Prepare to uncork the rich tales of blues and harmonicas as we honor the indelible marks left by Sonny Boy Williamson I and II on the American blues scene. My name is Harriet West-Moore, and I'm inviting you to a personal journey through the life and legacy of two harmonica virtuosos who became legends in their own right. From the self-taught genius of John Lee Curtis Williamson, a beacon in the Chicago blues scene, to the enigmatic rise of Sonny Boy Williamson II, whose true identity and birthdate remain shrouded in mystery, this episode is steeped in the kind of lore that only the blues can boast. Along the way, we'll explore heated name disputes and historic radio shows, all while I reveal a thread that connects me to these icons.
As your host, I'll guide you through the turbulent yet triumphant stories of these musicians, whose lives read like a blues song, rife with struggle, passion, and raw talent. We'll delve into how Sonny Boy Williamson I’s early years on Shannon Street in Jackson, Tennessee, laid the groundwork for his pioneering impact on blues music, and how Sonny Boy Williamson II's transformation from Alex Ford to a blues juggernaut encapsulates the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Pull up a chair, fill your glass, and let the haunting notes of harmonicas carry you away as we toast to the legends who crafted the soundtrack of an era.
Website: https://moorewineandmusic.com
Email: moorewinemusic@gmail.com
Prepare to uncork the rich tales of blues and harmonicas as we honor the indelible marks left by Sonny Boy Williamson I and II on the American blues scene. My name is Harriet West-Moore, and I'm inviting you to a personal journey through the life and legacy of two harmonica virtuosos who became legends in their own right. From the self-taught genius of John Lee Curtis Williamson, a beacon in the Chicago blues scene, to the enigmatic rise of Sonny Boy Williamson II, whose true identity and birthdate remain shrouded in mystery, this episode is steeped in the kind of lore that only the blues can boast. Along the way, we'll explore heated name disputes and historic radio shows, all while I reveal a thread that connects me to these icons.
As your host, I'll guide you through the turbulent yet triumphant stories of these musicians, whose lives read like a blues song, rife with struggle, passion, and raw talent. We'll delve into how Sonny Boy Williamson I’s early years on Shannon Street in Jackson, Tennessee, laid the groundwork for his pioneering impact on blues music, and how Sonny Boy Williamson II's transformation from Alex Ford to a blues juggernaut encapsulates the heart of the Mississippi Delta. Pull up a chair, fill your glass, and let the haunting notes of harmonicas carry you away as we toast to the legends who crafted the soundtrack of an era.
Website: https://moorewineandmusic.com
Email: moorewinemusic@gmail.com
Hey everybody, this is Harriy Westmore with the More Wine and Music podcast, the podcast where I discuss the American history of music over a glass of wine. Tonight I am going cheap, as I usually do. It's one of my favorites, what can I say? I mean, I don't have to have that hoity-toity type of glass of wine in order to get a good taste. I'm drinking my usual Colorasi Sangria, so that's what I'm drinking tonight.
Speaker 1:All right, I want everybody to check out the items that I have listed on the wwwmorewineandmusiccom website. I now have T-shirts, I have tote bags and I have coffee mugs that you can purchase, and I'm going to stand up because I want you to have one of the T-shirts on now. I think it looks pretty cool. I mean, it comes in white and it comes in black. I personally like the black and the print of it. I think that looks really good. So if you're interested in purchasing a T-shirt or tote bag with the More Wine and Music podcast logo, excuse me, go to the wwwmorewineandmusiccom website and purchase your items. Actually, when I put into order for this, I ordered it like, I think, either Monday or Tuesday, and I received it yesterday, thursday, so they do ship pretty fast. So, all right, just hope you'll consider it and I would appreciate it. I hope I'm not freezing. It looks like I am. So if anybody noticed any freezing I hope not Look like my, as I'm looking at myself on the screen and look like my voice is kind of being kind of delayed. All right, well, I'm going to keep going, whether I'm freezing or not. Hopefully it'll work itself out All right.
