 blind boy fuller (born fulton allen, july 10, 1907east coast piedmont blues - blind boy fuller â february 13, 1941) was an american blues guitarist and vocalist. he was one of the most popular of the recorded piedmont blues artists with rural black americans, a group that also included blind blake, josh white, and buddy moss. ==life and career== fulton allen was born in wadesboro, north carolina, united states, to calvin allen and mary jane walker. he was one of a family of 10 children, but after his mother's death he moved with his father to rockingham. as a boy he learned to play the guitar and also learned from older singers the field hollers, country rags, and traditional songs and blues popular in poor, rural areas. he married cora allen young and worked as a labourer, but began to lose his eyesight in his mid-teens. according to researcher bruce bastin, "while he was living in rockingham he began to have trouble with his eyes. he went to see a doctor in charlotte who allegedly told him that he had ulcers behind his eyes, the original damage having been caused by some form of snow-blindness." only the first part of this diagnosis was correct. a 1937 eye examination attributed his vision loss to the long-term effects of untreated neonatal conjunctivitis. by 1928 he was completely blind, and turned to whatever employment he could find as a singer and entertainer, often playing in the streets. by studying the records of country blues players like blind blake and the "live" playing of gary davis, allen became a formidable guitarist, and played on street corners and at house parties in winston-salem, nc, danville, va, and then durham, north carolina. in durham, playing around the tobacco warehouses, he developed a local following which included guitarists [[floyd council
1907_births 1941_deaths African-American_musicians American_blues_guitarists Blind_bluesmen Blind_musicians Blues_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Country_blues_musicians Country_blues_singers Decca_Records_artists East_Coast_blues_musicians People_from_Wadesboro,_North_Carolina Piedmont_blues_musicians Vocalion_Records_artists