Customer Reviews

Keep It to Ourselves

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This is a surprisingly excellent recording for its age. The clarity is almost eerie - you can feel the connecting from lung to mouth to harmonica - a portrait in sound of a man's respiratory system! Okay, okay, that doesn't sound very appetizing, I know - but we're not talking country music here. This is true down and dirty blues by one of the great bluesmen of all time. Sonny Boy plays as if the instrument were literally a part of his body (not an original observation, I admit, but I don't recall where I read it). It is the soul, of course, that gives this work its excitement and depth. The pairing up sessions with Matt Murphy and Memphis Slim are absolutely precious. If you play the harmonica or have an interest in starting a blues collection - this is a great place to begin. It was where I started - and for me the delicious heartbreak of blues music reverberates best with this superb recording. Highly recommendable.

First,don't confuse Sonny Boy Williamson with Sonny Boy Williamson.I mean,don't confuse Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller,born Aleck Ford,ca.1897,died May 25,1965),who's playing here,with Sonny Boy Williamson I,who was younger (born John Lee Williamson,1914-1948) but who recorded in the thirties,whereas the second didn't record before the end of the fourties.
Both two are among the most essential harmonica players in the blues history,with Sonny Terry ,Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter.

Personnaly,I think that Rice Miller,the guy you'll listen to on this CD,is my favorite one.This very mysterious man (we still don't know his real name,Miller or Ford,neither his surname,neither his date of birth,1897,1899,or 1891 ?) was one of the major artists in the Chicago blues style,with Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf.He created an incredible music,full of roughness,energy and even violence.A music which clearly came from the delta,as Wolf and Muddy,but a very modern one (listen to Sonny Boy's amazing 50's recordings).As modern as Muddy,Wolf,or Robert Johnson;the only difference is that he was 15 or 20 years older than them.
Sonny Boy died in his sleep,May 25,1965,of "natural causes",but surely of too much alcohol.This record was made in Copenhagen,Denmark in 1963.It features the legendary Matt Murphy on acoustic guitar.Sonny Boy's harp ,sometimes almost vocal-like effects,make me think of great jazz trumpet or trombone players,like Bubber Miley or Joe Nanton.Here are real down home blues,and some essential ones.Listen to the pieces in which Sonny plays alone ("I can't understand");listen to his hit,"The sky is crying"(also an Elmore James' hit). Listen to the guest star,Memphis Slim himself,on "Same girl".Listen to Sonny's fascinating voice,surely one of the most expressive in blues.Listen to the great support of drummer's Bill Stepney.Listen to this exceptionnal blues album,exceptionnal because it's the only album in which Sonny Boy plays in an "unplugged" contest.If you like it,then jump to his 50's records.I discovered that his "one way out" CD sadly is out of stock;if you can find an used copy of it,don't miss it,this is one of the most important blues records of all times.It includes an incredible amount of total masterpieces.Don't miss this music,because it really swings like mad.

Sonny Boy Williamson is one of the hidden gems of blues music, known only to serious blues fans. This is unfortunate, because he is one of the most incredible blues harmonica players that ever lived. He made this recording when he was 66 years old, after playing the blues for 45 years. If you like Junior Wells, Big Walter Thorton, Carey Bell, Charlie Musslewhite, or William Clarke - you will enjoy this CD.

For the record, Alex "Rice" Miller AKA Sonny Boy Williamson II AKA "Sonny Boy Williams" was probably born December 5, 1912 (he was 7 in the 1920 census) and he died in his sleep in a Helena AR flophouse May 25, 1965.

This amazing recording was made in Copenhagen Denmark on November 1, 1963 barely more than a month after he arrived on his first European visit for the 2nd American Folk Blues Festival. Most of the material on the two (plus) albums worth of material was created out of new cloth in just those five weeks. The sparse sound (solo or with Matt "Guitar" Murphy (yes, Aretha Franklin's "husband" in the two Blues Brothers movies) on guitar and/or Memphis Slim on piano) is in the mold of the "folk blues" albums being marketed by Chess Records. Actually the first were just compilations of singles already in circulation on Checker records.

This specific album is the "best of" from the sessions and a really fine collection. It was probably the best-recorded album he ever made; in fact, it was releases as an audio fidelity album. Listen to a master at work, marvel at his artistry and be moved by his music. We will never see another like him.

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Tomando en cuenta que se han editado un número infinito de discos del legendario Rice Miller apodado Sonny Boy Williamson II. Éste es sin lugar a dudas el mejor disco que se ha publicado en la historia del Blues (por lo menos en lo que a armónica se refiere). Grabado en una sesión legendaria en Suecia esta selección de los dos álbumes originales nos presenta el máximo poder de interpretación del este músico, genialmente acompañado por Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Memphis Slim (al piano), y Billie Stephney en las percusiones. Sonny Boy se regodea en un una revisión de sus éxitos, con maestría sentimiento y la gracia de la sencillez en el ensamble creado por este trío, lega la más maravillosa y poderosa armónica que jamás se haya grabado. Este es el album definitivo para quienes gustan del más negro y sentido blues. Lo que es ciertamente una lástima es que no se tengan a la mano (por lo menos hasta ahora) los dos discos que se grabaron en aquélla sesión.