Blind Boy Fuller

Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. Fuller was born in 1908 in Wadesboro, North Carolina and died February 13 1941 in Durham, North Carolina. He played a steel National resonator guitar.

Blind Boy Fuller was one of the most popular of the Piedmont blues artists that counted Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake amongst its number. He was so popular that when he died Brownie McGhee began a short lived career as Blind Boy Fuller No.2 so as to cash in on his popularity. His song, 'Trucking My Blues Away', also gave America the famous saying 'Keep On Trucking'. He was often accompanied on harmonica by Sonny Terry.

Blind Boy Fuller lived fast and died young in 1942, only 33 years old. Blind Boy Fuller was a fine, expressive vocalist and a masterful guitar player best remembered for his uptempo ragtime hits "Rag Mama Rag," "Trucking My Blues Away," and "Step It Up and Go." At the same time he was capable of deeper material, and his versions of "Lost Lover Blues" or "Mamie" are as deep as most Delta blues. Because of his popularity, he may have been overexposed on records, yet most of his songs remained close to tradition and much of his repertoire and style is kept alive by North Carolina and Virginia artists today.

The location of the final resting place of Blind Boy Fuller is on private property in Durham, North Carolina. State records indicate that this was once an official cemetery, and Fuller's interment is recorded. The only remaining headstone is not that of Blind Boy Fuller. On July 16, 2001, the City of Durham recognized the career and significance of Blind Boy Fuller.