Guitar Rag (Sylvester Weaver) cover by Messihippi

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On October 23, 1923, Sylvester Weaver recorded two numbers in New York with Sara Martin and two weeks later, as a soloist, laid down "Guitar Blues" and "Guitar Rag". These recordings are the very first country-blues recordings and the first known recorded songs using slide guitar. "Guitar Rag" (played on a Guitjo with a knife) became a blues classic and was covered in the 1930s by Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys as "Steel Guitar Rag" and became a western swing standard too.

Weaver recorded until 1927 - about 50 additional songs - though moderately successful, he then retired and went back to Louisville until his death in 1960. Though many country blues artists enjoyed a revival from the 1950s on, Weaver died almost forgotten.

I'm playing here in vestapol tuning on Vlad, my modified Chinese resonator guitar.