Teddy Darby

Who was Teddy Darby?

Theodore Roosevelt Darby, better known as Blind Teddy Darby, was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Darby was born in Henderson, Kentucky. He moved to St. Louis with his family when he was a child. His mother taught him to play guitar. He served some time for selling moonshine, and in 1926 he lost his eyesight because of glaucoma.

He recorded from 1929 until 1937 under the names of "Blind Teddy Darby", "Blind Darby", "Blind Blues Darby" and "Blind Squire Turner" for the Paramount, Victor, Bluebird, Vocalion and Decca labels. In 1960 he was "rediscovered" and recorded by Pete Welding of Testament Records, yet the recordings from this session were never released.

In the late 1930s he gave up the blues and became an ordained deacon.

His song "Built Right On The Ground" has been covered, from the 1970s onwards, by John Miller, Roy Book Binder, Howard Bursen, and Phil Heywood.