This Gets My Mojo Working

Not sure why I never did this before (post a Spotify playlist), but here is a little play list that I like to jam to when I need to get my mojo working

It's the Birthday of Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II

His Best


Today could possibly be the birthday of one of my favorite bluesmen. Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II. It is reported that before he died he commented that they broke the mold when he was born. All my reading and research on him indicates that he was truly one of a kind, so I think that was a true statement.

I'll leave it to you to read the Wikipedia article on him, it is well done and has some other cool links that you might enjoy checking out.

To me the most important part of his life was all the music that he made and the musicians that he inspired.

While tall tales, unlikely fables and outright lies make up much of what Sonny Boy Williamson II had to say about his own life, his most important contributions have been documented well through countless recordings on myriad labels. His output of recordings, both issued and unissued, for Lillian McMurray's Trumpet label, can be found on Arhoolie, Alligator, Purple Pyramid, Collectables, plus a handful of other domestic and import imprints, while his years as a resident of the Chess/Checker house appear on various compilations on MCA/Chess. His European recordings reside on Alligator, Analogue Productions, Storyville, and others.

Sonny Boy Williamson II has had an enormous influence on modern day blues and blues rock artists and other legendary artists, as is shown by the number of his songs that are still covered.

• Muddy Waters - "Nine Below Zero", "Decoration Day"
  
• Howlin' Wolf - "Cool Disposition", "Decoration Day"
  
• B. B. King - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• Mose Allison - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - "Help Me", "Checkin' Up On My Baby"
  
• Led Zeppelin - "Bring It on Home"
  
• Van Morrison - "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket", "Help Me" - both on the 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now. Morrison has often sung "Help Me" in live performances throughout his long career.
  
• The Allman Brothers Band - "One Way Out"
  
• New York Dolls - "Don't Start me Talkin'"
  
• Ten Years After - "Help Me"
  
• The Who - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• Aerosmith - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• The Blues Brothers - "From the Bottom"
  
• Cowboy Junkies - "Decoration Day"
  
• Lester Butler - "I Cross My Heart"
  
• Rory Gallagher - "Don't Start me Talkin"; both on the Defender album and the live bootleg, Meeting With The G-Man.
  
• Nine Below Zero took their band name from his song.
  
• The Downchild Blues Band, also known as "Downchild", took their name from his song, "Mister Downchild".[3]
  
• John Popper of Blues Traveler notes Sonny Boy Williamson as a strong influence on his harmonica playing.
  
• Joe Bonamassa - "Your Funeral and My Trial"
  
• Dr. Feelgood - "Checking Up On My Baby" on their live album, Stupidity

Sonny Boy Williamson: Your Funeral and my trial


Sonny Boy Williamson 1964


Sonny Boy Williamson @Amazon.com
Sonny Boy Williamson @SqueezeMyLemon

Lonely

Screamin Jay, he was lonely...


The White Stripes are lonely too...


and Sonny Boy Williamson, well you all know how lonely he was...


I'm ready for a drink...

Don't Start me Talking

I'll tell everything I know....

Sonny Boy Williamson - Bring It On Home

Wikipedia

Sonny Boy Williamson Bring It On Home — 2:34 (Willie Dixon)
"Bring It On Home" is a song written by Willie Dixon and made famous by Sonny Boy Williamson II in 1963, featuring a simple rhythm track and interplay between vocals and harmonica.

In 1969, English rock band Led Zeppelin recorded a version of the song for their album Led Zeppelin II. The intro and outro were deliberate homages to the Sonny Boy Williamson song, while the rest of the track was an original Jimmy Page/Robert Plant composition. However, Dixon was not given a lyric writing credit for the track, leading to Arc Music, the publishing arm of Chess Records, bringing a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin for copyright infringement and winning an out-of-court settlement in the 1970s. Dixon himself did not benefit until he sued Arc Music to recover his royalties and a copyright credit.

