Week 9: The Death of Blind Boy Fuller



Brownie McGhee

The Man

Brownie McGhee was a prolific bluesman, best known for his 40 year partnership with harmonica player Sonny Terry. He is one of the most successful bluesmen in history, branching out into stage and film acting, establishing a musical school in Harlem and creating a charity to give scholarships to up and coming guitarists.

Born Walter Brown McGhee in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 30, 1915, the Brown family relocated to Kingsport when Brownie was a baby. He contracted polio at the age of two or three, and as a child he sat in a cart that was pushed with a stick by his younger brother. As he grew he got around using a pair of crutches.

His family was very musical, his father George was a construction worker who played guitar and sang in a local band; his uncle John Evans was a fiddler of some renown who made young Brownie a guitar from a tin box and a piece of board; family friend Leslie Riddle (an amputee that Brownie could relate to) was a talented guitar player who worked with the Carter Family – the first country music stars. Brownie’s cart pushing brother Granville, nicknamed “Sticks” after the stick he used to push Brownie’s cart, became a successful guitarist and singer best know for the song “Drinkin’ Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee” recognised as one of the first rock and roll songs.

Brownie sang and played the organ for his local church and joined a Kingsport gospel quartet. The government non profit agency “March of Dimes” was established in 1938 to combat the polio epidemic in the United States, and Brownie was one of the first recipients of an operation to restore movement in his legs. He was in bed for 9 months after the operation, practising the guitar the whole time, and on recovery he could walk with only a slight limp. He immediately took to the road and the life of a travelling musician, joining the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and travelled the south east.

In 1940, ‘Bull City Red’ Washington, the washboard player of the Minstrels’, took Brownie to Durham, North Carolina, to meet a talent scout for Okeh/Columbia records, J. B. Long. Long was the principal agent of two of the most popular and skilled bluesmen of the time, Blind Boy Fuller and the Rev. Gary Davis, both of who lived in Durham. Fuller and Brownie immediately hit it off, taking Brownie under his wing and instructing him in the Piedmont style. Durham, as expected being home to such stars, had a happening music scene and Brownie was playing nightly with harmonica player Jordan Webb, the likes of Davis, Fuller and Fuller’s harmonica player Sonny Terry.

Long took McGhee to Chicago in 1940 for his first recordings with Jordan Webb accompanying on harmonica. He recorded over the 6th and 7th of August, and 5 two sided 78s were released. The records were a minor success, and McGhee returned to the Durham scene. On February 13, 1941, Blind Boy Fuller died in Durham from blood poisoning related to an operation he had in June 1940. His death hit McGhee hard, and in May of that year Brownie recorded “The Death of Blind Boy Fuller” using Blind Boy’s National resonator in his second recording session. Long promoted Brownie as Blind Boy Fuller Number 2 for a short time to capitalise on Fuller’s popularity after his death, a move Brownie was unhappy with.

In May of 1942 Long sent Brownie to accompany Sonny Terry on a trip to Washington to record for the folklorist Alan Lomax. Brownie and Sonny became fast friends, and left Durham and followed Rev. Gary Davis to join the growing folk/blues scene in New York City that included Lead Belly, Josh White and Woody Guthrie. Settling in Greenwich Village, the duo quickly established themselves at the forefront of the folk revival, gaining exposure on Lomax’s war time and post war radio broadcasts. They performed in a ballad opera for the BBC, toured concert halls, colleges and coffee houses in the US and international jazz and folk festivals.

They formed a “jump blues” group with saxophone and Brownie had major hits (as a duo, in the band and solo) throughout the late 40s and 50s and appeared on stage in many theatre productions. He was at the front of the 60’s urban blues revival, continued to release numerous records and soundtracks and appeared in feature films while continuing to appear at many concerts all over the world. They broke the partnership in the 80s due to age catching up with them, but Brownie continued to perform all over the world.

Brownie played his last show at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1995, and died of stomach cancer on February 16, 1996. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame the following year.



The Song

Brownie recorded two takes of this song in May, 1941. This is the second take with an extra verse.

The Death of Blind Boy Fuller is a quick change 12 bar in the key of F, played in standard tuning with a Capo on the first fret. I’ve written up the tab for the key of E (ie. standard tuning without a capo), if you are using a capo just add 1 to each number in the tab. It is a quick change 12 bar, using the 4th (in the case an A7 chord) as the second bar. It is played on Blind Boy Fuller’s National Duolian Resonator.

The song is a tribute to Fuller’s guitar technique. It features some unusual use of bass notes as a lead in to the next bar (the four-and beat) and some rhythm notes as the first note of some bars. It also has an abundance of really nice sounding open position licks and great ideas. Although it has a lot of things going on, it flows beautifully and is a bit easier to play than it looks.

Pay attention to the off beat bass notes as lead in notes, especially in the B7 and A in bar 9 and 10. The quick open A string to the F# on the low E string 2nd fret sets up the ‘floating’ feeling that is so effective in the following bar of A.



The Lyrics

E A7 He's gone, Blind Boy Fuller's gone away E E7 A7 He's gone, Blind Boy Fuller's gone away E B7 A7 Well he heard a voice calling, and he knew he could not stay E B7 Well he called me to his bedside, and the clock was strikin' four Yeah he called me to his bedside, and the clock was strikin' four Brownie take my guitar, carry my business on, Blind Boy won't be here no more Blind Boy had a million friends, east, north, south and west Blind Boy had a million friends, east, north, south and west Well you know that it's hard to tell, which place he was loved the best Solo Moan... Blind Boy was my best friend, Now I declare he's gone Well I heard he had a million women friends, how I wonder how they want their lovin' done Blind Boy had a million women friends, wonder how they want their lovin' done Well just tell it to Brownie now, I'm tryin' to carry Blind Boy's business on I'm feelin' so blue now, Lord I don't know what to do Well I'm feelin' so blue now, and I don't know what to do Well I know you friends from miles around, feel just like I do

The Intro



$2.7.$1.6 $2.7.$1.6 $3.6/7.$2.7/8.$1.6/7 $2.8.$1.7 $3.7.$2.8.$1.7 $3.7/0.$2.8/0.$1.7/0 $6.0 $3.0h1 $6.0.$1.0 | $3./4.$1./4 $3.4.$1.4 $3.4.$1.4 $3.3.$1.0 $3.3.$1.0 $3.3.$1.0 $3.2.$1.2 $3.0h1 $6.0.$1.0 $5.2 | $4.1.$1.2 2 $5.2 $5.2.$4.1 $6.0 | The intro starts with some bright bent double stops then establishes a standard turnaround rhythm heard in various bars through the song. It also establishes the off beat bass lead in notes that are a feature of the song. Despite seeming to be really unusual, it “makes sense” in a way to play the song without hitting the bass notes on beat 1, and it’s not too hard to adjust to it.

The Progression



The song also uses the somewhat rare technique of using bass notes on the off beat to lead into a melody or rhythm note on the first beat of some bars. It’s unusual and requires a concerted effort to make sure your thumb doesn’t go into automatic pilot. That said, it’s not as difficult to adjust as you might think.

It’s a quick change 12 bar in E – meaning it moves to A in the second bar then back to E in the third, as opposed to the usual 4 bars of E in a standard 12 bar. It has a ‘main’ riff of sorts, a standard riff of double stops, of which variations are played every time it moves back to E. Brownie’s usual riff is different to the normal descending version, and may need some practice before it becomes smooth.

The A sections have a lot going on – bass runs, 7th to maj 6th, some quick picking – just a whole lot of blues packed into every bar. It’s all based around an open position A7 chord, and will take some practise to get it spot on.

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The Solo