Blind Boy Fuller

Encyclopedia : B : BL : BLI : Blind Boy Fuller

Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. Fuller was born in 1908 in Wadesboro, North Carolina and died February 13 1941 in Durham, North Carolina. He played a steel National resonator guitar.

Life and Career

A plaque commemorating Blind Boy Fuller in Durham, North Carolina

Bull City Blues, Durham, North Carolina

Blind Boy Fuller was one of the most popular of the Piedmont blues artists that counted Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake amongst its number. He was so popular that when he died Brownie McGhee began a short lived career as Blind Boy Fuller No.2 so as to cash in on his popularity. His song, 'Trucking My Blues Away', also gave America the famous saying 'Keep On Trucking'. He was often accompanied on harmonica by Sonny Terry.

Blind Boy Fuller died from a severe bladder infection in 1942, when he was only 33 years old. Blind Boy Fuller was an expressive vocalist and a masterful guitar player, best remembered for his uptempo ragtime hits "Rag Mama Rag," "Trucking My Blues Away," and "Step It Up and Go." At the same time he was capable of deeper material, and his versions of "Lost Lover Blues" or "Mamie" are as deep as most Delta blues. Because of his popularity, he may have been overexposed on records, yet most of his songs remained close to tradition and much of his repertoire and style is kept alive by North Carolina and Virginia artists today.

Burial Location

Grove Hill Cemetery in Durham, North Carolina - the final resting place of Blind Boy Fuller

The only remaining stone at Grove Hill Cemetery in Durham, North Carolina

The location of the final resting place of Blind Boy Fuller is Grove Hill Cemetery, located on private property in Durham, North Carolina. State records indicate that this was once an official cemetery, and Fuller's interment is recorded. The only remaining headstone is that of Mary Caston Langey.

Blind Boy Fuller has been recognized on two different plaques in the City of Durham. The North Carolina Division of Archives and History plaque is located a few miles north of Fuller's gravesite, along Fayetteville St. in Curham. The City of Durham officially recognized Fuller on July 16, 2001, and the commemmorating plaque is located along the American Tobacco Trail, adjacent to the property where Fuller's unmarked grave is located (several hundred feet east of Fayetteville St.).

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.