Biography of Sonny Boy Williamson [I]

John Lee Williamson -- the original "Sonny Boy" -- posthumously played an incalcuable role in shaping the massive role of the humble harmonica in Chicago blues history. If it hadn't been for his tragic 1948 murder, the first "Sonny Boy" would have doubtless continued his reign as one of the Windy City's leading bluesmen into the 1950s heyday of the idiom (and Rice Miller, the second "Sonny Boy," would have been forced to adopt a new alias).Williamson's unamplified playing helped immeasurably to establish the harp as the expressive lead instrument that it remains today, and his innovative practice of singing a lyric and instantly answering a phrase on his harp was deeply influential to a legion of 50s Chicago greats.From his initial 1937 session for RCA's Bluebird subsidiary, which included the future standard "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl," Williamson's warm vocals were decidedly smoother and urban-sounding than most of his contemporaries, and his extremely popular repertoire included "Hoodoo Hoodoo" (later appropriated by his disciple Junior Wells as "Hoodoo Man Blues"), the touching "Bluebird Blues," "Elevator Woman" and "Stop Breaking Down."With piano, drums and guitar powerfully backing his slashing harp work on his later Bluebird 78s, Sonny Boy Williamson helped to establish the now-standard band format for classic Chicago blues as we know it today. ~ Bill Dahl