"Ditty Wah Ditty" composed by Blind Arthur Blake)

There’s a great big mistery
And it sure is worrying me
It’s a ditty wah ditty
Mister ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

I went out and walked around
Somebody yelled, now who’s in town ?
Mister ditty wah ditty
Mister ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

Some little girl ’bout four-feet-four
Said, come on, papa, and gimme some mo’
Your ditty wah ditty
Your ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

I went to church, put my hat on the seat
A lady sat on it and said, daddy you sho’ is sweet
Mister ditty wah ditty
Mister ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

I said, sister, I’ll soon be gone
Just give me that thing that you’re sitting on
My ditty wah ditty
Mister ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

Then I got put outta the church
’cause I talked about ditty wah ditty too much
Mister ditty wah ditty
Mister ditty wah ditty
I wished somebody would tell me what ditty wah ditty means

Blind Blake by R. Crumb

No other blues artist was as influential, sold as many records, and remains so cloaked in mystery as Blind Blake. Likely born in the early 1890's, Arthur Blake was from Jacksonville, Florida, according to The Paramount Book of the Blues. However, a Paramount record ad in the Chicago Defender said he was from Tampa, and some researchers have speculated that Blake may have been from, or spent considerable time in, the South Georgia Sea Islands, given his ease with the Geechee dialect on Southern Rag. Even his name is an uncertainty: his name might have been Arthur Phelps, though the copyright submissions for his songs use some variation on Blind Arthur Blake. Blake travelled widely before and after his first record was made. He spent a good amount of time in Atlanta in the early '20s. Kate McTell said that her husband, Blind Willie McTell, brought Blake to the city from Florida. Blake played with Piedmont bluesman Bill Williams in Bristol, Virginia, and Josh White saw him in Charleston, West Virginia. His songs suggest that he may have worked the medicine shows and/or played with jazz bands. Blake wound up in Chicago in 1926, where he was dicovered by Paramount's Mayo Williams. At his first session, Blake recorded West Coast Blues, enough of a hit to establish him as Paramount's other self-accompanied blues star after Blind Lemon Jefferson. Blake recorded about eighty songs in a variety of styles until Paramount's collapse in 1932. He likely died soon after that, though the death date, location, and circumstances are unknown. Many bluesmen reported that Blake had died a violent death, the stories often involving his being run over by a street car, but it seems we will never know more than what we have now.

What we do have is one Paramount publicity photo, a few scattered recollections, and his songs. The eighty or so sides that Blake cut are incredible in their diversity. They range from out-and-out Piedmont blues to dazzling instrumentals to ragtime to duets with Gus Cannon (dubbed "Banjo Joe" for the sessions) to skiffle-jazz songs (with clarinetist Johnny Dodds and drummer Jimmy Bertrand, often on xylophone or slide whistle). These latter numbers offer the best illustration of Blake's guitar wizardry. His playing in this small ensemble suggests he was quite comfortable and familiar working with jazz bands. Blake's record with Papa Charlie Jackson, Papa Charlie and Blake Talk about It, points to his having worked medicine shows. His repertoire was certainly broad enough, but I don't know of anyone saying that they saw Blake playing under those conditions.

Blake shared some interesting similarities to his more famous labelmates, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton. Each was the first star of his respective blues genre, at least when we look back now; each was recorded extensively by Paramount at a time when few bluesmen were asked to record more than ten songs; each died in the thirties, Jefferson and Blake under mysterious (and, by now, probably unknowable) circumstances; each had his picture taken once (though there is another picture which may be Patton at an younger age); and all three had more than a little songster in him, Blake especially so.

But unlike Patton and Jefferson, Blind Blake left no protege per se. His influence was broad and subtle, however, and his records were a favorite amongst many East Coast bluesmen; his song Diddie Wah Diddie is still played by some Piedmont artists. Blake may also have been the best ragtime guitarist to ever record. Rev. Gary Davis, who was not one to hand out praise lightly, said that Blake was the best he'd ever heard on record. Blakee was more than just a bluesman, combining blues, ragtime, jazz, and older styles into the basic format that is now known as the Piedmont blues.

Yazoo has a good Blind Blake cd, Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker (Yazoo 1068). It gives a good sampling of his playing in various styles. Document has released Blake's complete works on compact disc (DOCD5024-5027).

(source : http://www.io.com )