Speaker 1:This week's episode is episode eight and it's about Sunny Boy Williamson number one and Sunny Boy Williamson number two. Now, if you were listening, last week I had said one of the Sunny Boy Williamson's I have a personal connection to and I'll let you know at the end which one. It is Okay. So I'm going to start with Sunny Boy Williamson number one and, by the way, if you are watching live, please, if you want to join in on a comment, please post in the comment section. If you want to have a question or or comment, feel free to join in and post a comment. Okay, here we go.
Speaker 1:Sunny Boy Williamson number one, who was actually named John Lee Curtis Williamson. He was to me, he was an unknown artist. That really didn't get, if it's just dues, because of the fact that I think because of the fact that he wasn't well known. He was on the verge of being well known but he didn't quite make it. But he was a songwriter, a harmonica player and by you know, a lot of counts. He was basically the pioneer of the harmonica player playing, of the blues genre and he was mostly famous in the Chicago Post W W 1, I'm sorry, w World War 2 era. It wasn't just the just being just a harmonica player, just born in the country, he became famous during World War 2. So for how did he? But how did he start? Where did he come from? We always, we always got started from the beginning.
Speaker 1:All right, john Lee Curtis Williamson was born March 30th in 1914 in Bemis, tennessee, which is now a part of Jackson, tennessee. He was born to Ray Williamson and Nancy Utley. His father died when John Lee was just a baby and the cause of his father's death was basically an accident. I guess he was playing baseball and he got hit by the baseball and said that he was. I guess it had to be a very hot day because he was drinking lemonade and I guess the cold it was a cold lemonade. He got hit by a baseball and I guess he had a brain freeze, which was pretty weird at any any dive. I see that my husband is on online. Hi, sweetheart, you should be getting off work pretty soon. I know I've kind of late recording this, but you know I just got finished writing my script so I'll see you soon.
Speaker 1:Anyway, anyhow, the family's income, or lack of their, their for lack of income, was the usual sharecropper. He was a sharecropper is most most of the the early blues artists, the families were. So John Lee was no different. His family was picking cotton. He was picking cotton amongst his mother and I think he had a lot of. He had quite a few brothers and sisters. After his father died, his mom I don't think she remarried, so she raised her children as a single, as a single mom.
Speaker 1:So at the age of 11, his mom bought him a harmonica for Christmas. And what did she do that for? That was the start of him teaching himself how to play. He became very interested in music. So he, whenever he had the time, he between chores, between picking cotton, between you know farming he would practice that harmonica and he would also pick up listening by other, listening to other blues players on the old crank phonograph back in the day A lot of the phonographs were, you had to crank it up and listen to records. Well, that's how he became to look at, listen to a lot of the songs and he became interested and he started to emulate a lot of the songs that he was listening to through his harmonica.
Speaker 1:By the time he became 16 years old he was actually pretty good at playing the harmonica and he was playing throughout the local town of Jackson. I guess I think there's, from what I read. There was a particular street in Jackson Mississippi. I'm sorry, jackson, not Jackson, jackson Tennessee. Sorry about that. I've been doing so much of Mississippi blues. Ours is going out of the Delta for a little bit and going into Tennessee, jackson Tennessee. It was called Shannon Street and that was where mostly if you're going to play music or any type of songs, it will be in that area. He was no exception and he met up with playing with the other blues artists such as Sleepy John Estes, who was very well known in the Tennessee area, james Yank, rachelle or Rachel, and he traveled with them throughout the Deep South In 1934, after being tired of touring around the South that he pretty much figured by that time that if he wants to become famous and do more than what he was doing of where he came from, he's got to go up north.
Speaker 1:So he traveled to the north and to Chicago. There in that time, when he traveled to Chicago, he became known as Sunny Boy instead of John Lee Curtis Williamson. So he's now known. He changed his name, or people start calling him Sunny Boy, sunny Boy Williamson, so from here on out I'm going to refer to him as Sunny Boy Williamson number one. All right.
