[Harp-L] Sonny Boy WIlliamson I bio due out in October

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

Just saw a post about a new book coming out in hardcover in September called John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson;The Blues Harmonica of Chicao's Bronzeville by Mitsutoshi Inaba.

Lots of people confuse John Lee Williamson (Good morning Little Schoolgirl) with that other guy, Rice Miller (Sonny Boy II or whatever his name was) who also went be the name of Sunny Boy Williamson. Don't  believe me? Just check out Youtube. Half the entries who pictures of the Big Guy (Rice Miller) over songs clearly recorded by John Lee.

John Lee's major problem was getting killed in 1948 just before the Chess blues revival in the 50s.

Plus, Rice Miller was promoting his career on a one-lung radio station and calling himself Sonny Boy. Of course, Chicago was a long way off and John Lee didn't tour near Rice Miller so Miller got away with his scam.

The other problem John Lee had was recording on 78 rpm records  that were going out of style on the Bluebird label.

Contrary to popular belief, John Lee put the blues harp out front of the band long before Little Walter ever thought of playing sax lines. If you listen to John Lee and then to Little Walter, you can clearly hear the influence. 

And those people who only heard Little Walter, never realized that just about everything Walter played came from John Lee.

This is not to say Walter did not add his spin to his sound. Of course he did. But he got his start listening to John Lee.

There are a few American CD sets of John Lee. Document records has about 5 CDs of John Lee.


Don't know much about this new book other than it can be ordered for $45! on Amazon.