Blind Blake

Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for numerous recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932. Little is known of Blake's life. Promotional materials from Paramount Records indicate he was born blind and give his birthplace as Jacksonville, Florida, and it seems that he lived there during various periods. He seems to have had relatives in Patterson, Georgia. Some authors have written that in one recording he slipped into a Geechee or Gullah dialect, suggesting a connection with the Sea Islands.
Blind Willie McTell indicated that Blake's real name was Arthur Phelps, but later research has shown this is unlikely to be correct. In 2011, a group of researchers led by Alex van der Tuuk published various documents regarding Blake's life and death in the journal, Blues & Rhythm. One of these documents is his 1934 death certificate, which states he was born in 1896 in Newport News, Virginia, to Winter and Alice Blake (his mother's name is followed by a question mark). Nothing else is known of Blake until the 1920s, when he emerged as a recording musician.
==Links to Peel==
Although Blind Blake didn't seem to be one of Peel's favourites, the DJ played some songs from the blues musician on his programmes. Blind Blake was highly rated by many folk, blues and ragtime guitarists of the 1960s and later; Ry Cooder covered Blake's "Police Dog Blues" on his debut album, a couple of years after JP had played Blake's original on Night Ride, while Hot Tuna covered his "That'll Never Happen No More" in 1971. Peel's Radio 1 colleague Mike Raven also admired Blake; when the Who 's Pete Townshend wrote a piece in defence of the station in his Melody Maker column in 1971, one of the positive features of Radio 1 he thought wasn't to be found elsewhere was "Mike Raven and his Blind Blake records".
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In later decades, Andy Kershaw also played tunes from the singer on his shows, as well as when he was sitting in for Peel in 1986. Peel chose Blake's "Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Around" for the Peelenium 1926 and played the singer's "Diddie Wah Diddie" (also known as "Diddy Wah Diddy" and covered in 1974 by Ry Cooder as "Ditty Wah Ditty") at least three times, twice from an album devoted to the "roots" of Captain Beefheart - even if Beefheart's "Diddy Wah Diddy" was a completely different song. 
==Shows Played==
;1968
*11 September 1968: Police Dog Blues (probably from v/a LP The Georgia Blues 1927-1933) Yazoo
;1986
*03 November 1986: Southern Rag (v/a LP - Maple Leaf Rag: Ragtime In Rural America) New World
;1987
*30 September 1987: That Will Never Happen No More
;thumb|221x221px1999
*May 1999 (FSK): Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Around
*14 July 1999: 'Come On Boys Let's Do That Messin' Round' (Peelenium 1926)
;2000
*23 March 2000: 'West Coast Blues (LP-Blind Blake Blues In Chicago)' (Riverside)
;2002
*07 November 2002: Diddie Wa Diddie (Various LP - Gimme Dat Harp Boy! Roots Of The Captain) Big Snake
*07 November 2002 (Radio Eins): Diddie Wa Diddie (Various LP - Gimme Dat Harp Boy! Roots Of The Captain) Big Snake
;2003
*27 November 2003: Hastings St. (album - Century Of The Blues) Chrome Dreams
;2004
*23 September 2004: Diddie Wa Diddie (Various Artists Compilation - Century of the Blues) Chrome Dreams
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists