Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) – Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order – Volume 1 – 5 May 1937 To 17 June 1938 – Document DOCD-5055 

Just recently I finished reading The Blues Dream Of Billy Boy Arnold, the fine tome from one of the blues’ best ever harmonica players and singers, a man who still lives in Chicago, and along with very few others, is one of the last living links to that halcyon age of both pre- and post-war Chicago blues.  Arnold combined with Kim Fields to produce this stellar book, one that details Arnold’s life and times in Chicago as his love for the blues, blues harmonica, and the famed artists he got to see, hear, and know. 

A central theme throughout Arnold’s book is his high appreciation for Sonny Boy Williamson I (John Lee Williamson), and his quest to find him in Chicago, gain his trust, and learn what he could from him.  Arnold’s admiration for Williamson’s voluminous recorded output is evident, and he writes with reverence regarding Williamson’s highly-influential recorded yield.

Which brings us to this Document label release, Volume 1 in a series that stretches to five overall, encompassing 123 cuts total over the five individual collections.  The years represented by the whole of Document’s series efforts run from May 5, 1937 to November 12, 1947.  Williamson’s last recording session was actually one for Big Joe Williams in December, 1947. 

Williamson was tragically murdered in Chicago on June 1, 1948 during a robbery as he walked home after a show at The Plantation Club on Chicago’s south side, a venue roughly a couple of blocks from his residence at the time. 

Here, the immortal Williamson displays his harmonica prowess in all its innovative glory.  It can be said that Williamson forever altered the perception of the harmonica, and its role in the blues, bringing it out of the shadows as an accompanying device and taking it to the ranks of a lead instrument.  These early sides are fresh in their approach, and many are considered blues classics and mainstays.  What Williamson offers here is his vision of the blues harmonica’s transition to a broader plane instrument. 

Accompanying Williamson on these early blues-altering sides were the cream of the blues crop, including Big Joe Williams, Robert Lee McCoy (Robert Nighthawk), Henry Townsend, Elijah Jones, Joe Williams, and Yank Rachell on guitar, Walter Davis on piano, and Yank Rachell also on mandolin.

A survey of the CD’s track listing below indicates that this collection includes many of Williamson’s best-known numbers, and as such, it represents a solid introduction to this revolutionary blues artist’s recorded output.

Song Titles

• Good Morning, School Girl
• Blue Bird
• Jackson Blues
• Got The Bottle Up And Go
• Sugar Mama Blues
• Skinny Woman
• Up The Country Blues
• Worried Me Blues
• Black Gal Blues
• Collector Man Blues
• Frigidaire Blues
• Suzanna Blues
• Early In The Morning
• Project Highway
• My Little Cornelius
• Decoration Blues
• You Can Lead Me
• Moonshine
• Miss Louisa Blues
• Sunny Land
• I’m Tired Trucking My Blues Away
• Down South
• Beauty Parlor
• Until My Love Come Down
• Honey Bee Blues

Having been taken from the blues world at the young age of 34, it is both engrossing and frustrating to think about where the arc of Williamson’s career may have further taken him.  Arnold has said, “My goal from the day I heard Sonny Boy’s music was that I wanted to be a star in the same right that Sonny Boy Williamson was.”  There’s the mark of what Williamson left in his short time here; motivation for other blues talent to continue taking the blues and blues harmonica forward.

This is essential material for your blues collection, indeed!