Perseverance and durability are integral facets of blues ("The sun gonna shine in my back door someday") and determination against hardship ("Blues gonna kill me, take my measure now") are part of its essence. Few figures in the history of blues have illustrated these qualities more than the great twelve-string guitarist and singer from Georgia, Blind Willie McTell.

Unlike most of his contemporaries, McTell seemed to be ever-present during the height of traditional blues recording in the 1920s and 1930s. Although he never had an industry hit, he was very popular in his native state, and his musicianship and obvious confidence impressed record executives.

Despite some renown, McTell had remained a shadowy figure until folklorist David Evans located the family in Statesboro, Georgia and discovered this integral piece of the puzzle.

Among Blind Willie McTell’s fans is Bob Dylan, who covered Willie’s song “Broke Down Engine” on his 1993 album World Gone Wrong

The recordings on this compact disc have been painstakingly re-mastered from the original acetates
“Pig ‘n Whistle Red”, a barbecue stand where McTell and Weaver played for tips, contains their last session together and shows an amazing range of material reflecting pop, ragtime, gospel and hard blues. The duet singing on a half-dozen of these pieces seems to have been a hold-over from earlier forms of black music and more represented in both black and white rural traditions in Georgia than elsewhere. The repertoire exhibited includes songs McTell and Weaver never repeated.

REVIEW - “Blind since birth, Willie McTell taught himself to play guitar and became one of the masters of the 12 string. This 1950 recording offers an excellent display of his dexterity on that instrument. This is a diverse collection of southern blues, ragtime, and gospel from one of his greatest bluesmen of the 20s and 30s at a time when he was still in his prime.”

- Victory Music Review, Neil Sussman