Blind Willie McTell (A Song & Dance Man Excerpt)
From Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan - Vol. 2: Yonder Comes Sin. Written by Michael Gray. Reprinted With Permission
To accompany the our latest podcast, Dylan.FM S03 E09 Blind Willie McTell, here is an extended excerpt from Chapter 6: Blind Willie McTell.
Chapter Six: Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell is no roaring primitive, and no Robert Johnsonesque devil-dealing womaniser. He didn’t lose his sight in a jook-joint brawl, or hopping a freight train. He didn’t escape into music from behind a mule-plow in the Delta. He didn’t die violently or young. Instead, blind from birth but never behaving as if this were a handicap, this intelligent, articulate man became an adept professional singer and 12-string guitar-player who travelled widely and talked his way into an array of recording-sessions.
He never achieved a hit record, but he became, as a live performer and a man, one of the most widely known and well-loved figures in and around Georgia. Working clubs and car-parks, playi…