October 24, 1911 – Birthdate of African American Blues Master Sonny Terry

Blues harmonica master Sonny Terry was born on October 24, 1911.

He lost his eyesight by the time he was 16 and began performing on street corners for tips. Later he played not only with guitarist Brownie McGhee, but also folk stars such as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger. Terry tells the story that once, in the 1940’s, he went to Baltimore with Woody Guthrie to do a union concert. After the concert there was a big dinner, but when the band walked in, they were told that the black band members could not be served:  “Woody say, ‘You mean, goddamnit, you can’t serve these boys in here after they played for you all this evening? And now we can’t eat together?’ They say, ‘No. We can’t serve them here.’ Woody told us to meet him out front in a few minute, so we left. Then he tore that place up, turned every table over. Food all over the floor. Then he said, “you goddamn sons of bitches can pay for all this yourselves. If we can’t eat, nobody’s gonna eat!’ Yeah, Woody was an all-right cat.” So was Sonny Terry. Terry passed away in 1986, the year he was inducted into the Blues Foundations Hall of Fame.

You can listen to him on youtube, as in this video: