Sonny Boy Williamson II
Aleck "Rice" Miller (December 5, 1899 – May 25, 1965), also known as Sonny Boy Williamson II, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is not to be confused with the original Sonny Boy Williamson, also a blues musician but of no relation.
Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name Sonny Boy Williamson from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name Read Full BioAleck "Rice" Miller (December 5, 1899 – May 25, 1965), also known as Sonny Boy Williamson II, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is not to be confused with the original Sonny Boy Williamson, also a blues musician but of no relation.
Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name Sonny Boy Williamson from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name, and some blues scholars believe that Miller's assertion he was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914. Whatever the methodology, Miller became known as Sonny Boy Williamson.
Williamson had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James's band. In the 1960's he toured Europe during the height of the British blues craze, recording with The Yardbirds and The Animals. Accoring to the Led Zeppelin biography "Hammer of the Gods", while in England Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator.
Some of his hit songs include "Fattenin' Frogs for Snakes", "Don't Start Me To Talking" ,"Keep It To Yourself", "Your Funeral & My Trial", "Bye Bye Bird", "Nine Below Zero", "Help Me", and the infamous "Little Village", with dialogue deemed 'unsuitable for airplay' by Leonard Chess. His song "Eyesight To the Blind" was performed by The Who as a key song in their rock opera Tommy (the only song in that opus not written by a band member) and it was later covered on the Aerosmith album Honkin' on Bobo. His recording og "One Way Out" was reworked from the Elmore James original and became popularized by The Allman Brothers Band in the early 1970s.
Sonny Boy Williamson II has had a big 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. In interviews given in the concert documentary film The Last Waltz, members of the rock & roll group The Band recount jamming with Miller prior to their initial fame as Bob Dylan's electric backing band, and making plans to hook up with Williamson as his backing band. Unfortunately, Williamson's death prevented any such plans from ever being fulfilled.
Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name Sonny Boy Williamson from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name Read Full BioAleck "Rice" Miller (December 5, 1899 – May 25, 1965), also known as Sonny Boy Williamson II, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is not to be confused with the original Sonny Boy Williamson, also a blues musician but of no relation.
Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name Sonny Boy Williamson from 1937 onward, Aleck Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name, and some blues scholars believe that Miller's assertion he was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914. Whatever the methodology, Miller became known as Sonny Boy Williamson.
Williamson had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James's band. In the 1960's he toured Europe during the height of the British blues craze, recording with The Yardbirds and The Animals. Accoring to the Led Zeppelin biography "Hammer of the Gods", while in England Sonny Boy set his hotel room on fire while trying to cook a rabbit in a coffee percolator.
Some of his hit songs include "Fattenin' Frogs for Snakes", "Don't Start Me To Talking" ,"Keep It To Yourself", "Your Funeral & My Trial", "Bye Bye Bird", "Nine Below Zero", "Help Me", and the infamous "Little Village", with dialogue deemed 'unsuitable for airplay' by Leonard Chess. His song "Eyesight To the Blind" was performed by The Who as a key song in their rock opera Tommy (the only song in that opus not written by a band member) and it was later covered on the Aerosmith album Honkin' on Bobo. His recording og "One Way Out" was reworked from the Elmore James original and became popularized by The Allman Brothers Band in the early 1970s.
Sonny Boy Williamson II has had a big 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. In interviews given in the concert documentary film The Last Waltz, members of the rock & roll group The Band recount jamming with Miller prior to their initial fame as Bob Dylan's electric backing band, and making plans to hook up with Williamson as his backing band. Unfortunately, Williamson's death prevented any such plans from ever being fulfilled.
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Help Me
Sonny Boy Williamson II Lyrics
You got to help me
I can't do it all by myself
You got to help me, baby
I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself, somebody else
I may have to wash, I may have to sew
I may have to cook, I might mop the floor
But you help me baby
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll find myself somebody else
When I walk, you walk with me
When I talk, you talk to me
Oh baby, I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself, somebody else
Help me, help me darlin'
Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Oh, bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Darlin' I know we sleep bare
But I just don't feel like lyin' down, oh yeah keep
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them
Sonja Dietz
You got to help me
I can't do it all by myself
You got to help me, baby
I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself, somebody else
I may have to wash, I may have to sew
I may have to cook, I might mop the floor
But you help me baby
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll find myself somebody else
When I walk, you walk with me
When I talk, you talk to me
Oh baby, I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
I'll have to find myself, somebody else
Help me, help me darlin'
Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Oh, bring me my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Darlin' I know we sleep bare
But I just don't feel like lyin' down, oh yeah keep
Bigknocker
I first got into SBW II as a 19 or 20 year-old after I read an article about harmonica players written by Noel Coppage in Stereo Review magazine around 1973-74. A few weeks later I happened to find the double album set "This is My Story" in a bargain bin for sale for $2.99 at New Wave Music in Pittsfield, MA.
I couldn't believe how awesome this song was when I first put it on my turntable and cranked it up. After that, I bought lots of blues harmonica albums, and every album I could get my hands on that featured SBW II. I bought blues albums from Arhoolie Records, Discontinued Records in L.A., and even drove to Chicago to check out some record stores there.
In 1984 , I had a dream that I had picked up a hitchhiker, and had Sonny Boy playing "Help Me" on my car stereo. In my dream, we talked about blues for a few minutes, and then the guy asked me how many albums I had of Sonny Boy, and without hesitation, I told him "13." I had never consciously counted the albums and noted the number.
When I woke up, I ran out into my living room and started fingering through the 450 albums that I had. I had over 120 blues harmonica albums, and...had EXACTLY 13 SBW II albums.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite blues tune of all time. I'm 66 now, and when I go, party on everybody, but PLEASE play this song at my funeral!!
𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗬𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗘
Hele me
เนื้อเพลง Help Me
You got to help me
I can't do it all by myself
You got to help me baby
I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
Ill have to find myself somebody else
I may have to wash
I may have to sew I may have to cook
I might mop the floor But you help me babe
You know if you don't help me darling
Ill find myself somebody else
When I walk walk with me
ou know if you don't help me dadin
Ill find myself somebody else
When I walk walk with me When I talk you talk to me
Oh baby I can't do it all by myself
You know if you don't help me darling
Ill have to find myself somebody else
Help me help me darlin
Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Bring my nightshirt
Put on your morning gown
Darlin I know we stripped bare
Peivand Ryks
Possibly the best harmonica blues song ever recorded. A masterpiece
knife lyfe
@Hugh Cameron Nah Its just the same B3 organ groove and key.
crezznic
you have to hear the canned heat version of this song with blues master alan wilson
Guitar Nick, Blue Al & Groovy Rus
@Hugh Cameron Both songs are just minor blues and the blues pattern cannot be copyrighted, so its hard to say who is influenced by who.
Scofflaw Phredduhr
Possibly… but I’ve never heard a better harmonica sounding anything better than Alex Rice’s version of this song.
Joe Stephan
Sonny Boy One (acoustic) and Sonny Boy Two (electric) are the Gold Standard of Blues Mouth Harp Magic. Real Blues Power done right!💙
MrBluesyoucanuse
My god...this is so good. Talk about a channel into some ones soul. Not another person on this earth can do what Sonny does here. Its a perfectly executed piece of music. Credit to the whole band as well.
Cesar Lameira
Quero ouvir sepre muito bom mesmo
Joe Stephan
When I had my weekly Blues radio show I always told the listeners you can't fully appreciate the music until you come to appreciate the culture & people behind it. And, yes, I also told them Muddy Waters was one of the basic food groups people should have everyday.
Gloria Archer
Yeeeeesss