His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection)

Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chess
• ASIN: B000005KQN
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,207 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #6 in Music > Blues > Harmonica Blues
  • #30 in Music > Blues > Traditional Blues
  • #43 in Music > Blues > Chicago Blues

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This is Sonny Boy Williamson II, whose 1940s Mississippi Delta radio broadcasts for King Biscuit Time made him one of the most influential of all blues musicians. A master harmonica player, he created relaxed songs, often humorous, that reminded urban listeners of their country roots. These tracks are from his years at Chess, beginning in the mid-1950s until his death in 1965. His recording bands feature Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, and Robert Lockwood Jr., among others. Perhaps his best-known track here is "Don't Start Me to Talkin' (I'll Tell You Everything I Know)," but his signature sound is evident on every high trill he played. --Robert Gordon

Product Description

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great place to start, May 4, 2003

By 

Docendo Discimus (Vita scholae) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) (Audio CD)

I have no idea why I've only given this compilation four stars, but with this new system that Amazon has introduced, you can't change it without having to delete the entire review and write a new one. But I meant five. Five stars. Five!

This magnificent collection brings most of Aleck "Rice" Miller's best songs together on a single disc, and it is highly recommended if you're relatively new to Rice Miller (Sonny Boy Williamson II).
Every one of these songs are top-notch. Raw, gritty electric blues played by some of the tightest bands in the business, the cleverest lyrics this side of Willie Dixon, and musicians which include Muddy Waters, Robert "Jr." Lockwood and Buddy Guy. And of course Miller's braying harmonica and instantly recognizable rasp of a voice.

Rice Miller's amplified harmonica playing is easily the grittiest and most immediately recognizable ever on record (Big Walter Horton is the only one who gets close), and the way he moves between singing in his expressive old man's voice and blowing the harp is amazing.
"This man moves from vocal to harp with an ease only possible of one who long ago sold his soul to the devil in exchange for not having to breathe while performing", the liner notes to one of his LPs once stated (in a disturbingly serious way!).

This is one of the finest items in the entire MCA/Chess catalogue, featuring all-time Chicago blues highlights like "All My Love In Vain", "Nine Below Zero", "Don't Start Me To Talkin'", "Help Me", the supremely tough "One Way Out", and "Fattening Frogs For Snakes" which combines one of the most irresistable blues tunes you'll ever hear with one of Miller's best lyrics.
Because his output for the label was of such a uniformly high quality, virtually everything Williamson put down on tape at the Chess studios could make a final cut on any best of package you'd want to put together on the man, so a lot of wonderful music is obviously missing from this collection, including three of Sonny Boy's best songs ("Santa Claus", "Too Young To Die" and "Peach Tree"). But you gotta start somewhere, right? And this is a genuine A+ compilation, well annotated, and utilizing the finest digital transfers ever heard.

I just have to add one word of advice:
If you already have his debut LP, "Down And Out Blues", or know enough about Sonny Boy to want a lot of the really good stuff in one place, may I suggest the 45-track "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson", also from MCA/Chess, instead.
It has more than twice as many songs, yet at no point does it resort to "filler", and that one is the definitive Rice Miller-collection. Oh, and you'll need his Trumpet sides as well!

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A CD You Must Have In Your Collection!, January 24, 2003

By 

deepbluereview "deepbluereview" (SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) (Audio CD)

This CD is a must have for anybody that seriously follows the blues. The songs featured here are all taken from recording from the last ten years of Sonny Boy's life. Sonny Boy died in May of 1965. Considering the age of these recordings, many in the 1950's, the sound is remarkably clear. Nineteen of the twenty songs here were penned, at least in part, by Sonny Boy himself. The long exception is "Bring It On Home" which was written by Willie Dixon. The first few songs feature a dream team band lineup consisting of Otis Spann on piano, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass and Fred Below on drums. The music is nothing short of excellent. Replacing Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers on the guitar for most of the remainder of the tracks is Robert Lockwood although Matt Murphy and Buddy Guy make appearances on two of the tracks. Only complaint, it's to short. 20 songs but only 56:16 minutes. Highly recommended.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Harping, Batman!, June 7, 2002

By 

Big Dave (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: His Best (Chess 50th Anniversary Collection) (Audio CD)

If you are already a blues or a harp aficionado, you know who Sonny Boy Williamson is and you know he's great. Let me just add that this is a great collection and a very high quality recording at a great price. If you're looking for the highlights of Sonny Boy's work, this is it.

Maybe you don't know so much about him. Maybe you're new to the blues, or you're learning to play the harmonica, and you're thinking about buying this CD. You should buy it, because:

1. It's great blues, in classic form, with an excellent band fronted by a blues legend. Sonny Boy should be on your shelf for the same reasons that Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson should be there.

2. It's great harp playing. Maybe you're just learning the harmonica, and you've figured out how to play "Camptown Ladies" and "You Are My Sunshine," but now you're stuck and you feel like the harmonica is a dead end. Listen to this guy, and hear what a simple ten-hole diatonic harmonica can do, played cross-harp. Great stuff.