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Blind Blake

LC control no.n 94020477
Descriptive conventionsrda
Personal name headingBlind Blake
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Variant(s)Blake, Arthur (Blues musician)
Blake, Blind
Blind Arthur
Gorgeous Weed
James, Billy (Blues musician)
Martin, Blind George
Phelps, Arthur
Associated countryUnited States
Birth date1893
Death date1933
Place of birthJacksonville (Fla.)
Place of deathJacksonville (Fla.)
AffiliationABC-Paramount Records
Profession or occupationBlues musicians Singers Composers
Found inHis Blind Blake, complete recorded works in chronological order [SR] 1991: label (Blind Blake)
Herzhaft, G. Encyclopedia of the blues, 1992 (Blind Blake (Arthur Phelps, ca. 1880-1935))
Harris, S. Blues who's who, 1981 (Phelps, Arthur (aka Blind Arthur/Blind Blake/Gorgeous Weed/Billy James/Blind George Martin); b. c1890-5, Jacksonville (Duval Co.), FL (unconfirmed); d. c1933, Florida (unconfirmed); blues singer and guitarist)
The best of Blind Blake [SR] p2000: insert (Blind Blake; formal name was Arthur Blake)
Wikipedia, Oct. 21, 2008 ("Blind" Blake; b. Arthur Blake (or Arthur Phelps?), ca. 1893, Jacksonville, Fla.(?); d. ca. 1933; blues singer and guitarist, often called "The King of Ragtime Guitar")
All music guide WWW site, Oct. 21, 2008 (Blind Blake; probably b. between 1895 and 1897, Jacksonville, FL; d. 1937(?); blues guitarist; biographical information largely unverifiable)
Encyc. of pop. mus., 3rd ed. (Blind Blake; b. Arthur Blake (or possibly Phelps), 1890s, Jacksonville, Fla.; d. c. 1933; blues guitarist)
African American National Biography, accessed December 17, 2014, via Oxford African American Studies Center database: (Blake, "Blind" Arthur; Arthur Phelps; Billy James; Gorgeous Weed; George Martin; blues musician / singer, composer / arranger; born in 1893 in Jacksonville, Florida, United States; sang and performedas a traveling blues musician, initially on the East Coast; eventually settled in the Midwest, performing in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin (1920's-30's); his time in Chicago (1926-29); Richmond, Indiana (1929); and Grafton, Wisconsin (1929-32) are traced through his recordings with Paramount; first recording was the guitar solo "Early Mornin' Blues", followed by "West Coast Blues"; one of the earliest blind blues artists influencing this American style and form, recording over eighty songs for Paramount (1920's-1930's); died in 1933 in Jacksonville, Florida, United States)