Blues Harp

John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson - The Story of the Blues (2004) {2CD Membran Music 222068-306}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 518 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 294 Mb
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© 2004 Membran Music | 222068-306
Blues / Harmonica Blues

This artist was perhaps the most significant pioneer of the city-styled, horn-oriented blues harp – a style brought to perfection by Little Walter. Williamson adapted the country-styled, chordal-rhythmic technique that he learned from Noah Lewis and Hammie Nixon to suit the demands of the evolving urban blues styles. These 42 tracks include Sonny Boy's records and sport an imposing list of sidemen: Robert Nighthawk, Big Joe Williams, Henry Townsend, Walter Davis, Yank Rachell, Big Bill Broonzy, and Speckled Red. This is a definitive collection.

Alex or Aleck Miller, known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp stylist who recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s. Down and Out Blues is the first LP record by Sonny Boy Williamson. The album was released in 1959 by Checker Records. The album was a compilation of Williamson's first singles for Checker Records, from "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" b/w "All My Love in Vain" through "Dissatisfied" b/w "Cross My Heart". The album features many famous blues musicians backing Williamson, including Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, and Willie Dixon. 2010 Extended remastered reissue by "Not Now Music" includes an additional CD "The Trumpet Singles." It's original 7" singles released on Trumpet Records 1951-1955.

Yet another of the ubiquitous Memphis Slim compilations, Grinder Man Blues is different from most of Snapper Music's budget blues reissues in that it confines itself to a tiny space in its subject's career: his Bluebird sides from 1940-1941. The sound quality is good, which is no surprise, and the producers have mixed-and-matched the sides, so that slow, solo blues ballads, faster boogie numbers, and duet and full-band numbers alternate. The best cut here is probably "Old Taylor," which features Slim working (and sharing vocal chores) with an uncredited scat singer, while his piano ripples through and around their work. Every so often the blues harp joins his piano in the spotlight, while Leroy Batchelor's bass and Washboard Sam's percussion hold the rhythm, elsewhere, as on "Maybe I'll Loan You A Dime" it's pretty much just Slim's voice and piano, which are pretty formidable…