Blind black musicians were at the centre of the early blues movement in America's Deep South. What was it about the traditions and culture that brought about this phenomenon?

There were many real blind, black bluesman, scraping a living in the Deep South a hundred years ago. From Blind Willie Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson on opposite street corners in Dallas to Blind Blake and Blind Boy Fuller in Georgia and the Carolinas, the early 20th century saw blind bluesmen playing everything from the lewd, raw blues of the juke joint to the God-fearing spirituals beloved of the new wave of Southern churches and with a musical legacy that's lasted through the decades.

How did this group of blind musicians, faced with all the disadvantages of race, segregation, disability and poverty, manage to achieve celebrity in their own day and leave such a lasting mark on the history of American music?

Gary O'Donoghue, who is blind himself, explores the elements of race and culture that made this phenomenon possible.

Presenter, Gary O'Donoghue

Producer, Lee Kumutat

Sound Engineer, Peter Bosher

Every member of the production team who made this programme is blind.

Editor, Andrew Smith

Blind Willie's Shades written by Doug Ashdown played by Tommy Emanuel

Blind Willie McTell - Come Round to My House Mamma

Blind Willie McTell - Statesboro Blues

Jontavious Willis plays Willie McTell's Broke Down Engine Blues

Willie MmTell - Atlanta Strut

Blind Willie McTell - Baby It Must Be Love

Blind Willie Johnson - His Blood Can Make Me Whole

Blind Gary Davis - Samson and Delilah

Blind Boy Fuller - I'm a Rattlesnakin' Daddy

Blind Gary Davis - I Heard The Angels Singing

Blind Gary Davis - 12 Gates to the City

Blind Gary Davis - Lord I Wish I Could See

Bill Ellis playing Blind Gary Davis' If I Had My Way

Blind Mississippi Morris playing live.