Blind Roosevelt Graves

[Boss_Tweedy]

I expect that the reaction most will have when they see first Blind Roosevelt Graves's name will be the same as mine: Who is Blind Roosevelt Graves? Roosevelt Graves was a musician and recording artist whose career peaked in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Why should you care and what, if any, link does he have with Wilco? Well, I'll tell you.

 

 

This past summer while volunteering at a blues festival in Bentonia, Mississippi, I met the executive director of a Mississippi nonprofit organization, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund. The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund's purpose is to fund and erect grave memorials for deceased Mississippi bluesmen, many of whom for years have rested without markers. Among the grave markers and memorials erected by our fund are those for Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Elmore James, and Memphis Minnie. The fund also aims to preserve mostly rural, African-American cemeteries throughout the state. I had arranged for the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund to have a presence at the festival because the festival organizers believed strongly in the fund's goals and past work. When the fund's executive director learned that I'm a native of Gulfport, Mississippi, he mentioned one of the fund's upcoming campaigns. The campaign involved raising money to fund grave markers for a musician I'd never heard of who lived out his life, died, and is buried in Gulfport. Given that I'm an attorney and familiar with the lay of the land in and around Gulfport, he asked me if I'd be interested in taking the voluntary role of lead investigator for the project. As I am also a history and music nerd, I couldn't say no. In addition to seeking funds to erect a headstone, the campaign was also an investigation to discover more about the final years of Blind Roosevelt Graves. What was already known, and what I learned in the process, is that Roosevelt Graves was raised just a few miles from where my father's family is from in rural Jones County, Mississippi (the same Jones County depicted in the movie "Free State of Jones"). To me this made the campaign more personal, as Roosevelt Graves was born and raised very close to my father's people and died in the same hospital in which I was born. Additionally, I learned that Roosevelt Graves was cited as a musical mentor to another Jones County musician, L.C. Ulmer, who passed away in 2016. This was significant to me because I knew L.C. Ulmer. He lived and died in Ellisville, Mississippi, which is also near my father's people. I had seen him perform a number of times and even visited him at his home. Those of us who knew him think the world of L.C. He was a very sweet, interesting, and genuine man. L.C. also learned about music at the foot of his father and Jimmie Rodgers, the "Singing Brakeman," who often stopped and jammed with L.C.'s father and others. With those ties I was all in. I wanted to honor the mentor of a man I actually knew and admired.

 

 

The results of my investigation unexpectedly led to a presentation at last year's International Conference on the Blues at the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi. I've also given presentations for the Historical Society of Gulfport and a local elementary school as well as interviews with the local newspaper and two local TV stations. I even traveled to Jones County, Mississippi to speak about the campaign before the congregation of the Graves family's rural church. The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund's executive director has also appeared on various radio programs throughout the country to promote this campaign.

 

O.K., but who was Blind Roosevelt Graves, you're probably asking? Roosevelt Graves's recording career was brief but worthy of attention. At the height of his career he traveled with Blind Lemon Jefferson and recorded for Paramount Records. Last year a wonderful documentary entitled "American Epic" aired on PBS. The documentary explains the rich musical history of the U.S. "American Epic: The Collection," a great five-disc box set, was released to accompany the film. One of the songs included in the collection is one of Blind Roosevelt Graves's most popular songs, "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind On Jesus)." I also realized by pure happenstance (I was listening to the album one afternoon) that Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy had included a cover of "Woke Up This Morning (With My Mind On Jesus)" on "One True Vine." Finally, for those of you who enjoy reading about music, the famous blues scholar Robert Palmer, in The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll, wrote that rock’s roots came from the “rocking and reeling” style of ecstatic singing found in the “maverick Sanctified and Holiness churches, where guitars, drums, and horns were as acceptable as the pianos and organ, and more easily afforded.” About Roosevelt Graves and his brother Uaroy (with whom he recorded), he said, “Their 'Barbecue Bust' and 'Dangerous Woman' featured fully formed rock and roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock and roll beat." Those recordings were made in 1936. 

