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| Dixie Fried Music |
JOHN LEE "SONNY BOY" WILLIAMSON (1914-1948)
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was born in southwest Madison County on March 30, 1914, to Ray Williamson and
Nancy Utley. John Lee's father died when he was a baby, and he was reared by his mother. At age eleven, he received
his first harmonica as a Christmas gift form his mother. According to his half-brother, T. W. Utley, when he was not
chopping cotton, milking cows, or doing other farm chores, he was teaching himself to play the harmonica by listening
to and playing along with records on an old wind-up record player. By the time he was sixteen, Williamson was
jamming around Tennessee and Arkansas with guitarist "Sleepy John" Estes and mandolin demon James "Yank"
Rachell.
In 1934, Williamson moved to Chicago, where a thriving blues scene was in full swing. An experienced artist, he
immediately made his imprint, first as a much-recruited accompanist and, when he began to play his own
compositions, as a much-sought-after headliner. Three years after he moved to the "Windy City," Williamson made his
first recording, Good Morning, Little School, for Victor's subsidiary Bluebird label. This recording introduced his
unusual, individualistic, and widely influential instrumental style of "squeezed" notes and "crossed-harp" playing--his
distinctive style was imitated by many other musicians. From 1937 to 1945, Williamson recorded for the Bluebird label,
sharing many sessions with guitarist Big Joe Williams. From 1945 to 1947, he recorded on the Victor label. When he
started recording in 1937, he still maintained his southern roots. With his distinctive vocal style and fluent harp, he
sounded like a country boy. "He played with all the rhythmic subtlety of the best country blues, slurring and wailing the
harp notes, making the harmonica almost a single entity....But gradually the rural sound changed, as if the country boy
was wising up to city ways," wrote Giles Oakley, author of The Devil's Music: A History of the blues.
recording sessions to silence the sound of his feet keeping time to the beat. Pete Welding, on Blues Classic's
recording sessions to silence the sound of his feet keeping time to the beat. Pete Welding, on Blues Classic's Album
21, described Williamson as "a forceful singer, popular recording artist, and the first truly virtuoso blues harmonica
player, whose rich, imaginative solo flights resulted in completely re-shaping the playing approach and the role of his
humble instrument in the blues." Many of his songs are considered today as blues classics.
and the role of his humble instrument in the blues." Many of his songs are considered today as blues classics.
In the wee hours of the morning, on June 1, 1948, the blues
world lost one of its most influential harmonica players when
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was beaten to death as he
left one of Chicago's nightclubs. In keeping with the lyrics he
often sung in life, "Now I want to bury my body, 'way down in
Jackson, Tennessee," Williamson's body was conveyed to
the city of his birth. For forty-two years, his body rested in an
unmarked grave, sheltered by the deep shadows of the
Jackson woods and covered with a verdant blanket of kudzu.
On June 1, 1990, city officials, family members, friends,
recording executives, and blues enthusiasts gathered to
celebrate "John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson Day" and to
dedicate a Tennessee historical marker, placed on
Tennessee Highway 18 and Caldwell Road, near the site
of the musician's birthplace. RCA Records, whose corporate
history includes the Bluebird and Victor labels on which
Williamson became famous, presented a rose granite
gravestone to mark the resting place of the forgotten blues
great. Since 1937, Williamson's first commercial recording, Good Morning, Little School Girl, has been recorded
numerous times by artists who include The Grateful Dead and Canned Heat.
Linda T. Wynn
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was born in southwest Madison County on March 30, 1914, to Ray Williamson and
Nancy Utley. John Lee's father died when he was a baby, and he was reared by his mother. At age eleven, he received
his first harmonica as a Christmas gift form his mother. According to his half-brother, T. W. Utley, when he was not
chopping cotton, milking cows, or doing other farm chores, he was teaching himself to play the harmonica by listening
to and playing along with records on an old wind-up record player. By the time he was sixteen, Williamson was
jamming around Tennessee and Arkansas with guitarist "Sleepy John" Estes and mandolin demon James "Yank"
Rachell.
In 1934, Williamson moved to Chicago, where a thriving blues scene was in full swing. An experienced artist, he
immediately made his imprint, first as a much-recruited accompanist and, when he began to play his own
compositions, as a much-sought-after headliner. Three years after he moved to the "Windy City," Williamson made his
first recording, Good Morning, Little School, for Victor's subsidiary Bluebird label. This recording introduced his
unusual, individualistic, and widely influential instrumental style of "squeezed" notes and "crossed-harp" playing--his
distinctive style was imitated by many other musicians. From 1937 to 1945, Williamson recorded for the Bluebird label,
sharing many sessions with guitarist Big Joe Williams. From 1945 to 1947, he recorded on the Victor label. When he
started recording in 1937, he still maintained his southern roots. With his distinctive vocal style and fluent harp, he
sounded like a country boy. "He played with all the rhythmic subtlety of the best country blues, slurring and wailing the
harp notes, making the harmonica almost a single entity....But gradually the rural sound changed, as if the country boy
was wising up to city ways," wrote Giles Oakley, author of The Devil's Music: A History of the blues.
recording sessions to silence the sound of his feet keeping time to the beat. Pete Welding, on Blues Classic's
recording sessions to silence the sound of his feet keeping time to the beat. Pete Welding, on Blues Classic's Album
21, described Williamson as "a forceful singer, popular recording artist, and the first truly virtuoso blues harmonica
player, whose rich, imaginative solo flights resulted in completely re-shaping the playing approach and the role of his
humble instrument in the blues." Many of his songs are considered today as blues classics.
and the role of his humble instrument in the blues." Many of his songs are considered today as blues classics.
In the wee hours of the morning, on June 1, 1948, the blues
world lost one of its most influential harmonica players when
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was beaten to death as he
left one of Chicago's nightclubs. In keeping with the lyrics he
often sung in life, "Now I want to bury my body, 'way down in
Jackson, Tennessee," Williamson's body was conveyed to
the city of his birth. For forty-two years, his body rested in an
unmarked grave, sheltered by the deep shadows of the
Jackson woods and covered with a verdant blanket of kudzu.
On June 1, 1990, city officials, family members, friends,
recording executives, and blues enthusiasts gathered to
celebrate "John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson Day" and to
dedicate a Tennessee historical marker, placed on
Tennessee Highway 18 and Caldwell Road, near the site
of the musician's birthplace. RCA Records, whose corporate
history includes the Bluebird and Victor labels on which
Williamson became famous, presented a rose granite
gravestone to mark the resting place of the forgotten blues
great. Since 1937, Williamson's first commercial recording, Good Morning, Little School Girl, has been recorded
numerous times by artists who include The Grateful Dead and Canned Heat.
