Blind Joe Taggart Mother's Love (1928)

I do not own the copyright to this recording. This video is for historical and educational purposes. It's not known when or where Joel Taggart was born. Josh White met him in Greenville, SC. in the 1920's. White's description of Taggart was that he was "tricky, nasty, mean". White also stated that Taggart suffered from cataracts and could in fact "see a little". However White and Taggart became friends since they recorded together. Taggart made his debut recordings in late 1926 with a woman by the name of Emma, who was surmised to have been his wife, while others had him billed with James Taggart who may have been a brother or cousin. These eight sides made in New York City for Vocalion gave Taggart the honor of being the first African-American guitar evangelist to record. Taggart made two more recordings for Vocalion in the summer of 1927, before switching to Paramount the next year. Taggart made several recordings for Paramount between 1928 and 1931 in Chicago and Grafton, Wisconsin. His records were also released on other labels such as Broadway & Herwin. It was a common practice of the day that when artists recordings were issued on secondary labels, the labels had a habit of creating pseudonyms for them. So during the course of things, he was also billed as Blind Joe Amos, Blind Tim Russell, Blind Jeremiah Taylor & Blind Joe Donnel. Taggart made his final recordings for Decca recording four songs at a session in Chicago. Two were issued under his name while the other two were labeled as Blind Joe Taggart & Emma Taggart (another wife perhaps). Taggart wanted to also record blues, but none of his record labels would ever let him. He disappeared from the music scene altogether after his last session, and was never heard from again. The beauty about his entire discography is that he made 30 recordings in his life, and not one of them was unissued. Joel "Blind Joe" Taggart:Vocals & Guitar Probably Josh White:2nd Guitar & Vocals Unknown Female Vocal Recorded in Chicago, IL. c. December, 1928 Originally issued on Paramount 12744 & Herwin 93027 (78 RPM) (The Herwin issue is billed as Blind Jeremiah Taylor) This recording taken from the 1992 CD "The Greatest In Country Blues Vol. 2(1927-1936)"

Added 2 Apr 2026