A Life of Blind Willie McTell

“The page turning momentum of a biography that is both a good read and as educational as the most brow furrowing dissertation.”

Alan Clayson (R ‘n’ R Magazine)

Blind Willie McTell was a towering figure in a coterie of African-American guitarists who sang the Blues on Atlanta’s streets in the 1920s and 30s. His recording career was spasmodic and failed to achieve notable sales. Largely forgotten until the 1960s, McTell’s contribution has only recently been recognised beyond the Blues genre. In this compelling biography, crime writer Malcolm Noble sets out the case for McTell’s place in the international consideration of English Literature.

For more than twenty years, Malcolm Noble, whose crime novels have been praised as ‘parochial policing at its best,’ ran a bookshop in Market Harborough where he now enjoys retirement. He hosts a weekly Blues hour on his local fm radio station.

“Truly a labour of love. Congratulations on another fine publication.“

“I have read all his novels! Did enjoy doing this one, though it’s not made me a Blind Willie fan.”

” I just wanted to say to you how I really enjoyed the biography of Blind Willie McTell. It was written with so much respect for him that it does you proud.”

“I have just finished the Blind Willie McTell book, and I have to say that truthfully, it is an incredible piece of work, a superb weighty tome that is two or three books in one. Not only do you give the reader a wonderful, information packed biography of the man himself, but you also provide an incredibly informative history of the period plus an insight of the art form as well, which is incredibly accurate and extremely readable. I truly believe that you have written one of the real great music biographies of our time; McTell was a timeless American musician, and your book is one that future scholars of the art form will surely refer to in years to come, as the “go-to” book on Blind Wille McTell and the Atlanta music scene of the period. Fantastic stuff“