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- There were two men who used the name Sonny Boy Williamson, and both made a huge contribution to the Blues. One was an open-hearted genial fellow who made the harp a fixture in Chicago Blues bands, and died very young; the other was a utter rogue, whose juke-joint skills brought the sound of the Mississippi Delta into modern rock music.
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In order to differentiate between the two musicians, many later scholars and biographers have referred to John Lee Williamson (1914–1948) as Sonny Boy Williamson I and Miller (c. 1912–1965) as Sonny Boy Williamson II.
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Who is Sonny Boy Williamson?
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- Who Was Sonny Boy Williamson II?
- Who Came Up with The Lie?
- What Happened to The Original Sonny Boy Williamson?
- How Influential Was Sonny Boy Williamson II?
Sonny Boy Williamson II, as he is now titled, is admired by musicians as esteemed as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, and The Rolling Stonesfor his songwriting and his ability to conjure a rare and richly innovative tone from his harmonica. But he was one of the biggest rogues in music. The facts of his life are mired in mystery – his birthdates vary fr...
It is simply not known who came up with the deceit. Some people have claimed it was the musician’s idea, some claim that Interstate Grocery Owner Max Moore came up with the plan as a ruse to market his goods to African-Americans who liked the blues. The original Sonny Boy Williamson was already a well-known figure (he had scored a hit with his song...
Perhaps everyone involved believed that because the show was broadcast in the South it would not come to the notice of the real Sonny Boy Williamson – John Lee Curtis Williamson – but word of the deception reached him, and the Chicago-based musician went to Arkansas in 1942 to confront the man who had stolen his name. Lockwood was later quoted as s...
With his namesake dead, the new Sonny Boy Williamson’s career went from strength to strength. In the 50s he recorded a host of blues classics, including “Cross My Heart,” “Eyesight To the Blind,” “Nine Below Zero,” “One Way Out,” and “Bye Bye Bird.” Some of his songs, such as “Don’t Start Me Talkin’,” “Keep It To Yourself,” and “Take Your Hands Out...
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JOHN LEE ‘Sonny Boy’ WILLIAMSON. There were two men who used the name Sonny Boy Williamson, and both made a huge contribution to the Blues. One was an open-hearted genial fellow who made the harp a fixture in Chicago Blues bands, and died very young; the other was a utter rogue, whose juke-joint skills brought the sound of the Mississippi ...
Feb 1, 2015 · It is one of the more confusing facts of blues history that two prominent chicago blues harmonica players both recorded under the name Sonny Boy Williamson. Let's try to sort this out. Sonny Boy I was born John Lee Curtis Williamson in Jackson, Tennessee on March 30th 1914.
To further complicate things, Enoch Williams made several recordings in the 1940s as “Sonny Boy Williams.” Scholars now differentiate the two as Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee) and Sonny Boy Williamson II (Alex Miller).
Many later biographers and scholars have used the names John Lee Williamson (1914-1948), Sonny Boy Williamson I, and Miller (c.1912-1965) to distinguish between them. Enoch Williams, a jazz singer and pianist, recorded around 1940 under the name Sonny Boy Williams.
John Lee Curtis Williamson, known to bluesologists as ‘the first Sonny Boy’ or ‘Sonny Boy No. 1’ because he preceded another famed bluesman (‘Rice’ Miller) who also used the SBW moniker, can rightly be considered the forefather of the postwar Chicago blues style.
