Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) – More Real Folk Blues – MCA CHD-9277

It’s unnerving what Sonny Boy Williamson II was able to achieve.  That synthesis: How did accomplish the inexplicable feat of unifying his vocals and harmonica playing?  How did he make them virtually one and the same?  With Williamson II, this is where voice and harmonica become one.  There is no greater proof than the whole of this astounding collection.  He took his performing name shamelessly from John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy Williamson I), the groundbreaking 1940s Chicago harmonica player and singer, in a non-veiled attempt to make hay on the prominence of his esteemed colleague’s grand reputation.  But such should never have needed to be the case, as the emulation Williamson II desired was definitely misplaced, as both blues vocalists and harmonica titans each had their own unique broad skill sets to stand upon.  Aside from name recognition, the Williamsons couldn’t have been any more different.  Williamson I was cleaner and more melodic and swung more.  Williamson II was rougher.  Williamson II skillfully exploited his gravely vocal shades and world-weary accounts into his compositions.   He presented a glimpse of the state of the human circumstance being addressed that can only be asserted as entirely accurate, given his delivery.  Those human conditions being presented were likely framed with validity via his documented sagas of vast meandering personal travels.  Williamson II’s knack of communicating his life’s treks is triumphantly bolstered by his faculty to blend the voice and harmonica into one component, deploying each as a supplement to the other, in whatever order the song’s subject matter commands.  His ease of segueing from singing to playing harmonica and back again is startling, as it seems as if Williamson II has an unlimited capacity for air.  His orchestrations emphasize the responsive echoes of each aptitude upon the other, and his uncanny capacity to devise a phrase, fashion symbolism, and write poignant songs of the frailties of human animal.  These factors make his blues and performances blues art of the highest ranks.

This is essential post-war blues that belongs in every serious blues collection.

Below is the running track order of this unparalleled blues assemblage.

Song Titles

• Help Me
• Bye Bye Bird
• Nine Below Zero
• The Hunt
• Stop Right Now
• She’s My Baby
• The Goat
• Decoration Day
• Trying To Get Back On My Feet
• My Younger Days
• Close To Me
• Somebody Help Me