It’s time to take another look back into blues history at some of the music and musicians who helped shape America’s classical music.
The inspiration for this post is my favorite (and only) radio show, The Rhythm Revival on WMNF Tampa. It’s hosted by the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz and Marvelous Marvin Boone, who combine weekly to play music that runs from gospel to blues to country, illustrating how their roots are historically interlaced.
A few weeks ago, they played some Francis “Scrapper” Blackwell and Leroy Carr records, noting their impact on artists that followed them. They created an influential chunk of blues history that signaled a smoother, more urbane musical style developing in the late 1920 and ’30s.
Carr, who played a light, bluesy piano, is probably best known for his 1928 masterpiece, “How Long, How Long Blues,” recorded with the then little-known Blackwell on guitar. That song was based on a 1925 recording of “How Long Daddy” by Ida Cox, but Carr is credited with the lyrics and music of “How Long.”
Carr’s laid-back and sophisticated vocal style influenced such singers as T-Bone Walker, Charles Brown, Amos Milburn, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Ray Charles. Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing recorded some of Carr’s songs, and Basie’s band shows the influence of Carr’s piano style. Music historian Elijah Wald has called Carr “the most influential male blues singer and songwriter of the first half of the 20th century”.
Carr was one of the most prolific and popular blues artists from1928 until his early death in 1935, and he produced a large body of work, including “Papa’s on the House Top” (1931), “When the Sun Goes Down” (1931), “Blues Before Sunrise” (1932), “Midnight Hour Blues” (1932), and “Hurry Down Sunshine” (1934). His music has been recorded by artists such as Robert Johnson, Ray Charles, Big Bill Broonzy, Moon Mullican, Champion Jack Dupree and Memphis Slim.
Carr and Blackwell, both living in Indianapolis, worked primarily as a team in those years, but Blackwell withdrew from music after Carr died of illness at the age of 31, in 1935, His career was revived by a new generation of fans in the 1950s, leading to concert performances and solo recordings, part of the folk-blues revival of the late ’50s and early ’60s.
Although he was mainly self-taught as a guitarist, Blackwell was later influenced by the recordings of Willie Harris and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and probably by the East Coast Piedmont style of his South Carolina birthplace as well as Chicago blues. He didn’t consider himself a professional musician until Carr persuaded him to join the “How Long” recording session.
Blackwell’s guitar work was light and airy and often jazz-like in its lyrical style but could also be raw and assertive. His vocals are lean and spare, quietly soulful and expressive. One of Blackwell’s trademarks was his fingerpicking technique, using his thumb and fingers simultaneously, allowing him to create intricate melodies and harmonies. Blackwell’s influence was widespread, and Lonnie Johnson, who would become one of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century, credited Blackwell as one of his key inspirations, and his influence can be heard in Johnson’s recordings.
Some of Blackwell’s notable songs include “Kokomo Blues,” “Penal Farm Blues,” and “Back Door Blues,” and his recordings remain a testament to his innovative techniques. Blackwell’s life ended tragically when he was shot to death, presumably in a robbery, in 1962, when he was 59.
Both Carr and Blackwell have tended to disappear when early blues artists are catalogued, and that’s a shame. Their music was not just innovative and influential; it was great music on its own. Here are a couple of samples:
And something by Lonnie Johnson
Blues Roadhouse 