Saturday, December 03, 2011

John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson Harmonica Legend by Adams Gussow

This is so cool I really hope all the blues harmonica players out there watch this video. Adam Gussow gives a very interesting lecture on the importance of Sonny Boy Williamson to the modern blues scene.

Notes from YouTube

Sonny Boy Williamson? Many people--even those who aren't harmonica players or fans of the blues--have heard of him. But there were TWO great harmonica players named Sonny Boy Williamson, and many people don't know much about the first one: John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, native of Jackson, Tennessee.

At the invitation of Sonny Boy archivist and gravesite preservationist Michael Baker, University of Mississippi blues scholar and harmonica player Adam Gussow visited the Jackson-Madison Country Library in May 2011 to give a lecture/demonstration on the artistry of John Lee Williamson. Gussow's researches into the publishing history of Williamson's songs not only make clear that confusion about the "two Sonny Boys" exists at the highest level--i.e., where the money is being made--but suggests that Williamson's primary music publisher, Arc Music, has evolved a startling and hilarious way of drawing attention to his most widely covered song, "Good Morning Little School Girl."

Credit for the film production goes to: Steve Bowers / Baltimore Street Productions 124 E. Baltimore Street, Suite 222 Jackson, TN 38301 Produced for E+TV6 Jackson, TN

If you'd like to learn how to play blues harmonica, please visit Gussow's website, Modern Blues Harmonica:

http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com

Gussow's one-man band version of Williamson's "Good Morning Little School Girl" is available on iTunes and Amazon mp3s. If you're interested in learning this song, a video lesson and tab are available at Modern Blues Harmonica:

video: http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/2721206-good-morning-little-school-girl-gussow-mov

tab: http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/2721207-good-morning-little-school-girl-gussow-pdf



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