 

Roosevelt Graves passed away on December 30, 1962, in Gulfport, Mississippi. His wife, Elizabeth, passed away several years later. Both are buried in unmarked graves in Mississippi City Cemetery in Gulfport. We at the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund are raising awareness and funds to erect grave markers for Roosevelt and Elizabeth. I'm posting here because we need and would appreciate your help! Before posting this I cleared it with kidsmoke. Also, I'm not making a dime from this. Everything I'm doing in conjunction with this campaign is voluntary. 

 

Below are a few links to a couple of songs by Roosevelt Graves as well as the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund's campaign page (where you can also learn more about the fund and its past work) and the campaign's GoFundMe page. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BKk9WDYF2o

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAfng2XlA-8

 

http://www.mtzionmemorialfund.org/p/blind-roosevelt-graves-was-moderately.html

 

https://www.gofundme.com/bluesgravesgulfport

 

Though I'm just a foot soldier for the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, I'll be glad to answer any questions anyone may have. If I don't have an answer I'll be glad to get it. I wish I had a photograph of Roosevelt to share, but unfortunately there is no known picture of him. 

 

Thanks to kidsmoke for allowing me to post this! And sorry this is so long. I wanted to provide as much information as possible.

[Analogman]

Fascinating and sad at the same time -

 

With what little I know about the blues guys - that seems to be a familiar story.

 

I have the following on my Amazon list: Worried Blues - Skip James, Furry Lewis, and R.L. Burnside.

[Boss_Tweedy]

I forgot to include that you can also keep up with our work at the MZMF's Facebook page: 

 

https://www.facebook.com/blackandbluescemeteries/

[kidsmoke]

Thanks for your commitment to this, Jon. Somewhere Roosevelt and his wife are smiling. You're done a great job telling his story, and I love all the synchronicity of your coming to volunteer in this cause! It really does seem like you were meant to play this role. All those connections!

Also, was the trip to the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, MS when you met Mavis Staples? Yet another serendipitous connection.

[Boss_Tweedy]

Thanks for your commitment to this, Jon. Somewhere Roosevelt and his wife are smiling. You're done a great job telling his story, and I love all the synchronicity of your coming to volunteer in this cause! It really does seem like you were meant to play this role. All those connections!

 

Also, was the trip to the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, MS when you met Mavis Staples? Yet another serendipitous connection.

 

It really is a labor of love for me, so I'm thrilled to do whatever I can to make the campaign's goal a reality. The people in Roosevelt's hometown community asked me if I had any trouble finding the church. I laughed and told them my dad was born and raised just down the road, and I spent quite a bit of time as a kid visiting family nearby. 

 

I actually met Mavis at the Grammy Museum the year before (in 2016) my presentation at the conference (2017). In 2016 she performed at the performing arts center at Delta State University, and I went up for the show. She had donated some of her father's items, including a guitar, for display in the museum. She was being given a tour by museum representatives when I ran into her (I was touring the museum at the same time). 

 

Thanks for your encouraging words and your support. It means a lot!

[Boss_Tweedy]

I know most people don't share my passion about this kind of thing, but I want to share the remarks given by the step-grandson of bluesman Bo Carter (of the Mississippi Sheiks) at the dedication of his grave marker in Nitta Yuma, Mississippi last summer. I'm also sharing a photo I took of Carter's grandson holding his grandfather's 1932 National Style N single cone resonator guitar. Our work isn't just for blues lovers who want gravesites to visit during pilgrimages. Whenever possible we involve family and community members in the entire process. I hope that offering a face to go with our story will generate more interest. We need your help to keep on keeping on!

 

https://youtu.be/BvgjR4Kq0AM

 

[Sir Stewart]

Thanks for sharing this story, it's fascinating. Best of luck with the fundraising.

[Boss_Tweedy]

Thanks for sharing this story, it's fascinating. Best of luck with the fundraising.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my incredibly lengthy post and for your feedback, Sir Stewart. Much appreciated.