Bring It On Home

I hope Santa was good to all the blues fans out there

Lyrics To Fatting Frogs For Snakes by Sonny Boy Williams II

Fattening Frogs for Snakes, Sonny Boy Williamson & Animals


It took me a long time, to find out my mistakes
Took me a long time, to find out my mistakes
(it sho' did man)
But I bet you my bottom dollar, I'm not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes

I found out my downfall, back in nineteen and thirty
(I started checkin')
I found out my downfall, from nineteen and thirty
I'm tellin' all of my friends, I'm not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes

All right now... (solo)

Yeh it is nineteen and fifty-seven, I've got to correct all of my mistakes
Whoa man, nineteen and fifty-seven, I've got to correct all of my mistakes
I'm tellin' my friends includin' my wife and everybody else,
not fattenin' no more frogs for snakes

The SqueezeMyLemon All Stars

Every now and then you find a clip on YouTube that is just so delightful. This is an example, I call this clip the "SqueezeMyLemon All Stars." I would have loved being at this show. But it just so happens that this was filmed in 1963, I was two years old at the time.

Can you imagine seeing Otis Spann, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Big Joe Williams, Willie Dixon, Victoria Spivey, Muddy Waters, Lonnie Johnson and Memphis Slim all on the same stage.

American Folk Blues Festival 1963

It's the Birthday of Aleck "Rice" Miller

His Best


Tomorrow will be the birthday of one of my favorite bluesmen. Aleck "Rice" Miller aka Sonny Boy Williamson II. It is reported that before he died he commented that they broke the mold when he was born. All my reading and research on him indicates that he was truly one of a kind, so I think that was a true statement.

I'll leave it to you to read the Wikipedia article on him, it is well done and has some other cool links that you might enjoy checking out.

To me the most important part of his life was all the music that he made and the musicians that he inspired.

While tall tales, unlikely fables and outright lies make up much of what Sonny Boy Williamson II had to say about his own life, his most important contributions have been documented well through countless recordings on myriad labels. His output of recordings, both issued and unissued, for Lillian McMurray's Trumpet label, can be found on Arhoolie, Alligator, Purple Pyramid, Collectables, plus a handful of other domestic and import imprints, while his years as a resident of the Chess/Checker house appear on various compilations on MCA/Chess. His European recordings reside on Alligator, Analogue Productions, Storyville, and others.

Sonny Boy Williamson II has had an enormous influence on modern day blues and blues rock artists and other legendary artists, as is shown by the number of his songs that are still covered.

• Muddy Waters - "Nine Below Zero", "Decoration Day"
  
• Howlin' Wolf - "Cool Disposition", "Decoration Day"
  
• B. B. King - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• Mose Allison - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - "Help Me", "Checkin' Up On My Baby"
  
• Led Zeppelin - "Bring It on Home"
  
• Van Morrison - "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket", "Help Me" - both on the 1974 live album It's Too Late to Stop Now. Morrison has often sung "Help Me" in live performances throughout his long career.
  
• The Allman Brothers Band - "One Way Out"
  
• New York Dolls - "Don't Start me Talkin'"
  
• Ten Years After - "Help Me"
  
• The Who - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• Aerosmith - "Eyesight to the Blind"
  
• The Blues Brothers - "From the Bottom"
  
• Cowboy Junkies - "Decoration Day"
  
• Lester Butler - "I Cross My Heart"
  
• Rory Gallagher - "Don't Start me Talkin"; both on the Defender album and the live bootleg, Meeting With The G-Man.
  
• Nine Below Zero took their band name from his song.
  
• The Downchild Blues Band, also known as "Downchild", took their name from his song, "Mister Downchild".[3]
  
• John Popper of Blues Traveler notes Sonny Boy Williamson as a strong influence on his harmonica playing.
  
