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Sonny Boy Williamson was, in many ways, the ultimate blues legend. By the time of his death in 1965, In Helena, AR, he had been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Robbie Robertson at the end of it. In between, he drank a lot of whiskey, hoboed around the country, had a successful radio show for 15 years, toured Europe to great acclaim and simply wrote, played and sang some of the greatest blues ever etched into black phonograph records. His delivery was sly, evil and world-weary, while his harp-playing was full of short, rhythmic bursts one minute and powerful, impassioned blowing the next. His songs were chock-full of mordant wit, with largely autobiographical lyrics that hold up to the scrutiny of the printed page. Though he took his namesake from another well-known harmonica player, no one really sounded like him.
A moody, bitter, and suspicious man, no one wove such a confusing web of misinformation as Sonny Boy Williamson II. Even his birth date (stated as December 5, 1899 in most reference books, but some sources claim his birth may have been in either 1897 or 1909) and real name (Aleck or Alex or Willie "Rice" � which may or may not be a nickname � Miller or Ford) cannot be verified with absolute certainty. Of his childhood days in Mississippi, absolutely nothing is known. What is known is that by the mid-'30s, he was traveling the Delta working under the alias of Little Boy Blue. With blues legends like Robert Johnson, Robert Nighthawk, Robert Jr. Lockwood, and Elmore James as interchangeable playing partners, he worked the juke joints, fish fries, country suppers and ballgames of the era. By the early '40s, he was the star of KFFA's King Biscuit Time, the first live blues radio show to hit the American airwaves. As one of the major ruses to occur in blues history, his sponsor � the Interstate Grocery Company � felt they could push more sacks of their King Biscuit Flour with Miller posing as Chicago harmonica star John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. In today's everybody-knows-everything video age, it's hard to think that such an idea would work, much less prosper. After all, the real Sonny Boy was a national recording star, and Miller's vocal and harmonica style was in no way derivative of him. But Williamson had no desire to tour in the South, so prosper it did, and when John Lee was murdered in Chicago, Miller became � in his own words � "the original Sonny Boy." Among his fellow musicians, he was usually still referred to as Rice Miller, but to the rest of the world he did, indeed, become the Sonny Boy Williamson.
The show was an immediate hit, prompting IGC to introduce Sonny Boy Corn Meal, complete with a likeness of Williamson on the front of the package. With all this local success, however, Sonny Boy was not particularly anxious to record. Though he often claimed in his twilight years that he had recorded in the '30s, no evidence of that appears to have existed. Lillian McMurray, the owner of Trumpet Records in Jackson, MS, had literally tracked him down to a boarding house in nearby Belzoni and enticed him to record for her. The music Sonny Boy made for her between 1951 to 1954 show him in peak form, his vocal, instrumental, and songwriting skills honed to perfection. Williamson struck paydirt on his first Trumpet release, "Eyesight to the Blind" and though the later production on his Chess records would make the Trumpet sides seem woefully under-recorded by comparison, they nonetheless stand today as classic performances, capturing juke joint blues in one of its finest hours.
Another major contribution to the history of the blues occurred when Sonny Boy brought King Biscuit Time guest star Elmore James into the studio for a session. With Williamson blowing harp, a drummer keeping time, and the tape machine running surreptitiously, Elmore recorded the first version of what would become his signature tune, Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom." By this time Sonny Boy had divorced his first wife (who also happened to be Howlin' Wolf's sister) and married Mattie Gordon. This would prove to be the longest and most enduring relationship of his life outside of music, with Mattie putting up with the man's rambling ways, and living a life of general rootlessness in the bargain. On two different occasions Sonny Boy moved to Detroit, taking up residence in the Baby Boy Warren band for brief periods, and contributed earth-shattering solos on Warren sides for Blue Lake and Excello in 1954.
By early 1955, after leasing a single to Johnny Vincent's Ace label, McMurray had sold Williamson's contract to Buster Williams in Memphis, who in turn sold it to Leonard Chess in Chicago. All the pieces were finally tumbling into place, and Sonny Boy finally had a reason to take up permanent residence north of the Mason-Dixon line; he now was officially a Chess recording artist. His first session for Chess took place on August 12, 1955, and the single pulled from it, "Don't Start Me to Talkin'," started doing brisk business on the R&B charts. By his second session for the label, he was reunited with longtime musical partner Robert Jr. Lockwood. Lockwood � who had been one of the original King Biscuit Boys � had become de facto house guitarist for Chess, as well as moonlighting for other Chicago labels. With Lockwood's combination of Robert Johnson rhythms and jazz chord embellishments, Williamson's harp and parched vocals sounded fresher than ever and Lockwood's contributions to the success of Sonny Boy's Chess recordings cannot be overestimated.
