Scrapper Blackwell
Biography Scrapper Blackwell
Francis "Scrapper" Blackwell (1903-1962)
ranks as one of the major players in the history of blues guitar. Through his work with singer-pianist Leroy Carr–particularly on the massive 1928 hit "How Long, How Long Blues"–Blackwell helped fashion a new sound for the blues suited to rural-to-urban move of much of the music’s African-American constituency.
T-Bone Walker, who continued this evolutionary process in the 1940s, cited Blackwell as a main musical hero. Blackwell retired from music shortly after Carr’s death in 1935 but was rediscovered in Indianapolis in 1958. This marvelous 1960 recording not only shows him to be in first-rate form as a guitarist and singer but also finds him playing some fine piano. Sadly, Blackwell’s comeback was cut short by his death the following year.
Goin’ Where the Monon Crosses The Yellow Dog, Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, "A" Blues, Little Girl Blues, George Street Blues, Blues Before Sunrise, Little Boy Blue, "E" Blues, Shady Lane, Penal Farm Blues.
Blackwell was born in Syracuse, South Carolina, one of sixteen children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell. He was part Cherokee. He grew up and spent most of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was given the nickname "Scrapper" by his grandmother, because of his fiery nature. His father played the fiddle, but Blackwell was a self-taught guitarist, building his first guitar out of a cigar box, wood and wire. He also learned to play the piano, occasionally performing professionally. By his teens, Blackwell was a part-time musician, traveling as far as Chicago. He was known for being withdrawn and hard to work with, but he established a rapport with the pianist Leroy Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s, and they had a productive working relationship. Carr convinced Blackwell to record with him for Vocalion Records in 1928; the result was "How Long, How Long Blues", the biggest blues hit of that year.
Blackwell also made solo recordings for Vocalion, including "Kokomo Blues", which was transformed into "Old Kokomo Blues" by Kokomo Arnold and later reworked as "Sweet Home Chicago" by Robert Johnson. Blackwell and Carr toured throughout the American Midwest and South between 1928 and 1935 as stars of the blues circuit, recording over 100 sides. "Prison Bound Blues" (1928), "Mean Mistreater Mama" (1934), and "Blues Before Sunrise" (1934) were popular tracks.
