Hot Wax: Scrapper Blackwell's Mr. Scrapper's Blues (1961/2025)

A brilliant self-taught guitarist, Francis Hillman “Scrapper” Blackwell was a popular star in the isolated blues world of the late 1920s and early ‘30s. Born in South Carolina, Blackwell moved to Indianapolis as a child, learned to play piano, and made his first guitar from a cigar box and wire. He was already venturing into Chicago to perform as a teenager alongside adult musicians. Known for having a quick temper (his grandmother allegedly gave him the “Scrapper” nickname), Blackwell developed a friendship with blues pianist Leroy Carr, who coaxed him into playing guitar on his 1928 recording of “How Long, How Long Blues,” which became a big hit for Vocalion Records.

Subsequent records by the duo like 1934’s “Mean Mistreater Mama” and “Blues Before Sunrise” were equally popular; Blackwell and Carr toured the country and recorded better than 100 sides together over seven years before their acrimonious break-up in 1935 (over money, naturally…). Blackwell also recorded several solo sides during his association with Vocalion, including the future blues standard “Kokomo Blues” (which was later re-worked by the legendary Robert Johnson as “Sweet Home Chicago”), “Down South Blues,” and “Hard Time Blues,” among a handful of other songs. After Carr’s 1935 death, Blackwell virtually disappeared from music for the next 20 years, until his “rediscovery” during the late 1950s folk-blues revival.

Scrapper Blackwell’s Mr. Scrapper’s Blues

After recording the 1960 album Blues Before Sunrise for the British 77 Records label, Blackwell signed with producer Kenneth Goldstein and the Bluesville Records label stateside. Recording in July 1961 in his hometown of Indianapolis with Goldstein and Arthur Rosenbaum producing, Blackwell laid down the ten songs that would become his enduring masterpiece, Mr. Scrapper’s Blues. Released by Bluesville in 1962, just months before the guitarist’s tragic murder in October of that year, Blackwell sings and plays guitar and piano on the tracks. Reissued on 180-gram vinyl by the recently resurrected Bluesville imprint, Mr. Scrapper’s Blues is an obscure, if important addition to the blues canon.

Although Blackwell isn’t as well-known as contemporaries like Charley Patton and Son House, one hearing of “Goin’ Where the Monon Crosses the Yellow Dog” will convince you that Scrapper, while maybe not in the same league as those legends, is nevertheless playing in the same ball park. With spry finger-pickin’ and his distinctive (though not entirely ‘distinct’) vocals, Blackwell delivers a spirited country-blues performance of the traditionally-based railroad song. His cover of the 1929 Bessie Smith hit “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” differs from Smith’s with a lower-key vocal performance and delicate fretwork in place of the horns, and sacrificing none of the original’s pathos.

Blues Before Sunrise

The instrumental “A Blues” displays Blackwell’s six-string dexterity on a jaunty lil’ fretboard romp, and he takes to the piano for “Little Girl Blues,” a mid-tempo blues tale similar to those he recorded with Carr decades ago. Blackwell’s tinkling keys show an instrumental proficiency that he seldom utilized. “Blues Before Sunrise” was a major 1934 hit for Blackwell and Carr; reimagined here without the pianist’s larger-than-life presence and instrumental prowess, the song remains a blues classic. Here it provides an extended showcase for Blackwell’s imaginative and fluid guitar lines, which offer various textures and patterns to the performance.

The whimsical “Little Boy Blue” is a nursery rhyme retrofitted to the blues, Blackwell’s sly sense of humor shining through his vocals atop his energetic and gymnastic guitarplay. The instrumental “E Blues” carries this lighthearted vibe forward with serpentine guitar licks and an undeniable fatback groove while another song from his longtime friendship with Carr, “Shady Lane,” offers a bit of nostalgia to the album, Blackwell’s earnest vocals supported by a laidback but deliberate guitar strum. Originally recorded in 1927, “Penal Farm Blues” was Blackwell’s first song cut to wax; with reflection better than three decades later, it has lost none of its mournful resignation with high lonesome vocals accompanying emotional fretwork.        

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Scrapper Blackwell is an unheralded talent well worth rediscovering 60+ years past his previous rediscovery. A skilled guitarist and pianist, Blackwell was a songster capable of interpreting a diverse range of material. Mr. Scrapper’s Blues was designed to introduce the guitarist to a new generation of music fans; instead, it became his swansong with his tragic death a few months after its release.

With a scarcity of solo recordings to catch the ears of young blues fans, Blackwell has largely remained in the shadows of obscurity. While we don’t know what he may have achieved in the years after this lone album, recorded better than 25 years after his previous sessions, Mr. Scrapper’s Blues is a fitting testament to Blackwell’s talents and unique blues sound. Grade: B+ (Bluesville Records/Craft Recordings, released May 16th, 2025)

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