred, named for one of his songs, was released. Always Lift Him Up: A Tribute to Blind Alfred Reed features nineteen of Reed's most famous songs, recorded by artists from West Virginia, such as Little Jimmy Dickens, Tim O'Brien and Ann Magnuson.
Discography
Songs
You Must Unload
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live
Why Do You Bob Your Hair - Girls
There'll Be No Distinction There
Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down
Fate of Chris Lively and Wife
Walking in the Way With Jesus
Beware
I Mean to Live for Jesus
Black And Blue Blues
The Prayer Of The Drunkard's Little Girl
Explosion in the Fairmount Mine
You'll Miss Me
The Wreck of the Virginian
We've Got To Have 'Em - That's All
The Telephone Girl
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Hard Times and Live?
The Old-Fashioned Cottage
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times
Money Cravin' Blues
Woman's Been After You Ever Since
Why Don't You Bob Your Hair Girls - No 2
Explosion
Money Cravin' Fool
The Wreck of the Old Virginian