Blind Blues Musicians

Racism, hunger, oppression, random bouts of syphilis — the life of a typical 1920s blues guitarist was not exactly a barrel of laughs. So just imagine how much worse it was being blind. Back then, a great many of them were: Blind Willie Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson…in fact, just scroll down the Blues Hall of Fame list and every third musician seems to be preceded with the word “blind.”
 
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/blind-blues-musicians

John Lee Hooker, Centennial release on Concord

John Lee Hooker Centennial this year celebrated with a new career-spanning release

John Lee Hooker was born near Clarksdale, Mississippi on August 22nd, 1917. After running away from home at age 14, he made his way to a factory job in Detroit, Michigan, via Memphis, and Cincinnati. It was there, in 1948, his first recording, “Boogie Chillun,” was made, selling over a million copies.
 
To begin the centennial celebration of Hooker’s birth year, Vee-Jay Records, a division of Concord Bicycle Music, will release Whiskey & Wimmen: John Lee Hooker’s Finest, on March 31st. The multi-label compilation features songs from Hooker’s Vee-Jay, Specialty, Riverside and Stax Records releases, and includes many of the bluesman’s most iconic songs.
https://www.americanbluesscene.com/2017/03/john-lee-hooker-centennial-brings-new-album/