Linda T. Wynn
He was born near Jackson, Tennessee in 1914.
His original harmonica recordings were considered to be in the country blues style, but he soon demonstrated skill at
making harmonica a lead instrument for the blues, and popularized the instrument for the first time in a more urban
blues setting. He has been called "the father of modern blues harp".
His very first recording, "Good Morning, School Girl", was a major hit on the 'race records' market in 1937. He was
hugely popular among black audiences throughout the whole southern U.S. as well as in the midwestern industrial
cities such as Detroit and his home base in Chicago, and his name was synonymous with the blues harmonica for
the next decade. Other well-known recordings of his include "Shake the Boogie", "You Better Cut that Out", "Sloppy
Drunk", and "Early in the Morning". Williamson's style influenced a large number of blues harmonica performers,
including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor among many others. He was
easily the most widely heard and influential blues harmonica player of his generation. His music was also influential
on many of his non-harmonica playing contemporaries and successors, including Muddy Waters (who had played
with Williamson in the mid-1940s) and Jimmy Rogers (whose first recording in 1946 was as a harmonica player,
performing an uncanny imitation of Williamson's style); Rogers later recorded Williamson's songs "My Little Machine"
and "Sloppy Drunk" on Chess, and Waters recorded "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" in September 1963 for his
Chess LP Folk Singer and again in the 70s when he moved to Johnny Winter's Blue Sky label on CBS.
He was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller, who was based in
Helena, Arkansas, began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. John Lee is said to have objected to this,
though no legal action took place, possibly due to the fact that Miller did not release any records during Williamson's
lifetime, and that Williamson played mainly around the Chicago area, and Miller seldom ventured beyond the
Mississippi delta region until after Williamson's death.
Williamson recorded prolifically both as a bandleader and a sideman over the entire course of his career, mainly for
the Bluebird record label, with many early sessions taking place in the ballroom on the top floor of the Leland Hotel in
Aurora, Illinois; most later sessions were recorded in Chicago. His final recording session took place in December
1947, backing Big Joe Williams. On June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson was killed in a mugging on Chicago's South
Side, as he walked home from his final performance at The Plantation Club at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern just a
block and a half away from his home at 3226 S. Giles. Williamson's final words are reported to have been Lord have
mercy.
His legacy has been overshadowed in the post-war blues era by the popularity of the musician who appropriated his
name, Rice Miller, who after Williamson's death went on to record many popular blues songs for Chicago's Checker
Records label and others, and toured Europe several times during the 'blues revival' in the early 1960s.
Williamson is buried at the former site of The Blairs Chapel Church, southwest of Jackson, Tennessee. In 1991, a
red granite marker was purchased by fans and family to mark the site of his burial. A Tennessee historical marker,
also placed in 1991, indicates the place of his birth and describes his influence on blues music. The historical
marker is located south of Jackson on TN Highway 18, at the corner of Caldwell Road.
His original harmonica recordings were considered to be in the country blues style, but he soon demonstrated skill at
making harmonica a lead instrument for the blues, and popularized the instrument for the first time in a more urban
blues setting. He has been called "the father of modern blues harp".
His very first recording, "Good Morning, School Girl", was a major hit on the 'race records' market in 1937. He was
hugely popular among black audiences throughout the whole southern U.S. as well as in the midwestern industrial
cities such as Detroit and his home base in Chicago, and his name was synonymous with the blues harmonica for
the next decade. Other well-known recordings of his include "Shake the Boogie", "You Better Cut that Out", "Sloppy
Drunk", and "Early in the Morning". Williamson's style influenced a large number of blues harmonica performers,
including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor among many others. He was
easily the most widely heard and influential blues harmonica player of his generation. His music was also influential
on many of his non-harmonica playing contemporaries and successors, including Muddy Waters (who had played
with Williamson in the mid-1940s) and Jimmy Rogers (whose first recording in 1946 was as a harmonica player,
performing an uncanny imitation of Williamson's style); Rogers later recorded Williamson's songs "My Little Machine"
and "Sloppy Drunk" on Chess, and Waters recorded "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" in September 1963 for his
Chess LP Folk Singer and again in the 70s when he moved to Johnny Winter's Blue Sky label on CBS.
He was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller, who was based in
Helena, Arkansas, began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. John Lee is said to have objected to this,
though no legal action took place, possibly due to the fact that Miller did not release any records during Williamson's
lifetime, and that Williamson played mainly around the Chicago area, and Miller seldom ventured beyond the
Mississippi delta region until after Williamson's death.
Williamson recorded prolifically both as a bandleader and a sideman over the entire course of his career, mainly for
the Bluebird record label, with many early sessions taking place in the ballroom on the top floor of the Leland Hotel in
Aurora, Illinois; most later sessions were recorded in Chicago. His final recording session took place in December
1947, backing Big Joe Williams. On June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson was killed in a mugging on Chicago's South
Side, as he walked home from his final performance at The Plantation Club at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern just a
block and a half away from his home at 3226 S. Giles. Williamson's final words are reported to have been Lord have
mercy.
His legacy has been overshadowed in the post-war blues era by the popularity of the musician who appropriated his
name, Rice Miller, who after Williamson's death went on to record many popular blues songs for Chicago's Checker
Records label and others, and toured Europe several times during the 'blues revival' in the early 1960s.
Williamson is buried at the former site of The Blairs Chapel Church, southwest of Jackson, Tennessee. In 1991, a
red granite marker was purchased by fans and family to mark the site of his burial. A Tennessee historical marker,
also placed in 1991, indicates the place of his birth and describes his influence on blues music. The historical
marker is located south of Jackson on TN Highway 18, at the corner of Caldwell Road.
Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson)
blues singer, harmonica player
Born: 3/30/1914
Birthplace: Jackson, Tennessee
One of the founding members of the post-War Chicago blues scene, Sonny Boy Williamson did more to popularize the
harmonica than any of his contemporaries. His musical and geographical migration from the deep South up the
Mississippi to Chicago exemplifies his rise in popularity. Williamson never realized his full potential as a musician, as he
was tragically murdered at the peak of his career.
He taught himself to play harmonica as a teenager and by his late teens was touring the Depression-era South, playing
with the likes of Big Joe Williams and Robert Nighthawk. With his masterful harp (harmonica) playing and country-blues
sound, Williamson fused a new band format with the harmonica as lead instrument. With Sonny Boy leading on the harp
and vocals, Big Joe Williams played a rough-sounding nine string lead guitar. Along with his exact, clear harp sound,
Williamson was known for his unique vocals. Although he suffered from a speech impediment which caused his speech
to slur, Sonny Boy adapted his singing style to accommodate his handicap. This gave Williamson's singing an alluring,
bluesy feel, which was impossible to replicate.
