15 Facts About Scrapper Blackwell

Francis Hillman "Scrapper" Blackwell was an American blues guitarist and singer, best known as half of the guitar-piano duo he formed with Leroy Carr in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Scrapper Blackwell was a 2024 inductee to the Blues Hall of Fame.

Scrapper Blackwell was one of 16 children of Payton and Elizabeth Blackwell, and is reported to have been part Cherokee.

Scrapper Blackwell grew up in and spent most of his life in Indianapolis, Indiana, to which he moved at the age of three.

Scrapper Blackwell was given the nickname "Scrapper" by his grandmother, because of his fiery nature.

Scrapper Blackwell's father played the fiddle, but Blackwell was a self-taught guitarist, building his first guitar out of a cigar box, wood and wire.

Scrapper Blackwell learned to play the piano, occasionally performing professionally.

Scrapper Blackwell was known for being withdrawn and hard to work with, but he established a rapport with the pianist Leroy Carr, whom he met in Indianapolis in the mid-1920s, and they had a productive working relationship.

Scrapper Blackwell was dissatisfied with the lack of credit given his contributions with Carr; the situation was remedied by Vocalion's Mayo Williams after his 1931 breakaway: in all future recordings, Scrapper Blackwell and Carr received equal songwriting credits and equal status in recording contracts.

Scrapper Blackwell's last recording session with Carr was in February 1935, for Bluebird Records.

Two months later Scrapper Blackwell received a phone call informing him of Carr's death due to heavy drinking and nephritis.

Scrapper Blackwell soon recorded a tribute to his musical partner of seven years.

Scrapper Blackwell was recorded by Colin C Pomroy in June 1958.

Scrapper Blackwell was ready to resume his blues career, when he was shot and killed in a mugging in an Indianapolis alley, in October 1962 at the age of 59.

Scrapper Blackwell is buried in New Crown Hill Cemetery, in Indianapolis.