Speaker 1:So when he got to Chicago he began to play in these clubs such as the Black and Tan Clubs, which you can probably figure with, those type of clubs where they were only for, exclusively for blacks, because obviously a lot of black people couldn't go into establishment, so they had their own. Like we always do, we can't get into one clubs if we're not wanted in certain clubs. And okay, we'll make our own. We have our own establishments and that's what Chicago had. They had these Black and Tan Clubs, which was a lot of numbers, pretty upscale. It wasn't the country joint that you normally would have down south In Chicago. It's a little bit more stylish, a little more classy, and that's what Sunny Boy number one eventually started playing he was beginning to get really well to where he was composing his own music.
Speaker 1:He became a background session player, a company player to a lot of the famous blues artists that was in the Chicago at that time, such as Muddy Waters. So during the recording he started recording for I think it said Victor Records, they said because he had a distinct style. First of all he had a speech impediment which I forgot to mention as a kid. So the way he talked he talked like he was slurring a little bit, but he was able to incorporate that handicap into his style of singing and style of music when he was playing. So that created a individual, a different style that wasn't heard up until that time. I mean, he took his disability and made it work for him All right. He recorded. His first song was called Good Morning, little School Girl. He recorded, like I said, for Victor Records, which was a subsidiary of the famous recording label Bluebird Record Label. Also, the song said he sang and played the harmonica was called who Do, who Do and Shake the Boogie.
Speaker 1:Another thing about him that was unique was he didn't forget his roots Even though he was up in Chicago. He had a way of infusing that country style of playing the harmonica but then he would use it to the more upbeat. By that time, like in the early 30s, late 20s and early 30s in Chicago, they weren't really playing the old country down in the Delta type Southern blue style. It was going to be more upbeat. So he was able to infuse that rustic country style but bring it up a couple up temple the beat and the music During the recording sessions when he would record his songs. They say that his temple was so loud as he's playing he would tap his foot and his tapping would be so loud to where during this recording session that they would have to have a pillow underneath his feet Because you could hear his you know stomping of his foot as he's playing his harmonica and singing. So he was really into it and it became so loud to where they had to you know kind of curve that by putting a pillow under his feet to keep you know that thumping sound in the record.
Speaker 1:He, like I said, he never forgot where he came from. He eventually, around 1937, he went up there. He went up to Chicago in 34. In 37, he returned back to his hometown in Jackson, tennessee. In 37, he met and married his wife, who was Lacey Bill Davidson, on March 13th 1937, which is, coincidentally, my father and my mother-in-law's birthday was March 13th. After you know, they've gotten married down there, they returned back to Chicago where he continued to play around the local establishments and he became pretty famous. He became really famous and people wanted to have him, you know, be part of their recording sessions. So he worked with, like I said, he worked with Elmoney Waters and another artist called Big Joe Williams, where he originally met him in Memphis, on the infamous Beale Street. Anybody who's you know from or know about Memphis, tennessee, the famous Beale Street is where most of the blues artists from all over would play whenever they're in Memphis, and I've been to my husband and I have been to Beale Street a few times and it is live. You know you go up and down to have all kinds of clubs and stuff and so you can pretty much listen to all kinds of jazz and blues clubs up and down Beale Street.
Speaker 1:In 1945, between 1945 and 1948, was basically Sunny Boy number one's height of his playing. Like I said, he was on the cusp of actually blowing up but unfortunately his life was cut short On June 1st in 1948, sunny Boy number one was playing at a club in Chicago. It wasn't that matter of fact. It wasn't that far from where he and his wife lived. So he was paid. I guess he was given 50 cents, but I don't know who was one of the staff of the club or by a patron, it's not really known. But after that early in the morning he was walking back. He was like a block away from his apartment. Like I said, the club wasn't that far, so it was within walking distance of where he was staying. He was walking back home and three guys just jumped him, they mugged him and they beat him viciously. To make matters even worse, they took the 50 cents. So he was beaten to a bloody pulp and was taken. He only had 50 cents in his pocket and they took that.
