Performance · Other credits

Blind Willie McTell

real name William Samuel McTier (or McTear)

United States · 1901-05-05 – 1959-08-19

Blind Willie McTell is credited on 931 releases across 271 albums tracked on Gatefold, active 1965–2025 — the collector-built map of who actually made the music.

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931

Credits

271

Albums

Decades active

848

In collections

Biography

source

Born: May 05, 1898 in Thomson, GA, United States
Died: August 19, 1959 in Milledgeville, GA, United States
McTell was a prolific 12-string blues guitarist and vocalist who recorded a great deal of 78s for the Victor, Columbia, ARC, OKeh, and Decca labels during the 1920s and '30s, often performing under pseudonyms. In 1940, the field recordist John A. Lomax located McTell working as a street performer in his homebase of Atlanta, Georgia, and recorded him for the Library of Congress. McTell's career revived briefly in 1949 when he recorded sessions for the Atlantic and Regal labels, but was never able to re-establish in these post-war years the level of fame he had enjoyed during the heyday of the "race records." McTell died of a stroke in 1959.
Was married to Kate McTell.
Also shown in BMI files as Ernest B McTell.

Bio from Discogs