Blind Alfred Reed Born:  June 15, 1880 Died:  January 17, 1956 West Virgnia Music Hall of Fame (2007)

About The Artist Alfred Reed was another resident of southern West Virginia who made notable contributions to the early years of country music. A native of Floyd, Virginia and blind from birth, Reed lived most of his life in Mercer County, West Virginia. He proved to be an excellent but archaic styled fiddler and composer of some of the best original songs in the 1920s. The songs included comments and observations on changing times such as "Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls" and "How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live." Although poor, Reed and his wife managed to rear six children on his meager income from music. A train wreck on the Virginian Railway in May 1927 inspired Reed to compose a ballad and he contacted the Victor Talking Machine Company. They invited him to their upcoming field sessions in Bristol, Tennessee where he recorded "The Wreck of the Virginian" and three other numbers, on all but one of which his driver Arthur Wyrick also played rhythm guitar. That December he, son Arville, and Fred Pendleton went to the Victor studio in Camden, New Jersey. Only Arville (mistakenly called Oville on record labels) accompanied his father on discs, but the son did one song by himself, and he and Fred did two numbers as the West Virginia Night Owls. Nearly two more years elapsed before the father and son returned to record one final time. After that, the deepening depression ended his recording career. His wife died in 1938. By the 1940s, he seldom played at all. He died at nearly 76. When I (Ivan Tribe) started work on Mountainer Jamboree, three of his children separately contacted me to be sure than their father's contributions would be included (they were!) Almost all of his nineteen songs are classics of old time music. Credits & Sources Hillbilly-Music.com would like to express its thanks to Ivan M. Tribe, author of Mountaineer Jamboree — Country Music in West Virginia and other books that can be found on Amazon.com and numerous articles in other publications for providing us with information about this artist.

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Recordings (78rpm/45rpm)   Bluebird Rec. No. Side Song Title   5882 A Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down   5882 B There'll Be No Distinction There (w/Orville Reed)   Victor Rec. No. Side Song Title   20836 A Wreck Of The Virginian   20836 B Walking In The Way With Jesus   20939 A You Must Unload   20939 B I Mean To Love For Jesus   21191 A Explosion In The Fairmont Mines   21191 B The Prayer Of The Drunkard's Little Child   21360 A Always Life Him Up And Never Knock Him Down   21360 B Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls   21533 A The Fate of Chris Lively And Wife   21533 B I'm Goin' To Walk On The Streets of Glory (By West Virginia Night Owls)   23550 A Beware (w/Orville Reed)   23550 B There'll Be No Distinction There   23650 A The Old Fashioned Cottage   23650 B You'll Miss Me   40196 B Woman's Been After Man Ever Since   40196 B Why Don't You Bob Your Hair, Girls? No.2   40236 A How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times?   40236 A How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live   40236 B Money Cravin' Folks   40236 B Money Craving Folks   40290 A We've Just Got To Have 'Em That's All   40290 A Black And Blue Blues   40290 B We've Got To Have'em, That's All   40290 B Black And Blue Blues