Williams as a youth began wandering across the United States busking and playing stores, bars, alleys and work camps. In the early 1920s he worked in the Rabbit Foot Minstrels revue and recorded with the Birmingham Jug Band in 1930 for the Okeh label.
In 1934, he was in St. Louis, where he met record producer Lester Melrose who signed him to Bluebird Records in 1935. He stayed with Bluebird for ten years, recording such blues hits as "Baby, Please Don't Go" as Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Singers (1935) and "Crawlin' King Snake" (1941), both songs later covered by many other performers. He also recorded with other blues singers, including Sonny Boy Williamson I, Robert Nighthawk and Peetie Wheatstraw.
Williams remained a noted blues artist in the 1950s and 1960s, with his guitar style and vocals becoming popular with folk-blues fans. He recorded for the Trumpet, Delmark, Prestige and Vocalion labels, among others. He became a regular on the concert and coffeehouse circuits, touring Europe and Japan in the late 1960s and early 1970s and performing at major U.S. music festivals.
He died December 17, 1982 in Macon, Mississippi. Williams was buried in a private cemetery outside Crawford near the Lowndes County line. His headstone was primarily paid for by friends and partially funded by a collection taken up among musicians at Clifford Antone's nightclub in Austin, Texas, organized by California music writer Dan Forte, and erected through the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund on October 9, 1994. Harmonica virtuoso and one time touring companion of Williams, Charlie Musselwhite, delivered the eulogy at the unveiling. Williams' headstone epitaph, composed by Forte, proclaims him "King of the 9 String Guitar."
Remaining funds raised for Williams' memorial were donated by the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund to the Delta Blues Museum in order to purchase the last nine-string guitar from Williams' sister Mary May. The guitar purchased by the Museum is actually a 12-string guitar that Williams used in his later days. The last nine-string (a 1950s Kay cutaway converted to Williams' nine-string specifications) is missing at this time. Williams' previous nine-string (converted from a 1944 Gibson L-7) is in the possession of Williams' road agent and fellow traveler, Blewett Thomas.
One of Williams' nine-string guitars can be found under the counter of the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, which is owned by Bob Koester, the founder of Delmark Records. Williams can be seen playing the nine-string guitar in American Folk-Blues Festival: The British Tours, 1963-1966, a 2007 DVD release.
Blues historian Barry Lee Pearson (Sounds Good to Me: The Bluesman's Story, Virginia Piedmont Blues) attempted to document the gritty intensity of the Williams persona in this description:
"When I saw him playing at Mike Bloomfield's "blues night" at the Fickle Pickle, Williams was playing an electric nine-string guitar through a small ramshackle amp with a pie plate nailed to it and a beer can dangling against that. When he played, everything rattled but Big Joe himself. The total effect of this incredible apparatus produced the most buzzing, sizzling, African-sounding music I have ever heard".
Marc Miller described a 1965 performance in Greenwich Village:
"Sandwiched in between the two sets, perhaps as an afterthought, was the bluesman Big Joe Williams (not to be confused with the jazz and rhythm and blues singer Joe Williams who sang with Count Basie). He looked terrible. He had a big bulbous aneuristic protrusion bulging out of his forehead. He was equipped with a beat up old acoustic guitar which I think had nine strings and sundry homemade attachments and a wire hanger contraption around his neck fashioned to hold a kazoo while keeping his hands free to play the guitar. Needless to say, he was a big letdown after the folk rockers. My date and I exchanged pained looks in empathy for what was being done this Delta blues man who was ruefully out of place. After three or four songs the unseen announcer came on the p. a. system and said, "Lets have a big hand for Big Joe Williams, ladies and gentlemen; thank you, Big Joe". But Big Joe wasn't finished. He hadn't given up on the audience, and he ignored the announcer. He continued his set and after each song the announcer came over the p. a. and tried to politely but firmly get Big Joe off the stage. Big Joe was having none of it, and he continued his set with his nine-string acoustic and his kazoo. Long about the sixth or seventh song he got into his groove and started to wail with raggedy slide guitar riffs, powerful voice, as well as intense percussion on the guitar and its various accoutrements. By the end of the set he had that audience of jaded '60s rockers on their feet cheering and applauding vociferously. Our initial pity for him was replaced by wondrous respect. He knew he had it in him to move that audience, and he knew that thousands of watts and hundreds of decibels do not change one iota the basic power of a song".