In 1937 Williamson moved to Chicago, where he quickly
established himself as an elite harp player, and his harmonica-
led group format soon became the norm. It was not long
before Williamson signed on with the Bluebird label, where he
played and recorded with many blues greats, including Big Bill Broonzy, and wrote
and recorded some of his greatest songs, such as “Hoodoo, Hoodoo,” which was to be adapted later by another harp-
master, Junior Wells, and “Good Morning Little School Girl,” a blues classic that has been covered by many bands, such
as The Yardbirds and The Grateful Dead.
Sonny Boy Williamson was murdered with an ice pick while returning home from a gig in the South Side of Chicago in
1948, during the height of his career. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980. His albums
include Sonny Boy Williamson, Volumes 1-5 and Throw a Boogie-Woogie (with Big Joe Williams).
Died: 6/1/1948
blues singer, harmonica player
Born: 3/30/1914
Birthplace: Jackson, Tennessee
One of the founding members of the post-War Chicago blues scene, Sonny Boy Williamson did more to popularize the
harmonica than any of his contemporaries. His musical and geographical migration from the deep South up the
Mississippi to Chicago exemplifies his rise in popularity. Williamson never realized his full potential as a musician, as he
was tragically murdered at the peak of his career.
He taught himself to play harmonica as a teenager and by his late teens was touring the Depression-era South, playing
with the likes of Big Joe Williams and Robert Nighthawk. With his masterful harp (harmonica) playing and country-blues
sound, Williamson fused a new band format with the harmonica as lead instrument. With Sonny Boy leading on the harp
and vocals, Big Joe Williams played a rough-sounding nine string lead guitar. Along with his exact, clear harp sound,
Williamson was known for his unique vocals. Although he suffered from a speech impediment which caused his speech
to slur, Sonny Boy adapted his singing style to accommodate his handicap. This gave Williamson's singing an alluring,
bluesy feel, which was impossible to replicate.
In 1937 Williamson moved to Chicago, where he quickly
established himself as an elite harp player, and his harmonica-
led group format soon became the norm. It was not long
before Williamson signed on with the Bluebird label, where he
played and recorded with many blues greats, including Big Bill Broonzy, and wrote
and recorded some of his greatest songs, such as “Hoodoo, Hoodoo,” which was to be adapted later by another harp-
master, Junior Wells, and “Good Morning Little School Girl,” a blues classic that has been covered by many bands, such
as The Yardbirds and The Grateful Dead.
Sonny Boy Williamson was murdered with an ice pick while returning home from a gig in the South Side of Chicago in
1948, during the height of his career. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980. His albums
include Sonny Boy Williamson, Volumes 1-5 and Throw a Boogie-Woogie (with Big Joe Williams).
Died: 6/1/1948
John Lee Curtis
Williamson
30 March 1914 — 1 June 1948)
player, and the first to use the
player, and the first to use the
name Sonny Boy Williamson.
name Sonny Boy Williamson.
Career
He was born near Jackson,
Tennessee in 1914. His original
harmonica recordings were
considered to be in the country
blues style, but he soon
demonstrated skill at making
harmonica a lead instrument for
the blues, and popularized the
instrument for the first time in a
more urban blues setting. He has
been called "the father of modern
blues harp".
His very first recording, "Good
Morning, School Girl", was a major
hit on the 'race records' market in
1937. He was hugely popular
among black audiences throughout
the whole southern U.S. as well as
in the midwestern industrial cities
such as Detroit and his home base
in Chicago, and his name was
synonymous with the blues
harmonica for the next decade.
Other well-known recordings of his
include "Shake the Boogie", "You
Better Cut that Out", "Sloppy Drunk",
and "Early in the Morning".
Williamson's style influenced a
large number of blues harmonica
performers, including Billy Boy
Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry,
Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor
among many others. He was easily
the most widely heard and
influential blues harmonica player
of his generation. His music was
also influential on many of his non-
harmonica playing contemporaries
and successors, including Muddy
Waters (who had played with
Williamson in the mid-1940s) and
Jimmy Rogers (whose first
recording in 1946 was as a
harmonica player, performing an
uncanny imitation of Williamson's
style); Rogers later recorded
Williamson's songs "My Little
Machine" and "Sloppy Drunk" on
Chess, and Waters recorded
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" in
September 1963 for his Chess LP
Folk Singer and again in the 70s
when he moved to Johnny Winter's
Blue Sky label on CBS.
He was popular enough that by the
1940s, another blues harp player,
Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller, who was
based in Helena, Arkansas, began
also using the name Sonny Boy
Williamson. John Lee is said to
have objected to this, though no
legal action took place, possibly
due to the fact that Miller did not
release any records during
Williamson's lifetime, and that
Williamson played mainly around
the Chicago area, and Miller
seldom ventured beyond the
Mississippi delta region until after
Williamson's death.
Williamson recorded prolifically
both as a bandleader and a
sideman over the entire course of
his career, mainly for the Bluebird
record label, with many early
sessions taking place in the
ballroom on the top floor of the
Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois;
most later sessions were recorded
in Chicago. His final recording
session took place in December
1947, backing Big Joe Williams. On
June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson
was killed in a mugging on
Chicago's South Side, as he
walked home from his final
performance at The Plantation Club
at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern
just a block and a half away from
his home at 3226 S. Giles.
Williamson's final words are
reported to have been Lord have
mercy.
His legacy has been
overshadowed in the post-war
blues era by the popularity of the
musician who appropriated his
name, Rice Miller, who after
Williamson's death went on to
record many popular blues songs
for Chicago's Checker Records
label and others, and toured
Europe several times during the
'blues revival' in the early 1960s.
Williamson is buried at the former
site of The Blairs Chapel Church,
southwest of Jackson, Tennessee.
In 1991, a red granite marker was
purchased by fans and family to
mark the site of his burial. A
Tennessee historical marker, also
placed in 1991, indicates the place
of his birth and describes his
influence on blues music. The
historical marker is located south
of Jackson on TN Highway 18, at
the corner of Caldwell Road.
Williamson
30 March 1914 — 1 June 1948)
player, and the first to use the
player, and the first to use the
name Sonny Boy Williamson.
name Sonny Boy Williamson.
Career
He was born near Jackson,
Tennessee in 1914. His original
harmonica recordings were
considered to be in the country
blues style, but he soon
demonstrated skill at making
harmonica a lead instrument for
the blues, and popularized the
instrument for the first time in a
more urban blues setting. He has
been called "the father of modern
blues harp".
His very first recording, "Good
Morning, School Girl", was a major
hit on the 'race records' market in
1937. He was hugely popular
among black audiences throughout
the whole southern U.S. as well as
in the midwestern industrial cities
such as Detroit and his home base
in Chicago, and his name was
synonymous with the blues
harmonica for the next decade.
