Wet Biscuit McGlee

Transracialism

At a very young age, McGlee came to realize that we was, in fact, a black man trapped inside a white scotsman's body. This realization helped carve the path he would follow later in life.

In school, his early studies included the American civil war, its causes, and its effects. Something in him resonated with the lives and culture of the former slaves. He began studying them in earnest whenever possible. He read the poetry of James Watkins and other former slaves and learned many slave spirituals, including his favorite, Steal Away. He wrote, in a letter to his parents, that "Steal Away had meaning to me much as it did to the American slave, calling me to America to be the man I really am -- a black man."

It was this same feeling of transracialism that led him to the blues and its soulful harmonies. Interestingly, McGlee never actually met a black man until he arrived in the United States in the late 1920's. When he did, however, he was immediately accepted thanks in large part to his skill as a bluesman. McGlee quickly immersed himself in the culture of black America, becoming the man -- the bluesman -- he always knew he was.

The Birth of Scottish Blues

Wet Biscuit McGlee was born Seamus Aonghus Padraig Fearghus McGlee on May 8, 1909 in the town of Ayr on the West coast of Scotland.

McGlee's family were poor, but what they lacked in money they made up for with music. The McGlee family sang with the choir at the Ayr Free Church through much of his childhood. McGlee's father also played the bagpipes in a local popular music band, spending many evenings performing in local pubs until the wee hours of the morning.

McGlee worked as a stable boy at the Ayr Racecourse beginning sometime around 1916 and continuing until he left Ayr in 1925. Those years spent mucking out stalls and brushing horses helped lead him to the blues. He said that the care and encouragement given him by the owners and wealthy patrons of the racecourse gave him a sense of kinship with American slaves. During this time, McGlee dreamt of visiting America to follow his dream of becoming a musician.