Alcide "Blind Uncle" Gaspard was a blind vocalist and guitarist from Louisiana who alternated between string-band music (in a band with his brothers) and traditional Cajun balladry on his recordings for Vocalion. Born in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana in 1880, he became blind when he was seven. Gaspard formed his first band with his brothers Victor and Amade. When he began recording in the late 1920s it was as a backing guitarist for fiddler Delma Lachney. He also recorded some solo selections during these sessions. Little else is known about Gaspard, though four of his sides (and a few of his appearances with Lachney) appear on the Yazoo compilation Early American Cajun Music released in 1999. Gaspard died in 1937.
Famous quotes containing the words blind and/or uncle:
“O never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“If Uncle Sam should ever sell that tract for one cent per acre, he will swindle the purchaser outrageously.”
—State of Utah, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)