• Joe Bonamassa - "Your Funeral and My Trial"
  
• Dr. Feelgood - "Checking Up On My Baby" on their live album, Stupidity

Sonny Boy Williamson: Your Funeral and my trial


Sonny Boy Williamson 1964


Sonny Boy Williamson @Amazon.com
Sonny Boy Williamson @SqueezeMyLemon

Decoration Day - Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. I did, the wife and I celibrated her birthday spending the night at a local hotel Casino and resort. A good time was had by us both.

But I could not help but think about Memorial Day and where it comes from, and its connection to the blues. I have heard songs by several of the prewar bluesmen like Sonny Boy Williamson I, that mention Decoration Day. So I thought I would do a little research on the topic.

Here is just a bit of what I found;

Some sites mistakenly credit Howlin Wolf as the writer of this song and say that Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) covered his version. But I remembered hearing a version of the song titled Decoration Blues done by Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee Williamson) which made me think that the song had an eairlier orgin.

Decoration Blues
Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee)
(John Lee Williamson)
Sonny Boy Williamson I - vocals & harmonica
Yank Rachell - mandolin & guitar
Joe Williams - guitar
Recorded March 13, 1938 Aurora, Illinois, Leland Hotel
Album: Bluebird Recordings 1937-1938


Lord, I had a woman
She was nice lovin' in ev'ry way
Lord, I had a woman
She was nice lovin' in ev'ry way
Lord, but she died an left me
I have the blues on ev'ry *Decoration Day

Lord, I hated to see her leave me
Because these are the last words
My baby had to say
Lord, I hate to see her leave me
Because these are the last words
My baby had to say
She told me to bring her some flowers
On ev'ry Decoration Day

People, you havin' a good time, now?
Just like the flowers that comes in May
Peoples, you havin' a good time, now?
Just like the flowers that comes in May
Now, but Sonny Boy thinks about his baby
On ev'ry Decoration Day

(harmonica & mandolin & guitar)

Fare you well, mm
Baby, I ain't got no mo' to say
Fare you well, mm
Baby, I ain't got no mo' to say
Lord, but I'll always remember
I won't never forget, 'Decoration Day'.


*Declaration Day
~

DECORATION DAY Live at The Music Hall Jazz Cafe

Notes from YouTube: This version of Decoration Day is being preformed by The Legendary JOHN SINCLAIR with Jeff "Baby" Grand on guitar, Martin "Tino" Gross on drums and "Showtime" Johnny Evens on horns on Aug. 16th 2007. It's a little dark but the audio is KILLER.

Decoration Day
Recorded in Memphis, April 17, 1952. It's the same song as done by Sonny Boy Williamson, of course.

Decoration Day (Chester Burnett)

Lord I got a woman, she nice lovin' in every way
Lord I got a woman, she nice lovin' in every way
You know she done died and left me, I have the blues on every Decoration Day

So sorry see you to leave me [sic], I hate to see my baby get away
So sorry to see you leave me, I hate to see my baby get away
I want you to bring me some flowers, about every Decoration Day

Lord I was walkin' round her bedside, these were the last words my baby had to say
Lord walkin' round her bedside, these were the last words my baby had to say
She said bring me some flowers - be sure honey - on every Decoration Day

------------------------------------
Wikipedia says;

According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who had died while captive. The freed slaves reinterred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard & built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard; a very daring thing to do in the South shortly after North's victory. On May 30 1868 the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they'd picked from the countryside & decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the 1st Decoration Day. A parade with thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.

A Little Sonnny Boy Williamson Christmas Music Video

I love the blues harmonica. I play harmonica for my own entertainment mostly and consider it my favorite of all the instruments. It is so cool how this simple instrument became such a powerful part of the blues. I intend to post various videos and maybe even some mp3s of some of my favorite harmonica players all this next week.

This video includes a couple of songs that have every thing that a good blues song should have, IMHO. Great lyrics, with many double entendres, references to the devil, great harmonica playing, all done by a master bluesman. I play these songs during the holiday period but they are good anytime I hear them.