For a national recording artist, Williamson had a remarkable penchant for pulling a disappearing act for months at a time. Sometimes, when Chicago bookings got too lean, he would head back to Arkansas, fronting the King Biscuit radio show for brief periods. But in 1963 he was headed to Europe for the first time, as part of the American Folk Blues Festival. The folk music boom was in full swing and Europeans were bringing over blues artists, both in and past their prime, to face wildly appreciative white audiences for the first time. Sonny Boy unleashed his bag of tricks and stole the show every night. He loved Europe and stayed behind in Britain when the tour headed home. He started working the teenage beat club circuit, touring and recording with the Yardbirds and Eric Burdon's band, whom he always referred to as "de Mammimals." On the folk-blues tours, Sonny Boy would be very dignified and laid-back. But in the beat club setting, with young, white bands playing on eleven behind him, he'd pull out every juke joint trick he used with the King Biscuit Boys and drive the kids nuts. "Help Me" became a surprise hit in Britain and across Europe. Then in his mid-'60s (or possibly older), Williamson was truly appreciative of all the attention, and contemplated moving to Europe permanently. But after getting a harlequin, two-tone, city gentleman's suit (complete with bowler hat, rolled umbrella and attach� case full of harmonicas) made up for himself, he headed back to the States � and the Chess studios � for some final sessions. When he returned to England in 1964, it was as a conquering hero. One of his final recordings, with Jimmy Page on guitar, was entitled "I'm Trying to Make London My Home."
In 1965, he headed home, back to Mississippi one last time, and took over the King Biscuit show again. Still wearing his custom-made suit, he regaled the locals with stories of his travels across Europe. Some were impressed, others who had known him for years felt he could have just as well substituted the name "Mars" for Europe in explaining his exploits, so used were they to Sonny Boy's tall tales. But after hoboing his way around the United States for thirty-odd years, and playing to appreciative audiences throughout Europe, Sonny Boy had a perfectly good reason for returning to the Delta; he had come home to die. He would enlist the help of old friends like Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis to take him around to all the back-road spots he had seen as a boy, sometimes paying his respects to old friends, other days just whiling away an afternoon on the banks of a river fishing.
When Ronnie Hawkins' ex-bandmates, the Hawks, were playing in the area, they made a special point of seeking out Sonny Boy and spent an entire evening backing him up in a juke joint. All through the night, Williamson kept spitting into a coffee can beside him. When Robbie Robertson got up to leave the bandstand during a break, he noticed the can was filled with blood. On May 25, 1965, Curtis and Stackhouse were waiting at the KFFA studios for Sonny Boy to do the daily King Biscuit broadcast. When Williamson didn't show, Curtis left the station and headed to the rooming house where Sonny Boy was staying, only to find him lying in bed, dead of an apparent heart attack. He was buried in the Whitfield Cemetery in Tutwiler, MS, and his funeral was well-attended. As Houston Stackhouse said, "He was well thought of through that country." He was elected to the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980.
-- Cub Koda of All Music Guide.
01. Don't Start Me To Talking 02. I Don't Know 03. All My Love In Vain 04. The Key (to your door) 05. Keep It To Yourself 06. Dissatisfied |
07. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 08. Wake Up Baby 09. Your Funeral And My Trial 10. Ninety Nine 11. Cross My Broken Heart 12. Let Me Explain |
01. The Skies Are Crying 02. Your Funeral And My Trial 03. Explain Yourself To Me 04. Nine Below Zero |
05. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 06. My One Room Cabin 07. Getting Out Of Town |
01. Don't Start Me To Talking 02. I Don't Know 03. All My Love In Vain 04. The Key (to your door) 05. Keep It To Yourself 06. Dissatisfied 07. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 08. Wake Up Baby 09. Your Funeral And My Trial 10. Ninety Nine 11. Cross My Heart 12. Let Me Explain |
13. One Way Out 14. Too Young To Die 15. Trust My Baby 16. Checking Up On My Baby 17. Sad To Be Alone 18. Got To Move 19. Bring It On Home 20. Down Child 21. Peach Tree 22. Dissatisfied 23. That's All I Want 24. Too Old To Think |
01. Eyesight To The Blind 02. Crazy About You Baby 03. Cool Cool Blues 04. Do It If You Wanta 05. Stop Crying 06. Come On Back Home 07. West Memphis Blues 08. Pontiac Blues 09. Nine Below Zero 10. Mighty Long Time 11. Mr. Down Child 12. Stop Now Baby 13. She Brought Life Back To The Dead 14. Sonny's Rhythm 15. City Of New Orleans 16. Red Hot Kisses 17. Going In Your Direction 18. Empty Bedroom 19. Shucking Mama 20. I Ain't Begging Nobody 21. No Nights By Myself 22. From The Bottom |