Speaker 1:He managed to make it home, he and his wife Lacey Bell. They lived on the second floor of an apartment building, so he staggered his way home and up the steps and he banged on the door of his apartment. Lacey Bell was home by herself. She woke up to this loud banging to the door. So she came to the door and saw her husband just laid in front of the doorstep covered with blood, it was said. All he said was Lord, have mercy. So she managed to get him inside their apartment. The ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital but he succumbed to his injuries. So he died. All over what? 50 cents? And that was on the South Side of Chicago, I'm just saying. So. That was the short life of Sunny Boy Number 1, john Lee Curtis. That's pretty sad, but in the meantime enters Alex Rice Miller, aka Sunny Boy Williamson, number 2. So let's talk about him, sunny Boy number 2.
Speaker 1:Rice Miller, he was pretty more well known only because he lived longer. He also was a harmonica player and he also had a distinct style of how he played the harmonica. So you know, he was became to be more famous than Sunny Boy number 1. But one thing about Sunny Boy number 2. There's a lot of conflicts about his life, especially his earlier life of, especially when he was born. He was known as to be a liar. I mean, he would embellish his life a little bit. You know some things, you know he would say that you really wouldn't know if, okay, is that really true or not? He's probably one of those. It was probably appropriate to try to put himself out more than what he really was. But he was born Alex. Um quote Rice Miller.
Speaker 1:Some sources, according to his his own account, he said he was born in 8th March, 12 of 1897. But in reality he was probably more likely born in 1912. Now why would? He would make himself way older than, but he truly was. You know, who knows, I don't know, but he was born in Glendora, mississippi. He was actually born the name Alex Ford. His step-father was named Jim Miller, I guess. I don't know if his mom married his actual biological father or not, or if he even knew who his father was. I don't know. It is again that that's something that's not clear. But anyway, he took his step-father's last name of Miller. So his mother's name was Millie Miller and um they were. He was born until um. From what I read, you know he had a large family. He had a bunch of siblings, a lot of brothers and, I think, um two sisters. So they were sharecroppers in the Mississippi area.
Speaker 1:At the age of 5, he was given a harmonica and he taught himself how to play. He became really well in playing it. As he became older he started playing around the Mississippi area into the juke joints in the you know local bars and stuff. So it was during those times that he was playing that he developed a you know, a good stage presence To where he became really good at playing that harmonica, that he was able to play the song with the harmonica in his mouth. So he wasn't doing this, I mean, he actually would put that harmonica in his mouth and actually play it and play the song that he was playing. So that that's how, that's his style and that was that that's his trademark. He was able to do that. So that that that took a lot of talent and took a lot of practice for him to actually freehand style and have them harmonica in his mouth and play every note that he was singing and every note that he was playing the song. You actually can hear the song that he's playing.
Speaker 1:So, um, throughout the 20s he would travel around in Mississippi and into Arkansas and play in these film establishments and in the 20s or early 30s he briefly met and play with Robert Johnson. If you can recall, back in episode Was the episode number 4, I believe, is where I talked about Robert Johnson. So, um, sunny boy number 2 was able to meet up with him and they played together for a brief Time. Matter of fact, he also played with Robert Junior Lockwood and for short period Robert Johnson was Robert Junior Lockwood step dad, which they were. They weren't that far in age, so I guess Robert was messing around with Robert Junior Lockwood's mom, but they were kind of the same age, you know, they weren't that far apart in age. But anyway, that's how Robert Lockwood met.
Speaker 1:Sunny boy number 2 is through Robert Johnson and even after Robert Johnson passed away, robert sunny boy number 2 was still come around and that's how he and Lockwood got together and would play At different venues. Matter of fact, he would play with Holland We've got to play with Holland Wolf, elmore, james and oldest span and which I Find that interesting and kind of coincidence, because those are the same people that Sunny boy number 1 at 1 time had the had the opportunity to play with. So both sunny boys they played, was you know, with similar artists and they both play harmonica in 1941. Alex, or save 1 number 2, that's when he became Dubbed himself as sunny boy Williamson. So why and how he decided to do that, I don't know. He just decided to call himself sunny boy Williamson and in 1941, he was hired To play for this famous.
