"We are not sure whether Roosevelt Graves plays the guitar and his brother the tambourine, or vice-versa; the first choice seems more likely. It is presumed that Roosevelt is the lead voice and Uaroy the second, heard in refrains, etc. We have no definite evidence that the composition of the Mississippi Jook Band is as shown, but our hypothesized personnel seems to be the most likely one. It is based on aural evidence and on a spoken encouragement directed to the piano player which mentions what sounds like the name 'Cooney'." (Blues and gospel records 1890-1943 (1997), p. 323)
More detail:
Le Moise Roosevelt Graves (b. December 9, 1909 in Rose Hill, MS, d. December 30, 1962 in Gulfport, MS), credited as Blind Roosevelt Graves, was a blues guitarist and singer, who recorded both sacred and secular music in the 1920s and 1930s.
Roosevelt Graves was born in either Rose Hill or Summerland, Mississippi. On all his recordings, he played with his brother Uaroy Graves (c. 1912 – c. 1959), who was also nearly blind and played the tambourine. They were credited as "Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother". Their first recordings were made in 1929 for Paramount Records. Theirs is the earliest version recorded of "Guitar Boogie", and they exemplified the best in gospel singing with "I'll Be Rested". Blues researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow has suggested that their 1929 recording "Crazy About My Baby" "could be considered the first rock 'n' roll recording." In July 1936, they were located by the talent broker H. C. Speir, who arranged for them to record in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, according to some sources at the train station, although Speir later told Wardlow that the recordings took place in a temporary studio, in the Hotel Hattiesburg, at Mobile Street and Pine Street. For the session, they were joined by the local piano player Cooney Vaughn, who performed weekly on radio station WCOC in Meridian prior to World War II. The trio were billed on record as the Mississippi Jook Band. In all, they recorded four tracks at Hattiesburg for the American Record Corporation – "Barbecue Bust", "Hittin' The Bottle Stomp", "Dangerous Woman" and "Skippy Whippy". According to the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, these "...featured fully formed rock & roll guitar riffs and a stomping rock & roll beat". The Graves Brothers did not record again. After the war, Roosevelt Graves is thought to have moved to Gulfport, Mississippi. Following a heart attack, Graves died December 30, 1962, at age 54 in Gulfport Memorial Hospital and was interred without a headstone in the old Mississippi City Cemetery. For a number of years, the subject of Uaroy's identity was disputed. In several books, magazine articles, and album liner notes that mentioned the Graves brothers, the names "Aaron" or "Leroy" were substituted for Uaroy, on the assumption that the otherwise unknown name Uaroy must have arisen due to the poor penmanship of a recording company employee whose handwritten notes were misinterpreted. This controversy was put to rest in 2004, when photographic copies of the Paramount files were posted to the internet, and it could clearly be seen that the person who wrote up the recording session notes had written in a careful, almost printed hand, "Uaroy Graves."
In October 2008, the recordings by the Graves brothers and the Mississippi Jook Band, and others who recorded in Hattiesburg, were commemorated by a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail, established to preserve the state's musical heritage.
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By Ron Wynn
Blind Roosevelt Graves was a Mississippi guitarist and singer who mixed secular and sacred material and cut some entertaining, celebratory party tunes as well as reverential spirituals in the '20s and '30s. He played with pianists Will Ezell and Cooney Vaughn, clarinetist Baby Jay. Graves was also a member of the Mississippi Jook Band, along with his brother -- singer and tambourine player Uaroy Graves -- and Vaughn.
Very few biographical details of Blind Roosevelt Graves' life are known. He and his brother Uaroy began playing juke joints in the Mississippi Delta in the early '20s. In 1929, the two brothers cut a number of sides for the Paramount and American Record Companies, which all appeared under Blind Roosevelt's name. They would continue to record until 1936. In the mid-'30s, the pair formed the Mississippi Jook Band with pianist Cooney Vaughn. The band recorded for the American Record Company in the mid- and late '30s.
After leaving behind this handful of recordings, Graves disappeared in the early '40s. It is not known where he settled, nor is his death date known.