23. Don't Start Me To Talking 24. All My Love In Vain 25. Good Evening Everybody 26. You Killing Me (on my feet) 27. Your Imagination 28. Let Me Explain 29. I Wonder Why 30. I Know What Love Is All About 31. The Key (to your door) 32. Keep It To Yourself 33. Please Forgive 34. Have You Ever Been In Love 35. Hurts Me So Much 36. I Don't Know 37. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 38. The Wolf 39. This Is My Apartment 40. Born Blind 41. Cross My Heart 42. Ninety Nine 43. Dissatisfied 44. Unseen Eye |
01. Help Me 02. Bye Bye Bird 03. Nine Below Zero 04. The Hunt 05. Stop Right Now 06. She's My Baby |
07. The Goat 08. Decoration Day 09. Trying To Get Back On My Feet 10. My Younger Days 11. Close To Me 12. Somebody Help Me |
01. Bye Bye Bird 02. Mr. Downchild 03. 23 Hours Too Long 04. Out Of The Water Coast 05. Baby Don't Worry 06. Pontiac Blues 07. Take It Easy Baby (version 1) 08. I Don't Care No More |
09. Do The Weston 10. The River Rhine 11. A Lost Care 12. Western Arizona 13. Take It Easy Baby (version 2) 14. Slow Walk 15. Highway 69 16. Hey Little Cabin |
01. Do It If You Wanna 02. Cool Cool Blues 03. Come On Back Home 04. Stop Crying 05. Eyesight To The Blind 06. West Memphis Blues 07. I Cross My Heart 08. Crazy About You Baby 09. Nine Below Zero 10. Mighty Long Time 11. She Brought Life Back To The Dead |
12. Stop Now Baby 13. Mr. Downchild 14. Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues 15. Pontiac Blues 16. Too Close Together 17. V-8 Ford 18. Stormy Monday 19. Right Now 20. Come Go With Me 21. Dust My Broom |
01. One Way Out 02. Don't Lose Your Eye 03. Keep It To Yourself 04. Sad To Be Alone 05. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide 06. I Wonder Why 07. I Never Do Wrong 08. I Don't Know 09. Don't Start Me To Talking 10. Bring It On Home 11. Key To Your Door 12. Cross My Heart 13. Let Me Explain 14. Stop Crying |
15. All My Love In Vain 16. Help Me 17. Nine Below Zero 18. Got To Move 19. She Got Next To Me 20. Born Blind 21. I Can't Be Alone 22. Keep Your Hand Out Of My Pocket 23. Too Close Together 24. Understand My Life 25. Like Wolf 26. Ninety Nine 27. Santa Claus 28. Your Imagination |
01. Born Blind 02. Work With Me 03. You Killing Me 04. Keep It To Yourself 05. Don't Lose Your Eye 06. Good Evening Everybody 07. Too Close Together 08. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide |
09. I Wonder Why 10. This Is My Apartment 11. One Way Out 12. Like Wolf 13. Have You Ever Been In Love 14. Cool Disposition 15. I Know What Love Is All About |
01. She's Crazy 02. 309 03. Sonny's Rhythm 04. City Of New Orleans 05. Keep It To Yourself 06. Shucking Mama 07. I'm Not Begging Nobody 08. Clowning With The World |
09. Take It Easy Baby 10. Little Car Blues 11. V-8 Ford 12. Nelson Street Blues 13. Falling Rain 14. Feed My Body To The Fishes 15. Worried Blues 16. Lonesome World Blues |
01. Good Evening Everybody 02. Don't Start Me To Talking 03. All My Love In Vain 04. You Killing Me 05. Let Me Explain 06. Your Imagination 07. Don't Lose Your Eye 08. Keep It To Yourself 09. The Key (to your door) 10. Have You Ever Been In Love 11. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 12. I Don't Know 13. Like Wolf 14. Cross My Heart 15. Ninety Nine 16. Born Blind 17. Little Village 18. Unseen Eye 19. Your Funeral And My Trial 20. Keep Your Hands Out Of My Pocket 21. Unseeing Eye 22. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide 23. The Goat |
24. Cool Disposition 25. Santa Claus 26. Checking Up On My Baby 27. Temperature 110 28. Lonesome Cabin 29. Somebody Help Me 30. Down Child 31. Trust My Baby 32. Too Close Together 33. Too Young To Die 34. She's My Baby 35. Stop Right Now 36. Too Old To think 37. One Way Out 38. Nine Below Zero 39. Help Me 40. Bye Bye Bird 41. Bring It On Home 42. Decoration Day 43. Trying To Get back On My Feet 44. Close To Me 45. I Can't Be Alone |
01. Good Evening Everybody 02. Don't Start Me To Talking 03. All My Love In Vain 04. Keep It To Yourself 05. Fattening Frogs For Snakes 06. I Don't Know 07. Cross My Heart 08. Born Blind 09. Ninety Nine 10. Your Funeral And My Trial |
11. Keep Your Hands Out Of My pocket 12. Sad To Be Alone 13. Checking Up On My Baby 14. Down Child 15. Nine Below Zero 16. Bye Bye Bird 17. Help Me 18. Bring It On Home 19. My Younger Days 20. One Way Out |
01. Crazy 'Bout You Baby 02. Eyesight To The Blind 03. Stop Crying 04. Do It If You Wanna 05. Cool, Cool Blues 06. Come On Back Home 07. Cross My Heart 08. Pontiac Blues 09. West Memphis Blues 10. Mighty Long Time 11. Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues 12. Nine Below Zero 13. Too Close Together |
14. Mr. Downchild 15. Stop Now Baby 16. Cat Hop 17. City Of New Orleans 18. She's Crazy 19. Keep It To Yourself 20. Sonny's Rhythm 21. 309 22. Dust My Broom 23. Catfish Blues 24. Gotta Find My Baby 25. Make A Little Love |