These Blues and R&B Extracts are taken from Derek Shelmerdine‘s book Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
They are just a small selection of items about the blues and R&B.
An * by a date, e.g. 20 November*, indicates that the story relevant to that date can be found in, Rock’n’Roll Unravelled at that date, although that story might not be included in these extracts.
Blues and R&B Extracts taken from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON II
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1955
12 August 1955: Sonny Boy Williamson recorded Don’t Get Me Talkin’
In his first recording session for Chess’ subsidiary Checker, Sonny Boy Williamson (II) recorded the self-penned Don’t Start Me Talkin’. It was released shortly afterwards and became his most commercially successful single. He was backed by guitarists Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers, pianist Otis Span, bassist Willie Dixon and drummer Fred Below.
The background to Williamson’s early life is a little vague. His birth name is open to speculation, Alex Miller is often suggested. The year of his birth is also shrouded in mystery, with dates varying from 1897 to 1912. He became known as “Rice Miller”.
He initially found fame in the southern states as an accomplished blues harmonica player, sometimes using the name “Little Boy Blue”. In the early 1940s he joined the King Biscuit Time Show on Arkansas’ radio station KFFA, one of the first live blues shows on radio. It was for these radio performances that he took the name of another established blues harp player, the Chicago-based John Lee Williamson known as “Sonny Boy Williamson”. After the original Sonny Boy Williamson was killed on 1 June* 1948, he adopted his name on a permanent basis. Along the way, he married and divorced Howlin’ Wolf’s sister.
At the beginning of his career he played with legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. Williams reputedly tells of how he was with Johnson and cradled him in his arms on the night he died, 16 August* 1938. Towards the end of his career he played with an Eric Clapton version of the Yardbirds, when they supported him in the UK. They recorded a live performance together on 8 December* 1963.
In 1961 Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and Dick Taylor played together in a group called “Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys”. Jagger and Richard went on to form the Rolling Stones and Taylor became a founding member of the Pretty Things
to be continued…
