Hi All,
Tomorrow evening the Sunday Feature on Radio Three is Blind Black and
Blue, about blind black blues musicians who rose to fame last century.
Apart from hopefully being of interest anyway, it's also worth knowing
that it was made entirely by blind people. The presenter, Gary
O'Donoghue, the blind journalist, had the idea for the programme. The
producer is Lee Kumutat, known for In Touch and Money Box among other
things, and I was the sound engineer.
Below is an article about the programme from last week's Sunday Times.
Best,
Peter
Sunday Times: Sightless BBC team leads salute to blind blues stars
Pic of Gary in suit outside NBH with caption "Gary O’Donoghue, the BBC’s
Washington correspondent, is a blues fan who plays the guitar"
When Gary O’Donoghue joined the BBC 25 years ago, after doing work
experience in the broadcaster’s braille department, he was told that he
would never become a reporter because he was blind.
He proved his doubters wrong, however, as BBC viewers know well,
becoming the broadcaster’s Washington correspondent. Next Sunday, he
will present a radio programme about blind musicians, made by a team
that includes blind members.
The Radio 3 documentary — Blind, Black and Blue — explores the successes
and struggles of blind American blues musicians and singers from the
southern states in the first half of last century. His producer, Lee
Kumutat, who went with him to America for the programme, is also blind,
as is the sound engineer, Peter Bosher.
O’Donoghue, a blues fan who plays the guitar, first suggested the idea a
decade ago but says it was then turned down.
O’Donoghue has seen attitudes towards disability change in the past
decade, while he has been helped by technological advances. “It’s a
generational thing. I would also say public opinion towards blindness is
further advanced than [the attitude] of some editors at the BBC. When I
was working in the UK, people in the street regularly came up to say how
much they liked my work.”
The documentary looks at musicians such as Blind Willie Johnson, Blind
Boy Fuller and the Rev Gary Davis, who influenced Bob Dylan.
“Opportunities for blind people in the South were very limited,” said
O’Donoghue. “Some simply took to playing the banjo or guitar on the
streets to earn some money. A few were taken on by recording companies
and became big names.”