Speaker 1:There was this Radio show time, this radio show that will come on every day, 5 days a week, at noon. It was called King biscuit, king biscuit time and he was hired to play the harmonica. Robert Lockwood was part of the band and there was James Pat, curtis Pine, top Perkins and Houston Stackhouse and they were all known. They were known as the King biscuit entertainers and if anybody who does, who's not familiar with King biscuit, king biscuit back at those days was like was a flower, was a baking flower, and people would purchase that. It's like a biscuit, I guess. But it was called King biscuit and that's where you know, you make your biscuits and all that from that particular brand is called. That's the name of the brand. I guess was called the King biscuit and that production company. They had a. They would entertain it, have entertainment on the radio where people can listen at certain time. That that was like the show. Every day at noon people would sit around the gather around the radio and listen to different to the King biscuit entertainers. They would play during the King biscuit time hour. That was the radio show. So sharecroppers would come out of the fields around noon Because they had hour for for lunchtime and during that time they would come out the fields and come home and and they would gather around or go over whoever's house who had a radio and they would sit around and listen to the King biscuit time hour.
Speaker 1:Well, sunny boy number 2 and Robert Lockwood, among with the others that I mentioned they were the entertainers for that, you know, for that show. But somehow sunny boy number this this the show was aired in in recorded in Helena, arkansas. I forgot to mention it. So somehow this was in 1940 round, right 1941, somehow. Sunny boy number 1.
Speaker 1:John Lee Curtis Williamson, the original sunny boy number 1, he was in Chicago by that time but he somehow got wind of sunny boy or Alex Rice Miller Using his name, sunny boy number 1. So John Lee Curtis left Chicago and went straight down to Arkansas, helena, arkansas, where King biscuit time was being Aired in and recorded, and he made Rice Miller go off the air claiming that he's using my name and today, in today's standard, that's because they're identity theft. So John Curtis, you know, went down there and told him to look. You know, this is not I'm sunny boy. No, I'm sunny boy Williamson. He's not, you know, he's using my name. So he got rice Miller off the air for a minute. But somehow I guess that the show is so popular To where the production or the recording company. They somehow made a deal with John Lee Curtis and I guess that's how they kind of dubbed it. Well, your sunny boy number 1, rice Miller, can be sunny boy, sunny boy Williamson, number 2. And I guess that's how they settle it.
Speaker 1:But I seriously doubt that John Lee Curtis Received any kind of compensation or royalties. I'm pretty sure that he didn't. If he was, you know, intuitive enough or smart, he probably could have. If he would have gotten attorney and, you know, sue for some kind of, the company could have paid him Something. But I'm sure he didn't. I'm sure he didn't because he got killed over 50 cents. So I doubt that he got received any kind of conversation, but anyway. So that that's how the sunny boys were distinguished.
Speaker 1:And even now when I was doing the, it's still confusing because a lot of people still don't understand that Sunny Boy number one and Sunny Boy number two were two different people and it still haven't mixed up because as I was doing the research for both of them, they would have Sunny Boy number one's biography with Sunny Boy number two, rice Miller's picture. So they still didn't. You know it's still kind of confusing unless you actually study and read up on it. But anyways, moving on Sunny Boy number two, rice Miller, from the King Biscuit Show. He gained more and more popularity. Like I said, he was starting out, he played with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and he actually signed on to chess records famous chess records, where most of the early blues artists, such as Muddy Waters, they would play for Buddy Guy he played, he was one of the house bands for chess records, so there was a lot of famous artists who record and played for that record company.
Speaker 1:Sunny Boy number two became popular enough. I mean he was able to travel to Europe and in the UK and he became a major influence to artists such as Eric Clampton and he even toured and played with the Yardbirds. So he played for chess records between 1955 and until, like the early to mid, early to early 60s. He eventually left Chicago, left the North area, left Tawaring and returned back to the South. He actually went back to Helena, arkansas, because King Biscuit, our King Biscuit time program, our were still recording. So he went back to playing for King Biscuit time in Helena, arkansas, according to the source of AllMusiccom, on May 25th in 1965, pine Top Curtis, one of the players of the King Biscuit entertainers, and Houston Stackhouse.
