Scrapper Blackwell: A Virtuoso Guitar

Mr. ScrapperFor being a rather unknown blues player, Scrapper Blackwell recorded a ridiculous amount of music. More often than not, he was supporting the under appreciated LeRoy Carr, but apart from the hundred sides that the two worked out together, Blackwell himself, who recorded mostly during the late '20s and early '30s, can lay claim to at least another thirty to forty sides during his hey day. That most fertile period, though, came to an end when Carr passed away from some combination of drinking and kidney problems. It would be at least twenty years after this occurrence that Blackwell would again record.

A good many blues players count some tragedy in their life, and not withstanding the death of his musical partner and friend, Blackwell endured some additional problems - to say the least. Much like anyone and everyone who could be rounded up to recorded in the '50s and '60s Blackwell jumped at the chance to impact a new audience. Unfortunately, after only two years into his rediscovery, Blackwell was murdered in an alley during an apparent robbery. His neighbor was arrested for the crime, but that's all the internets would yield on that portion of the story for whatever reason.

But in listening to those original recordings, collected on Yazoo's Virtuoso Guitar (1925 - '34), a distinct difference in guitar playing can be heard when contrasted with Blackwell on his revival discs called Mr. Scrapper's Blues. Of course, at least two decades had gone by, but on the latter disc, Blackwell's guitar sounds more percussive. I suppose that could be as a result of his varying dexterity at different parts of his life. But the languid and relaxed approach proffered on his earlier discs are not only more interesting and unique, it's also more impressive. So where players like Mississippi John Hurt and Rev. Gary Davis sounded the same before and after their re-discoveries (on some discs at least), Blackwell didn't.

That latter offering from Blackwell, though, isn't without its charm and a few of those tracks come off as well as anything in the acoustic blues canon. His "'A' Blues" is particularly interesting. And in addition to the progression and a few of the solos being more than pleasant, a few passages from the song feature strumming akin to something from a flamenco guitarist. Peter Walker this isn't - but Peter Walker doesn't insert the same kind of soloing into his guitar playing. And while those two players don't have too much in common, the odd approach to integrating these two musics, inadvertently or not, is worth examining.

While that track is probably the most well played, Blackwell's version of "Blues Before Sunrise" comes off pretty well too. The intonation of his guitar is hit and miss here, but the playing apart from that is more than toe tappin' good. It's also interesting to hear this particular standard get a reworking from such an adept guitarist. And as the listener is privy to the line about washing troubles down to the sea, one get's the inkling that Blackwell meant it as he sung, even at this late date in the '50s.