Blind Willie McTell - The Best Of Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell

Blind Willie McTell was an anomaly
There are only a handful of artists who can match his total command of rural
traditional music. He sang and composed or preserved some of the most inventive,
compelling, and beautiful traditional songs, blues and arrangements of all time. His
voice did not have great range, but it conveyed something even better: warmth and
conviction. His rags and comedic pieces don't just have an infectious bounce, they
usually have McTell making spoken asides to the audience, commenting on and
sharing the performance and drawing them in. He utilizes this facility in his serious
pieces, also, while projecting an appropriate emotional affect. He was a brilliant
guitarist, adept at several different styles, occasionally recasting a few favorite
arrangements into new- sounding pieces. McTell could make his guitar "talk" in the
proverbial sense of the term; more than that, he was able to craft superb
arrangements that underpinned his emotional persona.