The two are easy to distinguish. Williamson I played the harmonica acoustically and was essentially a pre-War artist. Williamson II was entirely an electrified harpist, in the style of Little Walter, reflecting the advent of the jukebox and electrified instruments following World War II.
(Compare the albums Sonny Boy Williamson I ~~ Sonny Boy Williamson II)
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Sonny Boy Williamson I (30 March 1914 - 1 June 1948)
also known as John Lee Curtis Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, born in Jackson, Tennessee, whose first record Good Morning little School Girl was a hit in 1937. He was widely popular throughout the whole southeast of the U.S., and was practically synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade, making his a commonly used stage name by the time he was murdered in 1948. He is buried at the Old Blairs Chapel Church, south west of Jackson, Tennessee.
more on wikipedia
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Sonny Boy Williamson II (11 March 1908 - 25 May 1965) also known as Willie Williamson, Willie Miller, Little Boy Blue, The Goat and Footsie.
Aleck "Rice" Miller was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
Born as Aleck Ford to Millie Ford on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, his date and year of birth are a matter of uncertainty. He claimed to have been born on December 5, 1899, but one researcher, David Evans, claims to have found census record evidence that he was born around 1912. His gravestone lists his date of birth as March 11, 1908.
He lived and worked with his sharecropper stepfather, Jim Miller, whose last name he soon adopted, and mother, Millie Ford, until the early 1930s. Beginning in the 1930s, he traveled around Mississippi and Arkansas and encountered Big Joe Williams, Elmore James and Robert Lockwood, Jr., also known as Robert Junior Lockwood, who would play guitar on his later Checker Records sides. He was also associated with Robert Johnson during this period. Miller developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years. Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Miller playing for tips in Greenville, Mississippi in the 1930s. He entertained audiences with novelties such inserting one end of the harmonica into his mouth and playing with no hands.
In 1941 Miller was hired to play the King Biscuit Time show, advertising the King Biscuit brand of baking flour on radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas with Lockwood. It was at this point that the radio program's sponsor, Max Moore, began billing Miller as Sonny Boy Williamson, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on the fame of the well known Chicago-based harmonica player and singer John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I). 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 (this is made somewhat less likely, however, by the fact that Miller was certainly older than Williamson even if one does not accept the 1899 birthdate.) Whatever the methodology, Miller became commonly known as "Sonny Boy Williamson", and Lockwood and the rest of his band were billed as the King Biscuit Boys.
In 1949 he relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas and lived with his sister and her husband, Howlin' Wolf (later, for Checker Records, he did a parody of Howlin' Wolf entitled "Like Wolf"). Sonny Boy started his own KWEM radio show from 1948 to 1950 selling the elixir Hadacol.
Sonny Boy also brought his King Biscuit musician friends to West Memphis: Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Robert Nighthawk and others, to perform on KWEM Radio.
In the 1940s Williamson married Mattie Gordon, who remained his wife until his death.
Williamson's first recording session took place in 1951 for Lillian McMurry of Jackson, Mississippi's Trumpet Records (three years after the death of John Lee Williamson, which for the first time allowed some legitimacy to Miller's carefully worded claim to being "the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson"). McMurry later erected Williamson's headstone, near Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1977.
When Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Sonny Boy's recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. Sonny Boy had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as a member of Elmore James's band. It was during his Chess years that he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964.
In the early 1960s he toured Europe several times during the height of the British blues craze, recording with The Yardbirds and The Animals, and appearing on several TV broadcasts throughout Europe. According 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. Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" mentions that during this tour he allegedly stabbed a man during a street fight and left the country abruptly.
Sonny Boy took a liking to the European fans, and while there had a custom-made, two-tone suit tailored personally for him, along with a bowler hat, matching umbrella, and an attaché case for his harmonicas. He appears credited as "Big Skol" on Roland Kirk's live album 'Kirk in Copenhagen' (1963). One of his final recordings from England, in 1964, featured him singing "I'm Trying To Make London My Home" with Hubert Sumlin providing the guitar. Due to his many years of relating convoluted, highly fictionalized accounts of his life to friends and family, upon his return to the Delta, some expressed disbelief upon hearing of Sonny Boy's touring across the Atlantic, visiting Europe, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and other landmarks, and recording there.
