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Biography: John Lee Williamson
Sonny's barking, moaning harmonica is startling in its originality and beauty.
He sang with incredible emotion and conviction.John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson 1) recorded over 120 sides of 78 rpm records in the 30's and 40's. Born in southwest Madison Co. near Jackson, TN. March 30, 1914. "He grew up in the Jackson area. In talks with his family Memphis, though I'm sure he played there, didn't mean that much to him. In the summers he and his half-brother TW Utley would take the train to St. Louis to stay with their uncle Fred Utley. Early in his career he spent more time in St.Louis than in Chicago. Also as a teen he was in a Gospel quartet called the Four Lambs at Blairs Chapel Church" ( Michael Baker).
As a teenager he is said to have worked with Sleepy John Estes and Homesick James. Billy Boy Arnold in an interview stated that Sonny Boy taught him how to "choke" his Harp. Sonny Boy made the harp the lead instrument in the blues and his first (May 1937) recordings were in country style. He is considered as one of most important and creative blues performers to emerge during the mid-to late 1930's, a period of blues recording dominated by the supple, regularized blues of the so-called "Bluebird Beat".
He recorded such songs as: "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl" and "Sugar Mama (Sugar Gal?)" for RCA/Bluebird. During this time he also played with a small group featuring Big Bill Broonzy.
In an article a few years ago Larry Hoffman put it best when he said "The seeds of modern days blues harp that reached fruition in the golden era of mid-'50s Chicago were sown in Memphis, TN."
That city boasted the simultaneous prescences of Noah Lewis, Jaybird Coleman, Will Shade, Jed Davenport, Hammie Nixon, John Lee Williamson and Walter Horton all off-and-on between the years 1925 to 30. Two other fine players at this time in TN were: Delford Bailey, the Harmonica Wizard and his disciple Sonny Terry. During 1927-28, Bailey recorded 11 tunes that were to set the standard for harp display pieces in recorded blues.
Sonny Terry was an influential player and a finest exponent of the rural, chordal-rhythmic style accented by whoops & holler and driving chordal work. John Lee "the father of modern blues harp" absorbed the style of Hammie Nixon and adapted it to a concept that was to shape the blues harp style into what it was a half century later. It was in CHICAGO that Brownsville, Helena and Memphis style "coalesced" into what is now called the modern blues harp style and sound.
John Lee played straight and cross-harp styles, ragtime tunes and straight blues. He used some interesting phrasing with his Harp that is sometimes hard to spot BUT it is really worth working on as it lays a great foundation to build on. As an example in some of his intro's he used three quintuplet phrases (draw 3, draw 2, draw 1, blow 1+2, draw 1).
This is repeated 3 times very quickly, and as Tony Glover describes it "it's just the old shave -and -a -haircut riff speed up". One amazing characteristic of his music that ones hears not only the past (Noah Lewis & Hammie Nixon) but also the future viz-a-v Little Walter's vocals, the phrasing of Rice Miller and the tones of Big Walter Horton. He was the first of the modern line of singer/harp player to perform his own tunes. Sonny Boy was married to a woman named Lacey Belle, and her name pops up in many songs, including a late one entitled "Lacey Belle."
Mike Rowe reports that it was Lacey who opened the door of her Chicago home one cold morning in 1948 to discover a mugged Sonny Boy breathing his last, his final words being "Lord have mercy." This happened on his way home from work at the Plantation Club in Chicago.
Sonny had an all-star cast of accompanists over the years. His first recording session was supported by the great Big Joe Williams, at the beginning of his distinguished career playing delta blues guitar. After this session Sonny Boy alternated between guitar and piano backups, occasionally using both at the same session. His most frequent accompanists were Big Bill Broonzy and the record company's "house" piano player Blind John Davis. Other famous accompanists over the years were Eddie Boyd, Yank Rachel, Big Maceo and Willie Dixon. But some say the best accompanist was Joshua Altheimer, a piano player who played on the seven numbers of a 1940 session and then died the next year. He was only 30 years old!
Pete Welding comments: the only significant difference between Big Joe Williams and Sonny Boy and those of say Muddy Waters and Howling Wolf is the matter of electric amplification. Othewise all the ingredients are the same: guitar, harp, bass and drums. He continues, "Big Joe and John Lee stand as vital, connecting links between the older Mississippi style and those of the postwar years."
Although he toured throughout the south, he spend most of his time in Chicago. The demand for John Lee's music was big in the south so in 1940's another singer/harpist called "Rice Miller" Williamson started to play music under the name of "Sonny Boy" Williamson in conjunction with his work for the King Biscuit Flour Company and a local radio station. John Lee challenged his rival but apparently it did not get legal as John Lee was the only Sonny Boy making records. It was only after John Lee's death that the older man "Rice Miller" made records for the Trumpet label (Jackson, Miss.).
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