Other well-known recordings of his
include "Shake the Boogie", "You
Better Cut that Out", "Sloppy Drunk",
and "Early in the Morning".
Williamson's style influenced a
large number of blues harmonica
performers, including Billy Boy
Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry,
Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor
among many others. He was easily
the most widely heard and
influential blues harmonica player
of his generation. His music was
also influential on many of his non-
harmonica playing contemporaries
and successors, including Muddy
Waters (who had played with
Williamson in the mid-1940s) and
Jimmy Rogers (whose first
recording in 1946 was as a
harmonica player, performing an
uncanny imitation of Williamson's
style); Rogers later recorded
Williamson's songs "My Little
Machine" and "Sloppy Drunk" on
Chess, and Waters recorded
"Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" in
September 1963 for his Chess LP
Folk Singer and again in the 70s
when he moved to Johnny Winter's
Blue Sky label on CBS.
He was popular enough that by the
1940s, another blues harp player,
Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller, who was
based in Helena, Arkansas, began
also using the name Sonny Boy
Williamson. John Lee is said to
have objected to this, though no
legal action took place, possibly
due to the fact that Miller did not
release any records during
Williamson's lifetime, and that
Williamson played mainly around
the Chicago area, and Miller
seldom ventured beyond the
Mississippi delta region until after
Williamson's death.
Williamson recorded prolifically
both as a bandleader and a
sideman over the entire course of
his career, mainly for the Bluebird
record label, with many early
sessions taking place in the
ballroom on the top floor of the
Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois;
most later sessions were recorded
in Chicago. His final recording
session took place in December
1947, backing Big Joe Williams. On
June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson
was killed in a mugging on
Chicago's South Side, as he
walked home from his final
performance at The Plantation Club
at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern
just a block and a half away from
his home at 3226 S. Giles.
Williamson's final words are
reported to have been Lord have
mercy.
His legacy has been
overshadowed in the post-war
blues era by the popularity of the
musician who appropriated his
name, Rice Miller, who after
Williamson's death went on to
record many popular blues songs
for Chicago's Checker Records
label and others, and toured
Europe several times during the
'blues revival' in the early 1960s.
Williamson is buried at the former
site of The Blairs Chapel Church,
southwest of Jackson, Tennessee.
In 1991, a red granite marker was
purchased by fans and family to
mark the site of his burial. A
Tennessee historical marker, also
placed in 1991, indicates the place
of his birth and describes his
influence on blues music. The
historical marker is located south
of Jackson on TN Highway 18, at
the corner of Caldwell Road.
| Hoodoo Hoodoo SINGER: John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson (I) DATE OF REC.: August 6, 1946, Chicago, Illinois HOODOO HOODOO by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson Lord, I wonder what's the matter this time, it seems like everything has changed It seems like this woman that I've been lovin' have found some other man I hold up my hand, I'm just trying to get my baby to understand See, my baby don't love me no more, all because somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man One night I'm goin' down into Louisiana and buy me another mojo hand All because I got to break up my baby from lovin this other man I hold up my hand, I'm just trying to make my baby to understand Aw, my baby don't love me no more, she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man I use to have a way with women, make plenty of money, and everything But my woman don't love me no more, she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man Now I just hold up my hand, I'm just trying to get my baby to understand Aw, my baby don't love me no more, she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man Well now, goodbye, baby, someday I will see you soon I got something to tell you, baby, somebody else can have your room And I just hold up my hand, I'm just trying to get my baby to understand Well, my baby don't love me no more, she says somebody hoodoo'd the hoodoo man Groundhog Blues With Blind John Davis (piano), Charlie McCoy (guitar), and Alfred Elkins (bass). Chicago, December 1941. From LP "Blues Classics 3". Now I'm a walkin' groundhog, mama and I walks around in my den Now I'm a walkin' groundhog, mama and I walks around in my den Now if I come out and see my shadow, John I believe I'll go back in Now I want some feedin' mama, so I can hear a high sound If you don't feed me baby I believe I'll go back in the ground Because I'm that walkin' groundhog, mama and I walks around in my den Now if I come out and see my shadow you say you don't love me, I believe I'll go back in Now I wanna hear some swingin' music, I wanna hear a Fats Waller song Now if I start to jitterbuggin' I'm forgettin' my hole down in the ground Because I'm that walkin' groundhog, man and I walks around in my den Now if I come out and see my shadow my woman don't love me, I believe I'll go back in Yes John, you know what I mean... Oh you know I'm a-walkin' wild... Now I need some pettin' baby, baby you know what I mean Now if you don't pet me baby, I believe I'll go back down in New Orleans Because I'm that walkin' groundhog, at night I walks around in my den Now if I come out and see my shadow my woman don't love me, yeah an' I believe I'll go back in My Little Machine From LP Blues Classics #3. Recorded May 1940 in Chicago, with Joshua Altheimer (piano) and Fred Williams (drums) Oh yes, somethin's gettin' wrong with my little machine Oh yes, somethin's gettin' wrong with my little machine Now she got a standard carburator, my baby been burnin' bad gasoline Now I'm gonna do like the eagle, I'm gonna fly on the mountain top Lord and if I don't find my baby, it ain't no tellin' where I'll stop Because oh yes, somethin's gettin' wrong with my little machine Now she got a standard carburator, oh but my baby burnin' bad gasoline Well I don't know baby, I don't know what to do You know I don't wanna hurt your feelings, baby I'm even gettin' mad with you But I tell you oh yes, some's gettin' wrong with my little machine Now you got a standard carburator, oh but you been burnin' bad gasoline Well I don't know baby, I don't know what to do Baby you is so sweet, but you just won't be true But oh yes, somethin's gettin' wrong with my little machine Now she's got a standard carburator, oh but my baby been burnin' bad gasoline |
| Win The War Blues From 1944, this is a rather rare example of "war-mongering" blues. Sonny Boy wants to go and shoot Hitler, and bomb the rotten Japs to pieces. But he has his own reasons; it's not to save the free world and all that stuff; it's to keep the dirty Japanese from slippin' into his baby's back door... Uncle Sam is gonna give me a Thunderbolt, he want me to fly away up above the clouds Uncle Sam is gonna give me a Thunderbolt, he want me to fly away up above the clouds He wants to drop the bombs on the Japanese, I really got to make my baby proud I wants a machine gun, and I wants to be hid out in the wood I wants a machine gun, and I wants to be hid out in the wood I wants to show old man Hitler, that Sonny Boy don't mean him no good I wants to drop a bomb and set the Japanese city on fire I wants to drop a bomb and set the Japanese city on fire Now because they are so rotten, I just love to see them die I've got the victory blues, because I know I've got to go I've got the victory blues, because I know I have got to go Now to keep the dirty Japanese from slippin' into my baby's back door. |
Masters of Blues Harp
John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy I)
Below is the bio note on John Lee
Williamson from my harmonica
transcription/instruction book
Masters of the Blues Harp, which
has a transcription of his Good
Morning Little Schoolgirl from
Throw A Boogie Woogie ( BMG
9599-2-R – w / Big Joe Williams).
