Friday 2 July 2010

Sonny Boy Williamson













Scenes from a blues pilgrimage: the grave of Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) near the Whitfield Baptist Church, near Tutwiler, Mississippi.

Note the harmonicas and whisky bottles which had been laid on the grave.

Is there a greater record than Sonny Boy's "Help Me"?; it was backed with "Bye Bye Bird".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELLV-qzSgIo

I first saw Sonny Boy perform in 1964. He featured in an article ("Blues and The Absurd"), my first on the subject of the blues, in that year. Reading it now, I am struck by its rather earnest and philosophical (pretentious?) tone, as it was full of references to Sartre, Camus, James Baldwin, Colin Wilson, Samuel Charters and Jacques Demetre. I was obviously still very excited about my discovery of the blues some years before, and about the opportunity to see and meet some of my favourite blues artists!

I'm trying to make London my home, Sonny Boy Williamson

Sonny Boy in England

More in England (after Big Joe Williams)

Van Morrison must have liked Help Me too


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11 comments:

  1. Marineband23 May 2015 at 22:50

    Hi, could write about when you saw Sonny Boy, your thoughts, observations?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim24 May 2015 at 06:11

    The problem is, I have seen many video clips since then, eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZMoikK3ct8.
    When I met him, backstage at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon, he was drinking whisky and playing poker (ie, not very talkative). He'd taken off his black leather gloves and bowler hat, and was dressed in that motley suit of his (one trouser leg black, the other light grey, and vice versa for the jacket). The performance and the music? Well, I've never stopped playing his recordings for the past fifty years. I must have been mightily impressed! What a voice and mouth-harp.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marineband24 May 2015 at 10:45

    OK, thank you, I discovered Sonny Boy and the blues in the 80's while in my teens and have been a big fan ever since. I have collected jus about everything on Sonny Boy I could buy, Recently on another forum this was posted that I'm sure may be of interest;


    I'm co-producing a documentary film and a screen play and co-researching a biography on "Sonny Boy Williamson" (Alex "Rice" Miller 1913-65) with Mojo Visions LLC, based in Seattle, WA.

    I'm working on it with various business and research partners, including guitar pick-up manufacturer EMG, noted author Adam Mitchell, award winning investigative journalist Bill Donoghue (also blues historian 'fessor Mojo) and others.

    We've interviewed over 150 subjects (list available upon request), many of whom have since passed and acquired over 1,000 items directly related to Miller's life and his essentially important musical legacy.

    Adam felt that someone here may be able to steer us to potential sources or resources for our research and productions.

    We are very close to completion of the screen play, which we intend to present in the next month, but our work and acquisition of materials for the documentary and biography are ongoing. The biography is also ready to publish, once we decide the time is right for it.

    I may have already spoken to you some time ago, but rest assured that we have not been spinning our wheels. I started my involvement in this research in late 2011 and Mr. Donoghue started doing his research in the mid-90's, interviewing Miller's then two surviving siblings.

    Researching a story as uniquely important as this one, shrouded in so much mystery and so poorly documented over the course of the subject's life, deserves very thorough attention.

    Thanks for reading this and please respond with any comments, referrals or questions to my contact info below.

    Best wishes,
    Jim Basnight
    BCD Entertainment
    20736 NE Puget St.
    Indianola, WA 98342
    (206) 660-2471
    jim@jimbasnight.com
    jimbasnightmusic.com
    sonnyboy.com
    Facebook and Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jim24 May 2015 at 15:16

    Fascinating project!.Have you been in contact with the many British musicians who toured and played with Sonny Boy in the 1960s? They must have some important recollections. I'm looking forward to the biography, the documentary - and a feature film. Good luck and best wishes, Jim (PS I have some of my own small projects - and a documentary film about Ethiopia- on YouTube as MrHighway49

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marineband24 May 2015 at 17:03

    It's not me personally producing this but I think the guy's involved are delving very deep into this especially with fessor Mojo's (Bill Donoghue) huge contribution.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown4 November 2015 at 10:53

    What magazine was this from?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jim4 November 2015 at 13:44

    A student magazine, from 1964

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim5 November 2015 at 08:39

    Do you wish to cite the article in a publication? I can try to check, if so.
    Jim

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown27 April 2016 at 10:23

    I would like to share it on my Facebook feed.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jim27 April 2016 at 17:14

    Can you tell me more?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Unknown29 April 2016 at 15:23

    I'm a huge fan of him and the whole Blues music scene. I'm just extremely meticulous when it comes to annotating stuff

    ReplyDelete

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