Upon his return to the U.S., he resumed playing the King Biscuit Time show on KFFA, and performed around Helena, Arkansas. As fellow musicians Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis waited at the KFFA studios for Williamson on May 25, 1965, the 12:15 broadcast time was closing in and Sonny Boy was nowhere in sight. Peck left the radio station and headed out to locate Williamson, and discovered his body in bed at the rooming house where he'd been staying, dead of an apparent heart attack suffered in his sleep the night before.
Williamson is buried on New Africa Rd. just outside Tutwiler, Mississippi at the site of the former Whitman Chapel cemetery.
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Jivin' the blues
Sonny Boy Williamson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I, I just wanna talk wit' you, you know
I want to show you how to Suzy Q
Now, you watch
Ah, don't have to work your feet
You just hold up your fingers
I'm gonna show you now, you watch
I don't care nothin' 'bout your engagement ring
Oh, come o'are here
At least you can talk with me, you know
Oh, just, just let me t-t-t tell
You somethin', you know
Oh, I don't wanna marry, no way
Now, watch
None a-this, jazz
Oh, you ain't coming' at all, huh?
Oh, I know you don't love me, you love somebody
But I just wanna talk wit'ch you
Let Sonny Boy just tell you a word, hear?
Oh, that the way you do me a snub
But watch!
Yes! Yes!
I wish I'd a met you ah, much earlier
You know, than I did, ah
Maybe I'm a little too late
But I just wanna show you how to Suzy Q
Come on out, you don't have to work your feet
Just hold your fingers
Look now, I'm gon' teach you!
Now you just watch
The lyrics of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Jivin' the Blues" are a mix of flirtation, dance instruction, and resignation. The singer is trying to get the attention of someone who he desires, but who is not interested in him romantically. He offers to teach her how to do the Suzy Q dance, but notes that she doesn't have to work her feet, just hold up her fingers. He seems to be suggesting that she doesn't have to put in a lot of effort to make him happy, and that they could have a good time without even dancing.
The line "I don't care nothin' 'bout your engagement ring" suggests that the singer is aware that the object of his affection is already spoken for, but he doesn't seem to care. He just wants to spend time with her and show her how to have fun. He also notes that he knows she doesn't love him, but he still wants to talk to her. The lines "Maybe I'm a little too late" and "I wish I'd a met you ah, much earlier" indicate that the singer has some regret for not pursuing the relationship sooner, but he still seems to have hope that something could happen between them.
Overall, the lyrics of "Jivin' the Blues" are a mix of playful flirtation and sadness. The singer knows that he doesn't have a chance with the woman he desires, but he still wants to spend time with her and show her a good time.
Line by Line Meaning
Say now, now come 'ere
Hey there, come over here
I, I just wanna talk wit' you, you know
I just want to have a conversation with you
I want to show you how to Suzy Q
I want to teach you how to do the Suzy Q dance move
Now, you watch
Pay attention and observe what I'm about to do
Ah, don't have to work your feet
You don't have to move your feet
You just hold up your fingers
Just use your fingers to do the dance move
I'm gonna show you now, you watch
I'm about to demonstrate the dance move, so pay attention
I don't care nothin' 'bout your engagement ring
I don't care about your relationship status
Oh, come o'are here
Oh, come over here
At least you can talk with me, you know
At least we can have a conversation
Oh, just, just let me t-t-t tell
Let me tell you something
You somethin', you know
Something important
Oh, I don't wanna marry, no way
I don't want to get married
None a-this, jazz
None of this nonsense
Oh, you ain't coming' at all, huh?
You're not interested in what I have to say, are you?
Oh, I know you don't love me, you love somebody
I know you have feelings for someone else
But I just wanna talk wit'ch you
I just want to have a conversation with you
Let Sonny Boy just tell you a word, hear?
Let me give you some advice, okay?
Oh, that the way you do me a snub
You're being rude to me
But watch!
But watch what I'm about to do
Yes! Yes!
That's it, that's how you do it!
I wish I'd a met you ah, much earlier
I wish I had met you a lot sooner
You know, than I did, ah
Than when I actually did meet you
Maybe I'm a little too late
Maybe it's too late now
But I just wanna show you how to Suzy Q
But I still want to teach you the dance move
Come on out, you don't have to work your feet
Come here and watch, you don't have to move your feet
Just hold your fingers
Just use your fingers to do the move
Look now, I'm gon' teach you!
Pay attention now, I'm going to teach you
Now you just watch
Now just observe and learn
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ROBERT BROWN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sliptrail
Amazing!
Roxanne Hawkins
mmmmm.....