-Glenn Weiser
John Lee Williamson-the real
Sonny Boy-was the bridge
between the Memphis harmonica
players of the 1920’s and 1930’s
and the postwar Chicago players
who brought blues harp to its
zenith. And he was even more-
Sonny Boy was the father of the
postwar Chicago blues sound
itself.
Born in Jackson, Tennessee in
1914, Williamson learned the harp
by age 10 and was an
accomplished player by his mid-
teens. He also had a good singing
voice, even though he had a
speech defect that he had to
compensate for in his vocal style.
During the 1930s he began
soaking up the influence of the
Memphis players-Will Shade,
Hammie Nixon, Noah Lewis, and
others-and started to work with Big
Joe Williams, Sleepy John Estes,
Yank Rachell and other area
bluesmen. Using a technique
based on tongue blocking, he
expanded the harmonica’s
capabilities as a lead instrument.
In 1937 he headed north to
Chicago and got steady work
playing in nightclubs with Big Joe,
Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Red
Maceo, and others
He came to the attention of the
Bluebird label’s Lester Melrose,
and Sonny Boy’s recording career
was launched. It was then that the
postwar blues sound began to
emerge. To be heard in the bars,
piano and drums had been added
to the guitar and vocals, and with
Melrose favoring these combos,
this was now known as the
Bluebird beat. Many of Sonny Boy’
s songs are still standards today.
By the time WWII broke out, Sonny
Boy was acknowledged as the
best harp player in the city. He was
also well liked for his generous,
cheerful personality, and along
with Big Bill Broonzy, helped a lot
of musicians get started in
Chicago.
After the wartime recording ban,
he started cutting sides again. The
young Muddy Waters, fresh out of
Mississippi began working with
him in the clubs as a backup
guitarist at around this time also.
Tragically, in 1948 Sonny Boy was
mugged while walking home late
at night from a gig at the nearby
Plantation Club and died of the
injuries. He was only 34.
John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy I)
Below is the bio note on John Lee
Williamson from my harmonica
transcription/instruction book
Masters of the Blues Harp, which
has a transcription of his Good
Morning Little Schoolgirl from
Throw A Boogie Woogie ( BMG
9599-2-R – w / Big Joe Williams).
-Glenn Weiser
John Lee Williamson-the real
Sonny Boy-was the bridge
between the Memphis harmonica
players of the 1920’s and 1930’s
and the postwar Chicago players
who brought blues harp to its
zenith. And he was even more-
Sonny Boy was the father of the
postwar Chicago blues sound
itself.
Born in Jackson, Tennessee in
1914, Williamson learned the harp
by age 10 and was an
accomplished player by his mid-
teens. He also had a good singing
voice, even though he had a
speech defect that he had to
compensate for in his vocal style.
During the 1930s he began
soaking up the influence of the
Memphis players-Will Shade,
Hammie Nixon, Noah Lewis, and
others-and started to work with Big
Joe Williams, Sleepy John Estes,
Yank Rachell and other area
bluesmen. Using a technique
based on tongue blocking, he
expanded the harmonica’s
capabilities as a lead instrument.
In 1937 he headed north to
Chicago and got steady work
playing in nightclubs with Big Joe,
Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy, Red
Maceo, and others
He came to the attention of the
Bluebird label’s Lester Melrose,
and Sonny Boy’s recording career
was launched. It was then that the
postwar blues sound began to
emerge. To be heard in the bars,
piano and drums had been added
to the guitar and vocals, and with
Melrose favoring these combos,
this was now known as the
Bluebird beat. Many of Sonny Boy’
s songs are still standards today.
By the time WWII broke out, Sonny
Boy was acknowledged as the
best harp player in the city. He was
also well liked for his generous,
cheerful personality, and along
with Big Bill Broonzy, helped a lot
of musicians get started in
Chicago.
After the wartime recording ban,
he started cutting sides again. The
young Muddy Waters, fresh out of
Mississippi began working with
him in the clubs as a backup
guitarist at around this time also.
Tragically, in 1948 Sonny Boy was
mugged while walking home late
at night from a gig at the nearby
Plantation Club and died of the
injuries. He was only 34.
John Lee Williamson
is often credited as the father of
the modern blues harmonica. His
recording career spanned 1937-
1948, Williamson’s music
influenced an entire generation of
blues musicians who either
covered or tried to mimic his style.
Known for such blues lexicon
entries as “Good Morning Little
School Girl,” “Sloppy Drunk,”
“Early In the Morning,” “Sugar
Mama,” and “Love Me Baby;”
Williamson’s legacy is often
forgotten or overshadowed
because of Aleck “Rice” Miller’s [a.
k.a. Sonny Boy Williamson II]
equally influential recording
career. John Lee’s only fault was
that his career was cut short after
he was murdered a few blocks
from his home after a gig in 1948.
In that self-same year, a thirteen
year old boy living down the street
sought informal lessons from
him which would later turn into
another transcendent career. Billy
Boy Arnold was that little boy and
his namesake in the Chicago
blues history is often as
overlooked as was his teacher’s.
Arnold’s big break came in the
50s playing harmonica behind
the great Bo Diddley on tracks like
“I’m A Man.” Arnold would go on to
record the important hits “I Wish
You Would” and “I Ain’t Got You.”
In the 70s, Arnold took a break
from playing music only to return
to much lauded fashion on Bruce
Iglauer’s Alligator label with 2
critically acclaimed releases Back
Where I Belong (1993) and
Eldorado Cadillac (1995). Since
then, Arnold has once again
turned into a journeyman blues
player around his home of
Chicago but to much more
acclaim. On his latest release,
Arnold finds his career coming
full circle as he pays tribute to the
man who gave him lessons over
sixty years ago.
Recorded over 2 days in a
Toronto Canada studio with a
crack band of some of Chicago’s
seasoned second generation
post war blues players, Arnold
revives the old school sounds of
his teacher. Accompanying Arnold
are long time friends Billy Flynn
(guitar and mandolin), Bob
Stroger (bass), Willie “Big Eyes”
Smith (drums), and special guest
Mel Brown on piano and guitar.
Delivered in true laid back fashion
(a signature of Billy Boy’s style),
the album is a complete and
steady groove from start to finish.
If you want a history lesson in
blues, this is the perfect disc.
