When it comes to post-war delta blues, no one was more original than Sonny Boy Williamson. You could make a case for Elmore James, Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf, but Sonny Boy was not only a great singer and instrumentalist (blues-harp), no one else wrote lyrics like:
Been so long until I just can't sleep at night.
I could eat my breakfast in the morning,
and my teeth and tongue begin to fight.
This verse followed by a highly expressive harmonica solo, where he's actually using his teeth and tongue to play it. These Trumpet sides are as good as anything I know of. The band sounds half-drunk yet totally lucid. Elmore James is on guitar on at least some of these and Leonard Ware plays some great swinging upright basslines.
Dig it.
Download: GONE mp3
Download: GONE mp3
Download: GONE mp3
Download: GONE mp3
Download: GONE mp3
Buy these sides at your local independent record dealer or at Amazon
You have such great photos here--The Robert Frank photo, Smiley Lewis (who looks like a natural born smiler) and now this one-- what a drum...
ReplyDeletegreat tracks!!!! i don't think i've ever heard a track by him with finger snaps before! in terms of strangeness and teeth and tongues i'd say really late sun house would be at the top of my own list, but he's singing about john the revelator... thanks for posting these, it's a good morning....
ReplyDeleteI asked for an ice cream maker and these Sonny Boy Williamson songs for my birthday and it looks good...
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy you showcased him and all the songs.
Glad you're diggin' the flu.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday,
Mister Softee