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Blind Teddy DARBY
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Theodore Roosevelt Darby, better known as Blind Teddy Darby was born in 1902 in Henderson, Kentucky, and was both blues singer and guitarist. He was taught to play guitar by his mother, but as a teenager he was frequently in trouble with the authorities, and he was sentenced to a year in a reformatory, and spent a further year working at the city workhouse, for running moonshine. Suffering with poor sight as a teenager, he finally went blind aged 20 as a result of glaucoma. He moved to St. Louis where he perfected his guitar playing. He moved to East St. Louis where he linked up with Peetie Wheatstraw, accompanying him when his regular guitarist, Charley Jordan, was not available. Often accompanied on piano by his cousin, Tom Webb, Darby recorded from 1929 until 1937, releasing 24 titles under the name "Blind Teddy Darby", as well as "Blind Darby", "Blind Blues Darby" and "Blind Squire Turner" for the Paramount, Vocalion, Bluebird, and Victor labels. Darby career came to an abrupt end when he gave up performing following the murder of Tom Webb. He renounced anything associated with the blues and became an ordained minister at the King Solomon Holy House of Prayer in East St Louis. He briefly relented in 1960 when he recorded again for Pete Welding of Testament Records but the recordings from this session were never released. He died sometime after this but the record of his death has not been confirmed.
Lawdy Lawdy Worried Blues |