With 14 John Lee Williamson and
3 Billy Boy originals in the vein of
the old school, a traditionalist will
be in pure and utter heaven.
Contemporary fans will learn a
valuable history lesson with this
record but most likely will find a
lot of the grooves and songs
samey or droll. Arnold nails the
acoustic harp technique that
Williamson pioneered with ease.
Tracks like the lead off “$1000
Dollar Bill,” “Decoration Day,”
“Collector Man Blues,” and the
usual Sonny Boy classics are
worthy tracks of note on the
album. Like I said, when you’ve
got veterans like Arnold, Stroger,
Flynn, and Smith all together on
one stage doing the old school
blues, you really can’t go wrong.
Running at a little under an hour
and a quarter, this album
hearkens back to the birth of the
urban electric blues with
incendiary fashion and all the
while, continuing to cement Billy
Boy Arnold as one of the blues
underappreciated legends of
today.
is often credited as the father of
the modern blues harmonica. His
recording career spanned 1937-
1948, Williamson’s music
influenced an entire generation of
blues musicians who either
covered or tried to mimic his style.
Known for such blues lexicon
entries as “Good Morning Little
School Girl,” “Sloppy Drunk,”
“Early In the Morning,” “Sugar
Mama,” and “Love Me Baby;”
Williamson’s legacy is often
forgotten or overshadowed
because of Aleck “Rice” Miller’s [a.
k.a. Sonny Boy Williamson II]
equally influential recording
career. John Lee’s only fault was
that his career was cut short after
he was murdered a few blocks
from his home after a gig in 1948.
In that self-same year, a thirteen
year old boy living down the street
sought informal lessons from
him which would later turn into
another transcendent career. Billy
Boy Arnold was that little boy and
his namesake in the Chicago
blues history is often as
overlooked as was his teacher’s.
Arnold’s big break came in the
50s playing harmonica behind
the great Bo Diddley on tracks like
“I’m A Man.” Arnold would go on to
record the important hits “I Wish
You Would” and “I Ain’t Got You.”
In the 70s, Arnold took a break
from playing music only to return
to much lauded fashion on Bruce
Iglauer’s Alligator label with 2
critically acclaimed releases Back
Where I Belong (1993) and
Eldorado Cadillac (1995). Since
then, Arnold has once again
turned into a journeyman blues
player around his home of
Chicago but to much more
acclaim. On his latest release,
Arnold finds his career coming
full circle as he pays tribute to the
man who gave him lessons over
sixty years ago.
Recorded over 2 days in a
Toronto Canada studio with a
crack band of some of Chicago’s
seasoned second generation
post war blues players, Arnold
revives the old school sounds of
his teacher. Accompanying Arnold
are long time friends Billy Flynn
(guitar and mandolin), Bob
Stroger (bass), Willie “Big Eyes”
Smith (drums), and special guest
Mel Brown on piano and guitar.
Delivered in true laid back fashion
(a signature of Billy Boy’s style),
the album is a complete and
steady groove from start to finish.
If you want a history lesson in
blues, this is the perfect disc.
With 14 John Lee Williamson and
3 Billy Boy originals in the vein of
the old school, a traditionalist will
be in pure and utter heaven.
Contemporary fans will learn a
valuable history lesson with this
record but most likely will find a
lot of the grooves and songs
samey or droll. Arnold nails the
acoustic harp technique that
Williamson pioneered with ease.
Tracks like the lead off “$1000
Dollar Bill,” “Decoration Day,”
“Collector Man Blues,” and the
usual Sonny Boy classics are
worthy tracks of note on the
album. Like I said, when you’ve
got veterans like Arnold, Stroger,
Flynn, and Smith all together on
one stage doing the old school
blues, you really can’t go wrong.
Running at a little under an hour
and a quarter, this album
hearkens back to the birth of the
urban electric blues with
incendiary fashion and all the
while, continuing to cement Billy
Boy Arnold as one of the blues
underappreciated legends of
today.
| Blairs Chapel CME Cemetery Madison County Tennessee USA Cemetery notes and/or description: Located about 9 miles southwest from present city limits of Jackson, Tennessee via Riverside Drive and Steam Mill Ferry Road. A turn is made to the east off the latter road on to Blairs Chapel Road and at .7 mile are the cemetery and old church sites on the north side of this road. Judging from grave mounds and sunken graves here there are likely several hundred unmarked graves; numerous funeral home markers no longer have information on their panels. Blairs Chapel C. M. E. was organized in 1881 but in 1971 it relocated 2 miles northwest on Steam Mill Ferry Road. Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1995 |
| My Black Name Blues |
| Shake The Boogie |
| John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson Go To Discography | Biography | Chicago Blues | Blues Online© Home Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Biography Generally regarded as the original "Sonny Boy", John Lee Williamson was born in Jackson, Tennessee on March 30, 1914. He hoboed with Yank Rachell and John Estes through Tennessee and Arkansas in the late 1920's and early 1930's. He worked with Sunnyland Slim in Memphis in the early 1930's. John Lee Williamson moved to Chicago in 1934 where he worked Maxwell Street and as a sideman with numerous blues groups at the local clubs. His first recording, made in May of 1937 at the Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois for the Bluebird label, is also the first recording of Good Morning Little School Girl, which has become a much recorded blues classic tune. Bluebird recorded him until 1945 when Victor recorded him into 1947. Williamson worked frequently with Muddy Waters from 1943 and toured with Lazy Bill Lucas through the 1940's. He recorded with Big Joe Williams for the Columbia label in Chicago in 1947. In 1948 upon leaving the Plantation Club in Chicago after playing a gig, he was mugged and beaten. He died of a fractured skull and other injuries on June 1, 1948 and is buried in Jackson, Tennessee. John Lee Williamson is regarded as "the first truly virtuosic blues harmonica player", "who brought the harmonica to prominence as a major blues instrument". He played a tremendous role in influencing the classic Chicago blues of the 1940's and 1950's. Among the artists he has influenced are Billy Boy Arnold, Shakey Jake Harris, Big Walter Horton, Little Walter, Dr. Ross, Junior Wells, and Johnny Young. Discography Besides the aforementioned Good Morning Little School Girl, some of John Lee Williamson's songs include Biscuit Baking Woman, Check Up On My Baby, Dealing With the Devil, Decoration Day (Blues), Deep Down In the Ground, Early In the Morning, Honey Bee Blues, Hoo-doo Man, Jiving the Blues, Low Down Ways, Mean Old Highway, Miss Stella Brown Blues, My Black Name Ringing, Shake the Boogie, Stop Breaking Down, Susie Q, Western Union Man, and Whiskey Headed Blues. John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson (harmonica) with: 1937 May, Aurora, Il. Good Morning Little School Girl. 1947 December 18, Chicago, Il. P Vine Blues; Bad And Weak Hearted Blues; King Biscuit Stomp; I'm A Highway Man; Banta Rooster Blues; Mean Step Father Blues; House Lady Blues; Don't You Leave Me Here. Big Joe Williams (vocal, guitar); Ransom Knowling (bass); Judge Lawrence Riley (drums). |
Biography: John Lee Williamson
Sonny's barking, moaning harmonica is startling in its originality and beauty. He sang with incredible emotion and
conviction.