Sonny Boy Williamson II Your Funeral and my trial Video

This Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II) song has been on my mind as of late.

file under;
music, blues, video

Top 10 Blues Harmonica Players

Here is my list of my top 10 favorite blues harmonica players. In loose order, the people listed below #6 can change depending on my mood, the first five guys are set in stone in my opinion. Feel free to leave me a comment with your top 10 favorites.

01. Sonny Boy Williamson II (Alek Rice Miller)
02. Lil Walter
03. Sonny Terry
04. Junior Wells
05. Sonny Boy Williamson I
06. Jimmy Reed
07. James Cotton
08. Charlie Musselwhite
09. Sugar Blue
10. Big Walter Horton

iTunes Store Music

file under;
blues, harmonica

Sonny Boy Williamson II: Thank You Sir, May I Have Another.

panchee, thanks for stopping by. To answer your question left in my last post, I like Little Walter too, he is from my home state of Louisiana and was a great harmonica player and innovator of the blues. But he could not improvise the way Sonny Boy Williamson did. All the harp players that were in Muddy Waters band rose to promanance. i.e. Junoir Wells, James Cotton. That band was probably the best blues band ever.

As for Sonny Boy Williamson music to check out. The two songs mentioned by Mister Anchovy are great songs. If you are a blues harmonica player you have to try to play "Don't start me talking". For those of you who like that song, check out this video of Bob Dylan playing "Don't Start Me Talking".

As for music by Sonny Boy Williamson to check out try these three CDs;
Sonny Boy Williamson His Best

Sonny Boy Williamson King Biscuit Time

Sonny Boy Williamson Bummer Road

These three CD's are my favorite by Sonny Boy Williamson, and I think you will enjoy them too.

And finally check out another Great Sonny Boy Video from YouTube;

Sonny Boy Williamson - Bye Bye Bird & My Younger Days

file under;
music, blues, video, Sonny Boy Williamson II

Sonny Boy Williamson II - Nine Below Zero Video

I have been asked who is my favorite harp player of all time. Well I have to admit that Aleck "Rice" Miller a.k.a. Sonny Boy Williamson II is the man.

Check out how effortlessly Sonny Boy Plays this tune. He even plays some notes without cupping the harp, while as a harp player I know this can be done. I am just surprised to see how easy he makes this look. Too cool.

When I grow up as a harp player I want to be just like Sonny Boy.

Also note that Otis Span is playing the piano on this cut, check out his break where he tickles the daylights out of those ivories.

Sonny Boy Williamson II - Below Zero Video @ YouTube.Com

You can read Sonny Boy's Bio @ Wikipedia.

Memphis Slim & Sonny Boy DVD


file under;
music, blues, video, Sonny Boy Williamson II, harmonica

mp3s by Sonny Boy Williamson

Click for Sonny Boy Williamson
(John Lee Williamson) @ Amazon
One of my all time favorite pre-war blues men is Sonny Boy Williams. It is kind of funny how I discovered him. I went to a music store to buy a CD by Sonny Boy Williams II (Rice Miller) and bought a CD by the original Sonny Boy and this was my introduction his pre war blues harmonica style. I fell in love with the raw emotions of his playing, and the mastery that he exhibts.

The irony of finding Sonny Boy while looking for Rice Miller takes some of the sting off the fact that Miller stole the name from Sonny Boy. And I have wondered how many other Sonny Boy Williams fans found him that way. The theft of Sonny Boy's name caused music historiains some confusion for a while there. But research has proven the original Sonny Boy Williams was in fact John Lee Williamson. In 1914 he was born near Jackson Tennessee which he even mentions in a couple of his songs. Some have called him the "father of the modern blues harmonica," and I agree with this assesment.

In 1948, Sonny Boy was tragically killed after a mugging.

Reference;

Sonny Boy Williamson @ Answer.com

MP3s (hosted @ rapidshare);

Sonny Boy Williamson - Dealing with the Devil

Sonny Boy Williamson - Check Up On My Baby Blues

file under;
harmonica
blues
music
mp3