Blind Boy Fuller with Sonny Terry and Bull City Red

AMG Review of Blind Boy Fuller with Sonny Terry and Bull City Red

Stephen Cook
All Music Guide

Like Robert Johnson's inexorable connection to delta blues or Blind Lemon Jefferson's fame as a Texas originator, guitarist Blind Boy Fuller will be forever associated with the Piedmont blues of North Carolina. Whether forged or refashioned by Fuller, Carolina blues was more mobile than the delta style -- akin to Lemon's sound in that respect -- featuring a rambling blend of ags, pop, and lues, with a hint of the mountain music from nearby Appalachia thrown in. This solid Blues Classics collection covers most of Fuller's rich but short recording career from 1935-40, featuring him with regular accompanists Sonny Terry on harmonica and Bull City Red on washboard. With Terry's wailing harp and Red's steady rhythm supplying the backdrop, Fuller sings, whoops, and hollers through breakdowns like "Step Up and Go" and "Shake It Baby," while displaying his considerable pickin' skills on instrumentals like "Jitterbug Rag." Fuller is also heard solo on classic blues like "Careless Love" and his famed slice of sexual double entendre "I'm a Rattlesnakin' Daddy." Along with collections on Columbia and Yazoo, this Blues Classics title makes for a fine introduction to Fuller's music.