John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson 1) recorded over 120 sides of 78 rpm records in the 30's and 40's. Born in
southwest Madison Co. near Jackson, TN. March 30, 1914. "He grew up in the Jackson area. In talks with his family
Memphis, though I'm sure he played there, didn't mean that much to him. In the summers he and his half-brother TW
Utley would take the train to St. Louis to stay with their uncle Fred Utley. Early in his career he spent more time in
St.Louis than in Chicago. Also as a teen he was in a Gospel quartet called the Four Lambs at Blairs Chapel Church" (
Michael Baker).
As a teenager he is said to have worked with Sleepy John Estes and Homesick James. Billy Boy Arnold in an interview
stated that Sonny Boy taught him how to "choke" his Harp. Sonny Boy made the harp the lead instrument in the blues
and his first (May 1937) recordings were in country style. He is considered as one of most important and creative blues
performers to emerge during the mid-to late 1930's, a period of blues recording dominated by the supple, regularized
blues of the so-called "Bluebird Beat".
He recorded such songs as: "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl" and "Sugar Mama (Sugar Gal?)" for RCA/Bluebird. During
this time he also played with a small group featuring Big Bill Broonzy.
In an article a few years ago Larry Hoffman put it best when he said "The seeds of modern days blues harp that
reached fruition in the golden era of mid-'50s Chicago were sown in Memphis, TN."
That city boasted the simultaneous prescences of Noah Lewis, Jaybird Coleman, Will Shade, Jed Davenport, Hammie
Nixon, John Lee Williamson and Walter Horton all off-and-on between the years 1925 to 30. Two other fine players at
this time in TN were: Delford Bailey, the Harmonica Wizard and his disciple Sonny Terry. During 1927-28, Bailey
recorded 11 tunes that were to set the standard for harp display pieces in recorded blues.
Sonny Terry was an influential player and a finest exponent of the rural, chordal-rhythmic style accented by whoops &
holler and driving chordal work. John Lee "the father of modern blues harp" absorbed the style of Hammie Nixon and
adapted it to a concept that was to shape the blues harp style into what it was a half century later. It was in CHICAGO
that Brownsville, Helena and Memphis style "coalesced" into what is now called the modern blues harp style and sound.
John Lee played straight and cross-harp styles, ragtime tunes and straight blues. He used some interesting phrasing
with his Harp that is sometimes hard to spot BUT it is really worth working on as it lays a great foundation to build on. As
an example in some of his intro's he used three quintuplet phrases (draw 3, draw 2, draw 1, blow 1+2, draw 1).
This is repeated 3 times very quickly, and as Tony Glover describes it "it's just the old shave -and -a -haircut riff speed
up". One amazing characteristic of his music that ones hears not only the past (Noah Lewis & Hammie Nixon) but also
the future viz-a-v Little Walter's vocals, the phrasing of Rice Miller and the tones of Big Walter Horton. He was the first of
the modern line of singer/harp player to perform his own tunes.
Sonny Boy was married to a woman named Lacey Belle, and her name pops up in many songs, including a late one
entitled "Lacey Belle."
Mike Rowe reports that it was Lacey who opened the door of her Chicago home one cold morning in 1948 to discover a
mugged Sonny Boy breathing his last, his final words being "Lord have mercy." This happened on his way home from
work at the Plantation
Sonny had an all-star cast of accompanists over the years. His first recording session was supported by the great Big
Joe Williams, at the beginning of his distinguished career playing delta blues guitar. After this session Sonny Boy
alternated between guitar and piano backups, occasionally using both at the same session. His most frequent
accompanists were Big Bill Broonzy and the record company's "house" piano player Blind John Davis. Other famous
accompanists over the years were Eddie Boyd, Yank Rachel, Big Maceo and Willie Dixon. But some say the best
accompanist was Joshua Altheimer, a piano player who played on the seven numbers of a 1940 session and then died
the next year. He was only 30 years old!
Pete Welding comments: the only significant difference between Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy and those of say
Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf is the matter of electric amplification. Othewise all the ingredients are the same: guitar,
harp, bass and drums. He continues, "Big Joe and John Lee stand as vital, connecting links between the older
Mississippi style and those of the postwar years."
Although he toured throughout the south, he spend most of his time in Chicago. The demand for John Lee's music was
big in the south so in 1940's another singer/harpist called "Rice Miller" Williamson started to play music under the
name of "Sonny Boy" Williamson in conjunction with his work for the King Biscuit Flour Company and a local radio
station. John Lee challenged his rival but apparently it did not get legal as John Lee was the only Sonny Boy making
records. It was only after John Lee's death that the older man "Rice Miller" made records for the Trumpet label (Jackson,
Miss.).
Sonny's barking, moaning harmonica is startling in its originality and beauty. He sang with incredible emotion and
conviction.
John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson 1) recorded over 120 sides of 78 rpm records in the 30's and 40's. Born in
southwest Madison Co. near Jackson, TN. March 30, 1914. "He grew up in the Jackson area. In talks with his family
Memphis, though I'm sure he played there, didn't mean that much to him. In the summers he and his half-brother TW
Utley would take the train to St. Louis to stay with their uncle Fred Utley. Early in his career he spent more time in
St.Louis than in Chicago. Also as a teen he was in a Gospel quartet called the Four Lambs at Blairs Chapel Church" (
Michael Baker).
As a teenager he is said to have worked with Sleepy John Estes and Homesick James. Billy Boy Arnold in an interview
stated that Sonny Boy taught him how to "choke" his Harp. Sonny Boy made the harp the lead instrument in the blues
and his first (May 1937) recordings were in country style. He is considered as one of most important and creative blues
performers to emerge during the mid-to late 1930's, a period of blues recording dominated by the supple, regularized
blues of the so-called "Bluebird Beat".
He recorded such songs as: "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl" and "Sugar Mama (Sugar Gal?)" for RCA/Bluebird. During
this time he also played with a small group featuring Big Bill Broonzy.
In an article a few years ago Larry Hoffman put it best when he said "The seeds of modern days blues harp that
reached fruition in the golden era of mid-'50s Chicago were sown in Memphis, TN."
