How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live

Born blind on June 15, 1880, in Floyd, Virginia., Alfred Reed spent most of his life in Princeton and Hinton, West Virginia.
An accomplished musician and songwriter, Reed scraped together a living to provide for his wife and six children. playing at local dances, churches, and on street corners; he also gave music lessons and sold copies of his song lyrics.
Reed was discovered by Victor record executive Ralph Peer in 1927 on the same trip that turned up the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers.
On July 28, 1927, Reed recorded four sides in a makeshift studio set up in a former furniture store. After the famous Bristol sessions, Reed traveled to Camden, N.J., and New York City to record with his son, Arville Reed.
He went on to release 21 sides on the Victor label until his recording career was eventually cut short by the effects of the Great Depression.
Reed’s original songs are remarkable in their timelessness. The sentiments expressed in “You’ll Miss Me” could have been written today, while the sly humor of “Black & Blue Blues” and “Woman’s Been After Man Ever Since,” neither of which are politically correct by today’s standards, are undeniably clever.
Meanwhile, social commentaries like “Money Cravin’ Folks” and his most famous song, “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live,” remain relevant after nearly eight decades.
Because of his social commentary, which was somewhat uncommon then, some people today consider Reed an early "protest" singer.
After 1929, he stopped recording but continued to perform locally until 1937 when a statute was passed prohibiting blind street musicians. In 1956, Reed died, supposedly of starvation. He is buried in Elgood, West Virginia.
In 2007, Blind Alfred Reed was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. In 2020, Reed's song "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.