Le Moise Roosevelt Graves, known professionally as Blind Roosevelt Graves, was born on December 9, 1909, in either Rose Hill or Summerland, Mississippi. He was an American blues guitarist and singer who recorded both sacred and secular music in the 1920s and 1930s. His first recordings were made in 1929 for Paramount Records with his brother Uaroy Graves, who played the tambourine. Credited as Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother, they are noted for their early version of "Guitar Boogie" and gospel singing with "I'll Be Rested." In July 1936, they recorded four tracks in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, billed as the Mississippi Jook Band: "Barbecue Bust," "Hittin' the Bottle Stomp," "Dangerous Woman," and "Skippy Whippy." According to the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, these recordings featured fully formed rock & roll guitar riffs and a stomping beat. Roosevelt Graves died on December 30, 1962, at age 53 in Gulfport Memorial Hospital following a heart attack.