Williams' guitar playing was in the Delta blues style, and yet was unique. He played driving rhythm and virtuosic lead lines simultaneously and sang over it all. He played with picks both on his thumb and index finger, plus his guitar was heavily modified. Williams added a rudimentary electric pick-up, whose wires coiled all over the top of his guitar. He also added three extra strings, creating unison pairs for the first, second and fourth strings. His guitar was usually tuned to Open G, like such: (D2 G2 D3D3 G3 B3B3 D4D4), with a capo placed on the second fret to set the tuning to the key of A. During the 1920s and 1930s, Williams had gradually added these extra strings in order to keep other guitar players from being able to play his guitar. In his later years, he would also occasionally use a 12-string guitar with all strings tuned in unison to Open G. Williams sometimes tuned a six-string guitar to an interesting modification of Open G. In this modified tuning, the bass D string (D2) was replaced with a .08 gauge string and tuned to G4. The resulting tuning was (G4 G2 D3 G3 B3 D4), with the G4 string being used as a melody string. This tuning was used exclusively for slide playing.
Peach Orchard Mama
Big Joe Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Peach orchard mam-hoo, swore wasn't nobody gonna use your peaches but me
Well, you want Joe Williams to work in your orchard, well, and I keep your orchard clean
You done got me to the place, I hate to see that evenin' sun go down
Play it a long time, boy!
Yeah, ma'am, I hate to see that evenin' sun go down
Well, well, get up in the mornin', hoo-well, peach orchard mama, she's on my mind
Got a man to buy your groceries and another joker to pay your rent
She's got a man to buy your groceries and another joker's payin' your rent
Well, you got me workin' in your orchard, hoo-well, well, and bringin' you every cents
Play it a while
I wonder what's the matter with that woman. Play it!
Sometime she make me happy, and again she makes me cry
Sometime she make me happy, and again she makes me cry
Ever again I want a peach orchard mama, hoo-well, well, I wish to God that she would die
Play it a little while
The song "Peach Orchard Mama" by Big Joe Williams is a blues classic that tells the story of a man working in a peach orchard owned by a woman. The woman, referred to as the Peach Orchard Mama, is possessive of her peaches and has made it clear that only the singer, Joe Williams, is allowed to use them. In return, he keeps the orchard clean. The singer is smitten with the woman, as she is always on his mind, but he is aware that she has other men buying her groceries and paying her rent.
The lyrics explore the complex emotions of a man who is infatuated with a woman who is either uninterested or unable to fully commit to him. She brings him both happiness and heartbreak, leaving him feeling conflicted. The repetition of the phrase "well, well" adds to the emotional depth of the song, conveying the singer's frustration and confusion.
The music of "Peach Orchard Mama" is upbeat and lively, with Williams' guitar playing providing the perfect accompaniment to his raw vocals. The harmonica riff adds an extra layer of energy to the song. Overall, "Peach Orchard Mama" is a powerful blues track that captures the essence of longing and desire.
Line by Line Meaning
Peach orchard mama, you swore wasn't nobody gonna use your peaches but me
Addressing the peach orchard owner, Big Joe mentions that she had promised him that he will be the only person to use her peaches.
Well, you want Joe Williams to work in your orchard, well, and I keep your orchard clean
Big Joe reminds the orchard owner that he works in her orchard and keeps it clean for her, and this is because she had asked him to.
You done got me to the place, I hate to see that evenin' sun go down
Big Joe laments that the woman has affected him so much that he hates to see the evening sun go down, indicating that he's not in a good place mentally.
Well, well, get up in the mornin', hoo-well, peach orchard mama, she's on my mind
Expressing his attachment to the orchard owner, Big Joe says that when he wakes up in the morning, he keeps thinking about her.
She's got a man to buy your groceries and another joker's payin' your rent
Big Joe mentions that the orchard owner has a man buying her groceries and someone else paying her rent, indicating that she is being taken care of financially.
Well, you got me workin' in your orchard, hoo-well, well, and bringin' you every cents
Big Joe reminds the orchard owner that he works for her and brings her every penny that he earns from the orchard.
Sometime she make me happy, and again she makes me cry
Big Joe mentions the emotional rollercoaster he experiences with the orchard owner, where she sometimes makes him happy and other times makes him cry.
Ever again I want a peach orchard mama, hoo-well, well, I wish to God that she would die
Big Joe admits that he still wants the orchard owner, but he wishes to God that she was out of his life for good.
Contributed by Michael N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.