That city boasted the simultaneous prescences of Noah Lewis, Jaybird Coleman, Will Shade, Jed Davenport, Hammie
Nixon, John Lee Williamson and Walter Horton all off-and-on between the years 1925 to 30. Two other fine players at
this time in TN were: Delford Bailey, the Harmonica Wizard and his disciple Sonny Terry. During 1927-28, Bailey
recorded 11 tunes that were to set the standard for harp display pieces in recorded blues.
Sonny Terry was an influential player and a finest exponent of the rural, chordal-rhythmic style accented by whoops &
holler and driving chordal work. John Lee "the father of modern blues harp" absorbed the style of Hammie Nixon and
adapted it to a concept that was to shape the blues harp style into what it was a half century later. It was in CHICAGO
that Brownsville, Helena and Memphis style "coalesced" into what is now called the modern blues harp style and sound.
John Lee played straight and cross-harp styles, ragtime tunes and straight blues. He used some interesting phrasing
with his Harp that is sometimes hard to spot BUT it is really worth working on as it lays a great foundation to build on. As
an example in some of his intro's he used three quintuplet phrases (draw 3, draw 2, draw 1, blow 1+2, draw 1).
This is repeated 3 times very quickly, and as Tony Glover describes it "it's just the old shave -and -a -haircut riff speed
up". One amazing characteristic of his music that ones hears not only the past (Noah Lewis & Hammie Nixon) but also
the future viz-a-v Little Walter's vocals, the phrasing of Rice Miller and the tones of Big Walter Horton. He was the first of
the modern line of singer/harp player to perform his own tunes.
Sonny Boy was married to a woman named Lacey Belle, and her name pops up in many songs, including a late one
entitled "Lacey Belle."
Mike Rowe reports that it was Lacey who opened the door of her Chicago home one cold morning in 1948 to discover a
mugged Sonny Boy breathing his last, his final words being "Lord have mercy." This happened on his way home from
work at the Plantation
Sonny had an all-star cast of accompanists over the years. His first recording session was supported by the great Big
Joe Williams, at the beginning of his distinguished career playing delta blues guitar. After this session Sonny Boy
alternated between guitar and piano backups, occasionally using both at the same session. His most frequent
accompanists were Big Bill Broonzy and the record company's "house" piano player Blind John Davis. Other famous
accompanists over the years were Eddie Boyd, Yank Rachel, Big Maceo and Willie Dixon. But some say the best
accompanist was Joshua Altheimer, a piano player who played on the seven numbers of a 1940 session and then died
the next year. He was only 30 years old!
Pete Welding comments: the only significant difference between Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy and those of say
Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf is the matter of electric amplification. Othewise all the ingredients are the same: guitar,
harp, bass and drums. He continues, "Big Joe and John Lee stand as vital, connecting links between the older
Mississippi style and those of the postwar years."
Although he toured throughout the south, he spend most of his time in Chicago. The demand for John Lee's music was
big in the south so in 1940's another singer/harpist called "Rice Miller" Williamson started to play music under the
name of "Sonny Boy" Williamson in conjunction with his work for the King Biscuit Flour Company and a local radio
station. John Lee challenged his rival but apparently it did not get legal as John Lee was the only Sonny Boy making
records. It was only after John Lee's death that the older man "Rice Miller" made records for the Trumpet label (Jackson,
Miss.).
| Bad Luck Blues with Walter Davis, piano, and Big Bill Broonzy, guitar. Chicago, July 1939. From the LP Blues Classics 3. Baby did you hear about the bad luck, the bad luck that happened just about six months ago? Now did you hear about the bad luck, the bad luck that happened just about six months ago? Now my cousin Marvin got shot down, just as he was walkin' out the do' Now and he said please mister, said please don't shoot me no mo' Now and he said please mister, said please don't shoot me no mo' He said because my breath is gettin' short, and my heart is beatin' awful slow And Marvin say I know I got some friends, I want somebody to go and get my mother for me Marvin say I know I got some friends, I want somebody to go and get my mother for me Say maybe she can help me with my trouble, people I'm in so much misery And he say I hate to go leave my mother and father, I hate to go leave my cousin Sonny Boy insane He say I hate to go leave my mother and father, say I hate to go leave my cousin Sonny Boy insane Now go tell 'em if they be good they'll come to see me, people on Resurrection Day Collector Man Blues Recorded in November 1937 in Chicago; from the LP: Blues Classics 3. To quote Langston Hughes' Little Lyric (Of Great Importance): I wish the rent Was heaven sent. [spoken:] Who is that knockin' on that door? I believe that's that collector man. Man, go tell him I ain't got a dime today. Tell him I ain't made a penny all this week. Tell him I'm just as broke as I can be, oh just knock him down... Tell him I'll have the money sometime Now open the door, here come that collector man Go open the door, here come that collector man Why you can tell him I say come back tomorrow, because Sonny Boy ain't got a doggone thing Tell him that I ain't got no money, now he knows how times is today Tell him that I ain't got no money, then he know how times is today Why it's Saturday man ain't got no money, can hardly find a place to stay Tell him that someday I'll have some money, now I want everybody to watch and see Tell him someday I'll have some money, I want everybody to watch and see Why tell him that it's hard to keep down, you know a real good man like me Tell him I know I'm down now, now but I won't be down always Tell him that I'm down now, but I won't be down always Why now you can tell him to watch and see if don't Sonny Boy get some money, oh Lord knows some of these days Until My Love Come Down "Let me be your lemon squeezer / Until my love come down"... hmm, I'm sure there's a deeper meaning in those lines... :) Anyhow, this song was recorded in March 1938. With Yank Rachell, mandolin; and probably Big Joe Williams, guitar. From the LP Blues Classics 3. Now you got the fruit on your tree, lemons on your shelf You know lovin' mama that you can't squeeze them all yourself Now I say please let me be your lemon squeezer Now while's I'm in your lonesome town Now if you let me be your lemon squeezer Lord until my love come down Now it make no difference baby, what your mama don't allow Come on let me squeeze your lemons baby, I mean anyhow Now I say please let me be your lemon squeezer Now while's I'm in your lonesome town Now if you let me be your lemon squeezer Lord until my love come down I like your apple on your tree, I'm crazy about your peaches too I'm crazy about your fruit baby, 'cause you know just how to do Now please let me be your lemon squeezer (yes my Lord!) Now while's I'm in your lonesome town Now you let me be your lemon squeezer Lord until my love come down Now and it ain't but the one thing baby, now that'll really make me cry (what, man?) I asked you about your lemons baby, and you upped and tell me a lie Now please let me be your lemon squeezer Now while's I'm in your lonesome town Now I want you let me be your lemon squeezer Lord until my love come down |
| Biography Part 1 |
| Biography Part 2 |
The Death of Sonny Boy by Yank Rachell