Customer Reviews

Essential Sonny Boy Williamson

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This is a superb collection.
Singer/harpist Aleck "Rice" Miller may have started calling himself "Sonny Boy Williamson" to take advantage of the fame of John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson from Tennessee. But he wasn't a cheap imitator - Miller was one of the major blues artists at Chess Records in the 50s, alongside Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and probably the best harmonica player the blues has even seen.

Rice Miller was a tremendous songwriter whose keen attention to detail was quite unusual in a genre which relied heavily on cliché and a handful of repeated patterns. He penned witty, sometimes romantic, sometimes venomous lyrics, and tunes memorable enough to rival those of Chess stalwart Willie Dixon. He was an equally terrific singer, highly expressive, and usually backed in the studio by superstar musicians like Dixon, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Otis Spann and Robert "Jr." Lockwood.

Sometimes a double-disc compilation is stretching it, especially for the casual fan, but these 45 tracks are not even close to being too many. Absolutely everything on "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson" is worth a listen, and I can easily name another dozen songs which should have been here...Miller's recordings for Chess maintained an incredible level of quality.
There are really too many highlights to mention, but among the very best songs are "Don't Start Me To Talkin'", "All My Love In Vain", "Your Funeral And My Trial", "Let Me Explain" and "Fattening Frogs For Snakes" from Miller's first Chess LP, as well as "Help Me", "Checkin' Up On My Baby", "Too Young To Die" and many, many more - and more than half of these tracks are not on the single-disc MCA/Chess-release "His Best", which should be sufficent reason to pick up this fine collection instead.

And while you're at it, get Miller's early Trumpet recordings as well on Arhoolie's "King Biscuit Time"!

Though I had heard many of his songs performed by others, I did not know the name Sonny Boy Williamson until I heard a John Mayall song about him thirtysome years ago. Recently, my dormant interest in the Delta blues was rekindled, so I decided to try and find out just what this Sonny Boy was about.
Where better to start than a box set? I really had no idea what to expect when I bought it, but what I got was more than expected. I took the set on a recent road trip and listened to both discs more than five times each and found something new to like each time.
The verdict? I love this stuff. Not only can Sonny Boy play his blues harp like no other, he can really sing. His songs are well-written and are often humorous when they are not meant to be. The sound is great too, one can hear every instrument at work, particularly the drums which drive the easy swing of Sonny's blues.
My favorites? I like every song. If I had to pick, Unseen Eye and Somebody Help Me would be near the top.
The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson dishes out a heaping plateful of raw blues at its primitive finest. Don't miss out on this one, its money well-spent.

Sonny always had a great story song- There was always some predicament going on or some trouble he was in or just simply him being nosey and signafying on other folks problems. And all of this made him the best story teller. I absolutely love his storytelling in song. He was without a doubt the most compelling storyteller in all of Blues history. Buy this cd it's great and listen to the great stories. Sonny in one song says quote- "My baby asked me for 100 dollars and I didn't have but 99"- or the greatest (aint gone be no more sugar daddy) song ever recorded called "Fattening frogs for snakes" and of course his biggest hit is included on this package-1955's "Don't start me talking" because Sonny says when he starts talkin "he'll tell everything he knows". All of these are great classic blues songs from a true blues genius.

Sonny Boy Williamson #2 (Rice Miller) was a man that lived music. From moonshine and Mississippi rambling with the legendary Robert Johnson in the 30's, to Howlin' Wolf's sister; from cutting sides with Muddy Waters at the Chess studios in Chicago, to conquering the British blues scene, Sonny Boy branded the world with his unique brand of country blues. The Chess ESSENTIAL package is the best overview of the man available in the States. Absolutely amazing.

Wow! Sonny Boy makes all the current bad boys of rap and rock n roll seem tame. Stories of infidelity, trouble with the law and just good times delivered in his unique voice with some great harp. I would recommend this two disc collection as one of the best Chess reissues. The only down side - I only wish there was more material. I can only imagine what Sonny Boy was like in a live setting.

Anyone fimilar with the blues has to have at least heard of Sonny Boy Williamson [Rice Miller]. The man was one of the best artists of his time and his work still holds up today. This guy had the blues down cold: he sung, wrote and played some of the best music ever. This compilation is exactly what the title says. There is simply no better place to turn for top notch blues. Sonny Boy's singing is astounding, his harp is nothing short of awe-inspiring (I like him even better than Little Walter). This one has all the classics from "Help Me" to "Keep it to Yourself" and the infamous "Little Village" in all its profane glory. If you waqnt to hear good blues with a heaping of extrodinary Harmonica playing, you can do no better than this outstanding package.

This cd has got it all, the big hits and, also, hard-to-find "classics!" I'd been searching for a compilation of this caliber for a long time! Cuts like "Little Village," with its hilarious out-take intro banter, "Like Wolf," where Sonny Boy does his Howlin' Wolf impression, "Santa Claus," which is about as funny as any blues song ever written, to "Too Young To Die," about the consequences of his relationship with a 'green-eyed' young woman! 45 GREAT cuts, with Sonny Boy's dynamite HARP, VOCALS and STORYTELLING! What a TREAT!!! This is a MUST HAVE collection, the BEST available in my opinion! You'll want more, of course, but this is an unbelieveably comprehensive place to start!!! 'Nuf said!

I saw recently where Elvis Costello had this, or some other SBW collection, in his current Top Ten play list. That got me thinking.

Handyman owns a fairly deep collection of wide ranging, well-worn and warped blues LPs.
My most heavily traveled avenue of interest being the post-war 1950's Chicago blues scene.

I have a few vinyl volumes of SBW Chess material. Those recordings are desert island blues picks for me.

Sonny Boy Williamson's take on the blues has a particular funky edge, a particular off-beat that I cannot describe in musical terminology, but which I have always found distinctive and attractive.

The goldmines of the frontliners; Muddy Waters, Howlin'Wolf, Elmore James,John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy etc have been unearthed and scavenged for years.

Sonny Boy's mine is a bit harder locate but, the blues treasure lying therein is, in my humble opinion, of equal intrigue and value, and holds a particular shine.

I encourage anyone getting onboard the never ending blues train to make room for some SBW in their satchel.

THIS IS THE BEST OF THE BLUES SINGERS..STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO BB KING AND RAY CHARLES..IT DONT GET ANY BETTER..AND NOW I FINALLY SEE WHERE THE YOUNG BRITISH GROUPS LIKE THE ROLLING STONES AND ETC. FROM THE 60'S COPIED THEIR STYLE...AND WITH THE HARMONIC SOUND TOO...GO TO THE ROOTS FOR THE TRUE SOUND CAUSE NOTHING ELSE CAN COMPARE!!!