Document Records - Vintage Blues and Jazz

Sonny Boy Williamson Vol 4 1941 - 1945

£8.69   
 

Sonny Boy Williamson CDs From the date of his first recordings in 1937 until his death a decade later Sonny Boy Williamson was the undisputed king of the blues Harmonica. Although there were plenty of other artists using the instrument only William 'Jazz' Giullum achieved anything like the popularity of the boy from Jackson, Tennessee and even Jazz could never claim the mastery that Sonny Boy underlined with every performance.
The period spanned on this Document Records Sonny Boy Williamson CD encompasses the bulk of World War Two and the infamous ban on recording brought about by James C. Petrillo. Petrillo became president of the Chicago local of the musician's union in 1922, and was president of the American Federation of Musicians from 1940 to 1958. Petrillo dominated the union with absolute authority. His most famous actions were banning all commercial recordings by union members from 1942 - 1944 and again in 1948 to pressure record companies to give better royalty deals to musicians. Although Sonny Boy never commented on this event he was very vocal about the conflict which he saw as a chance for the black american to both prove himself and improve his lot. "Check Up On My Baby" is a rallying call track to prevent Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo from 'treatin' your baby wrong', while "Win The War Blues" sees Sonny Boy fantasizing that "Uncle Sam" is going to give me a Thuderbolt. The usual amount of women seem to be involved in his life and this is reflected on the tracks "Mattie Mae", "Stella Brown", "Black Panter" and "Desperado Woman". Panter is an American varient of panther and the description of this lethal lady is described in the lyric "You should have heard me holler, i didn't have time to swaller". In contrast to this is "She Was A Dreamer". Other songs in the session include "Ground Hog Blues" a variant of a Tony Hollins hit called "Crawlin' King Snake" and "She Don't Love Me That Way" which gathers in verses associated with sources as disparate as Sleepy John and Lil Green's "Why Don't You Do Right". Another track "Million Year Blues" later became a hit for Eddie Boyd, whilst "My Black Name Blues" re-uses some lines from Leroy Carr's "Twenty Four Hours".

FEATURED ARTIST / S
Sonny Boy Williamson More Titles?

    TRACK LIST
    01 - Drink on, little girl
    02 - Mattie Mae blues MP3
    03 - I`m gonna catch you soon
    04 - Million years blues
    05 - Shady grove blues
    06 - Sloppy drunk blues
    07 - She was a dreamer
    08 - You got to step back MP3
    09 - Ground hog blues
    10 - Black panther blues
    11 - Broken heart blues
    12 - She don`t love me that way
    13 - My Name Black Name
    14 - Name blues
    15 - I have got to go
    16 - Love me, baby
    17 - What`s gettin` wrong with you? MP3
    18 - Blues that made me drunk
    19 - Come on baby and take a walk
    20 - Miss Stella Brown blues
    21 - Desperado woman blues
    22 - Win the war blues
    23 - Check up on my baby blues
    24 - G. M. & O. blues
    25 - We got to win MP3
    26 - Sonny Boy`s jump
    27 - Elevator woman

Home SearchSpecials Services MP3'sArchive News Contact View Cart