Blind Joe Taggart
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Joel Washington Taggart (August 16, 1892 – January 15, 1961), usually known as Blind Joe Taggart, was an American
country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...
and
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
singer and guitarist who recorded in the 1920s and 1930s. Though primarily a performer of evangelistic gospel songs, he also recorded secular music under a number of pseudonyms including Blind Joe Amos, Blind Jeremiah Taylor, Blind Tim Russell, Blind Joe Donnel, and possibly Blind Percy and Six Cylinder Smith.


Life

Taggart was born in
Abbeville, South Carolina Abbeville is a city and county seat of Abbeville County, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is located west of Columbia and south of Greenville. Its population was 5,237 at the 2010 census. Settled by French Huguenot settlers, it was n ...
, and by 1910 attended South Carolina Institute for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind in
Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city had a population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-most populous city in the state. The Office of Management and Budg ...
. By 1917, he was living and working as a musician in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc, ''Blues: A Regional Experience'', ABC-CLIO, 2013, p.285
/ref> He married and moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
before 1921. He made his first recordings in 1926, for the
Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record label, originally founded by the Aeolian Company, a piano and organ manufacturer before being bought out by Brunswick in 1924. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pian ...
label. These were among the first recordings to be made of a so-called "guitar evangelist". His recordings of religious songs under the name Blind Joe Taggart included "The Storm Is Passing Over", "I Will Not Be Removed", "Take Your Burden to the Lord", and "I Wish My Mother Was On That Train".Clifford E. Olstrom, ''Undaunted by Blindness'', Perkins School for the Blind, 2011
/ref> As well as recording solo, he recorded duets with his wife Emma, and also recorded with James Taggart, presumed to be his son. Some of his recordings have been cited as having "traces of some of the earliest luesmusical styles to have ever been recorded". Dick Weissman, ''Blues'', Infobase Publishing, 2005, p.211
/ref> As an itinerant blues performer, he was helped to and around venues by the young
Josh White Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sou ...
. According to White, Taggart was "tricky, nasty, mean", and something of a fraud because he had partial vision rather than being completely blind. Biography by Eugene Chadbourne, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 24 March 2015
Records suggest that he wore one artificial eye, but had some sight in his other eye. According to record collector John Tefteller: "The labels knew they could sell more records by putting the word 'Blind' before the artist's name... Black people were considered inferior. It was awful. They were being recorded, almost exclusively, by white producers. I don't know if these singers really wanted to call themselves 'Blind' or not. Probably not." Mike Greenblatt, "Musician was stuck between gospel heaven and blues hell", ''Goldmine'', April 24, 2013
Retrieved 24 March 2015
Taggart recorded secular blues songs under several
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
s, for different labels, including
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...
and
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
. The question of whether he was the performer credited as "Six Cylinder Smith" is unresolved.
Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar wh ...
has commented: "When a bluesman assumed another name, the reason was not some kind of schizophrenia but usually an effort to do extra recording outside of a contract that had already been signed under one name. In the case of Taggart, he may have recorded secular blues numbers under the name of Smith, because in his former performing identity he was known as a gospel blues singer in the style of
Blind Willie Johnson Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945), commonly known as Blind Willie Johnson, was an American gospel blues singer and guitarist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930, thirty songs in all, display a combinat ...
."Eugene Chadbourne, "Six Cylinder Smith", ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 24 March 2015
Taggart's last commercial recordings were issued in 1934. He remarried in Chicago in 1943, and made a religious test recording for the Presto label in 1948. He died of
uremia Uremia is the condition of having high levels of urea in the blood. Urea is one of the primary components of urine. It can be defined as an excess in the blood of amino acid and protein metabolism end products, such as urea and creatinine, which ...
in Presbyterian-St Luke's Hospital, Chicago, in 1961, at the age of 68.


Legacy

At least one photograph is believed to exist of Taggart.Cochran, Robert. The Return of Blind Joe Death. Sep/Oct 1999. Gadfly online.
Accessed 4 April 2010
All his known recordings have been reissued on CD by
Document Records Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Bl ...
. Blind Joe Taggart has been mentioned in several online blogs as the originator of " Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down", the theme song for the 2011/12 television series, ''Boss'', sung by
Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...
of the British group
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taggart, Blind Joe 1892 births 1961 deaths 20th-century American singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Country blues musicians Blind musicians Paramount Records artists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American blind people American musicians with disabilities