Speaker 1:They were waiting for Sunny Boy number two to come to the studio so they could start recording for the show. But Sunny Boy didn't show up so they went to his meager apartment. He was living in a rooming house actually in Helena Arkansas and because they you know he was late coming to the recording session for the show and when they went to his own rooming house they found him he was dead. So apparently he had a heart attack and he died in his apartment, apparently, you know, like I said, of a heart attack and he was only 54 years old. And if you see pictures of Sunny Boy number two, he looked a lot older than 54. I mean, you can, you know, google Sunny Boy Williamson or put Alex Rice Miller, and if you look at pictures of him he does not look like he's. He was 54. He looked a lot older than that. So he might have had, he might have been doing some other things, who knows.
Speaker 1:So the question with Sunny Boy Williamson am I personally connected to Sunny Boy number one or Sunny Boy number two. Well, according to my dad it was Sunny Boy number one, john Lee Curtis Williamson. He's a distant cousin of ours on my dad's side. Like I said, sunny Boy number one, he was born in Jackson, tennessee, and my father and that side of the family were born around Bronzeville, which is Haywood, in Lotterdale, in Ripley, lotterdale counties, which is not far from Jackson. And if you look at pictures I was looking at some of the earlier pictures, I mean there's only a few pictures of Sunny Boy number one and he does have a. You could you could see that there are some family resemblance. I'm not sure what the relation you know relations is. I have to do some digging. Maybe I'll ask my brother and I can do some digging and see how he was with the actual relation is, but he is a distant cousin.
Speaker 1:So Sunny Boy number one is actually a personal connection to me and it's sad because he actually was the pioneer. He's the one that started the, the distinctive style of the harmonica, and he didn't live long to even, you know, see the fruit of his labor and people kind of forgot who he was because of Rice Miller and I'm not taking away from Rice Miller, because Rice Miller took it, took what Sunny Boy number one did and took it to another level. But it's just, you know, you know sad how his life was. My cousin's life was cut short, you know, over something so senseless, and so you know just senseless, be getting beaten to death and only they received out of the beating of, you know robbery was only 50 cents. I mean, it's just, I don't know, I don't know, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So that's the story of both Sunny Boys number one and Sunny Boy number two. So if you are interested, look it up and see the pictures of both of them. Like I said, sunny Boy number one, I can see some of the family resemblance. I would like to research more and see what exactly the family line was, the relation to us. I'm not sure, but I can. I mean you know where he was born, in Madison County, which is Jackson, is not far from Brownsville, and you know hey, wouldn't in Lauderdale counties, where my dad and his family are from. So I'm not sure what side it was from his mother side or what's his dad's side. So that's something I might have to actually try to find out. All right, and so that is the story of Sunny Boys number one and two. The sources that I've received that I looked up for Sunny Boy number one was Mount Zion Memorial, org. Tennessee, stateedu info pleasecom. Incidentally, sunny Boy is buried. Sunny Boy number one is back home in Jackson, which, ironically, he did record a song saying I want to be buried back in Jackson, tennessee. So my cousin is back home where he came from. As far as sources for Sunny Boy number two, rice Miller, I looked through on the website Mississippi writers and musician, wikipediacom and all musiccom. So there you go. That's the mystery of the two Sunny Boys, sunny Boy number one and Sunny Boy number two. All right Again, if you're interested in buying a t shirt of the more wine and music podcast, go to wwwmorewineandmusiccom and purchase one today.
Speaker 1:There's also a tote bag that you can use. That you can. Or if you want to drink coffee and tea, there's a more wine and music podcast logo on the coffee mug that I think I'm going to get that myself. All right, so next episode, episode number nine, next week, I'm going to talk about another blind, all these blind blues musicians. This one is blind Willie McTell, and that I think that's an interesting story too. So I will be talking about him. So I appreciate the live. Who's on watching me on the podcast. So I appreciate your support and I will talk to you guys soon. Thank you so much for listening in. All right, you guys have a good weekend, stay safe and be blessed. Good night.