Despite a career that was tragically cut short, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson was one of the most influential harmonica players in the history of the blues. In his hands, the harmonica became a lead instrument, a major voice of the urban blues. He set the standards of technical and emotional perfection for blues harmonica that still persist today. Before Williamson, the “harp” (harmonica) had been used mainly for novelty value and light jug band riffs, but his talent turned it into an integral part of the early Chicago blues sound. After his death it fell to LITTLE WALTER to complete the harmonica’s transition into the postwar electric blues sound.
Born on March 30, 1914, in Jackson, Tennessee, Williamson was a self-taught musician. In his teens he drifted around the South and performed in the Memphis area, associating with musicians such as Sleepy Joe Estes. He moved to Chicago in 1934 and became a popular session musician. Three years later he signed with the Bluebird subsidiary of Victor Records. The tracks he cut during this period still retain the plaintive sound of Estes’s music.
Williamson’s unique playing style quickly distinguished him from the generation of harmonica players that preceded him, and he greatly expanded what the instrument could do musically. He played his harmonica cross-tuned—with the key of the harmonica a fourth above that of the music. Thus, if the tune was in the key of D, Williamson would play a G harmonica. This allowed him to “draw” most notes and “bend” them more easily, producing flattened “blue” notes. Williamson would also use his tongue, breath, and lips to create a range of different sounds. By fluttering his fingers and moving his hand over the harmonica, he could “open” and “close” it, just like a trumpeter would do with a mute. Williamson perfected the use of the harmonica as a second voice, trading vocal lines back and forth with harmonica lines to produce a continuous line of melody. Williamson also had a slight speech impediment, known as “slow tongue,” that caused him to extend his vowels and thicken the consonants, producing a laid-back, slurring style that was to be widely imitated.
Williamson recorded around 120 sides for Bluebird. He established the idea of using the harmonica as a solo instrument at his first session in 1937, when he was accompanied by Delta guitarists Robert Nighthawk and Big Joe Williams. At this session Williamson cut his biggest hit, “Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl,” which has since been covered (performed) many times by blues, rhythm-and-blues, and rock musicians.
While most of his first recordings were rooted in the country sound, Williamson soon began recording with small combos and incorporating elements of swing. His work became heavily rhythmic while still retaining a downhome sound. Among his many hits were “Bluebird Blues” and “Early in the Morning.” Williamson wrote many of his own songs and performed with Chicago’s top stars and sidemen, including Muddy WATERS, Eddie Boyd, Big Bill BROONZY, TAMPA RED, and Sunnyland Slim.
Williamson died on June 1, 1948, at the age of 34, when muggers stabbed him to death with an ice pick while he was heading home from a gig. He was one of the most popular and respected personalities on the Chicago circuit and exerted a profound influence on more than one generation of harmonica players, including Walter Horton, Drifting Slim, Junior Wells and Billy Boy Arnold. Many of his songs have gone on to become blues standards.
Daria Labinsky
SEE ALSO:
BLUES; ROCK MUSIC.
Cohn, Lawrence. Nothing But the Blues:
The Music and the Musicians
(New York: Abbeville Press, 1993)
Palmer, Robert. Deep Blues
(London: Penguin Books, 1981).
The Complete Recorded Works Vols. 1–5;
Sugar Mama; Throw A Boogie
Woogie (with Big Joe Williams).