Sonny Boy Williamson

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There are two Sonny Boy WIlliamsons. Last.fm auto-corrects them both to this one page. This is Sonny Boy Williamson I; for the later blues harmonica player, see Sonny Boy Williamson II.
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Sonny Boy Williamson, also known as John Lee Curtis Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, born in Jackson, Tennessee, whose first record “Good Morning little School Girl” was a hit in 1937. He was widely popular throughout the whole southeast of the U.S., and was practically synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade, making his a commonly used stage name by the time he was murdered in 1948. Sonny Boy Williamson was born on 30 March 1914, and died on 1 June 1948. He is buried at the Old Blairs Chapel Church, south west of Jackson, Tennessee.

Williamson recorded prodigiously, often backed by Big Bill Broonzy, and was a fixture on the legendary “King Biscuit Radio Hour” broadcast from Helena, Arkansas. One of the reissue albums of his music featured a cover photo of Williamson performing on the hour, its details prominently displayed on the front of the bass drum.

Williamson has often been confused with the later artist, Alleck Miller, who also adopted the moniker Sonny Boy Williamson and is referred to by blues aficianados as Sonny Boy Williamson II. In fact, the two are easy to distinguish. Williamson I played the harmonica acoustically and was essentially a pre-War artist. Williamson II was entirely an electrified harpist, in the style of Little Walter, reflecting the advent of the jukebox and electrified instruments following World War II.

Tagged as:

blues, harmonica blues, delta blues, classic blues, chicago blues
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2	Keep It To Yourself full track	207
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Hayzi22 wrote:
2 hours ago

Sonny Boy Williamson is my favorite.

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yarrrgh wrote:
August 2009

i think this page should be related just to Aleck “Rice” Miller - the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson II - because all the tracks in the charts here, are Miller's songs.

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tastelesslemon wrote:
August 2009

so sad when he played sad, so good when he played good. <3.....and still..

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blerc wrote:
July 2009

Don't mention to no one else.

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epi_gee wrote:
July 2009

Sonny Boy is merging with Sonny Boy II because they never used I or II on thier albums... to scrobble music for Sonny Boy II correctly, you need to make sure they are correctly labeled in your media player, then turn off the auto-correct spelling in your settings. Pain in the ass, but that is all that can be done. This Sonny Boy should be listed as Sonny Boy Williamson .. no "I" at the end. -Epg

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Unckrich wrote:
June 2009

You can´t look older with 34 years than Sonny Boy Williamson! Great music

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bcwilliamson wrote:
June 2009

great blues. you might want to check out B.C. Williamson, who is a fictional blues artist with an endlessly complicated backstory, spanning over 60 years. and now he has a 22-track compilation album coming out. "The Greatest Blues Singer Who Never Lived."

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Ton87 wrote:
June 2009

Go here http://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/Sonny+Boy+Williamson+II and vote "Sonny Boy Williamson II is correct."

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pulsar00 wrote:
June 2009

boom boom

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hcunha wrote:
June 2009

Somebody can help with "Eyesight To The Blind" album to download please?

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Akarik wrote:
May 2009

Yeah this incorrect autocorrection is still happening and is very annoying.

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epi_gee wrote:
April 2009

The dominant picture on this page as well as nearly half the above songs are Sonny Boy II ... I will try to correct the last.fm pages, but the web site is auto correcting the artist WRONG !.

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bcwilliamson wrote:
April 2009

incredible harp player, overshadowed by sonny the second and little walter. amazing pioneer of the form. some of you people might like to check out my music of a similar era... have a try! http://www.last.fm/music/B.C.+Williamson thank you, god bless

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djonylounge wrote:
April 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxDUBAx_gxc

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B1L2U3E4S5 wrote:
April 2009

blues harp master

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mahmoudsergi wrote:
March 2009

Love you Sonny !

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gospodin-o wrote:
March 2009

гуру

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robin2000 wrote:
February 2009

herrlich!!!

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LondonLouis wrote:
January 2009

One of the greats. Fine Harp olayer with a real liking for surrealistic images - or at least songs which makes one want to work out what might be behind his words (Fattening Frogs; Nine below Zero etc). His music really drives. Poor old SBW1, who was a serious talent, was cruelly wiped out by SBW2 (last.fm must get this multiple name problem sorted). SBW2 must have been some operator, as well as being a very distinctive musician.

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BluesRok wrote:
November 2008

At the group Blues Artist of the Week, you can vote for up to 5 artist for the title each week, and play some great blues games! Hope to see you there!

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