Label: Document Records.
Release Date: 1991.
Releases: November 14, 2000; April 5, 2005.
Recording Time: 75 minutes.
Recording Date: May 5, 1937 - June 17, 1938.
Styles: Acoustic Chicago Blues, Chicago Blues, Regional Blues, Harmonica Blues.
A comprehensive collection of the highly influential blues pioneer's 25 earliest works, recorded in 1937 and 1938. (Note: This is the Sonny Boy Williamson who was murdered in 1948, not the one who toured England with the Yardbirds in 1963).
Several of these songs, of course, have become blues standards, particularly "Good Morning School Girl," which has been covered countless times (the Yardbirds, Ten Years After, and others), and there's a surprising variety here; "Got the Bottle Up and Gone," for example, has an obvious jug band feel to it that's thoroughly at odds with the haunted sound of "Decoration Blues," or the proto-swamp "Up the Country Blues" (a song that clearly influenced Slim Harpo).
Recorded between May 5, 1937 & June 17, 1938. Includes liner notes by Keith Briggs.
Recording information: Aurora, IL.
Recording information: Aurora, IL.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Liner Note Author: Keith Briggs.
Personnel: Sonny Boy Williamson (vocals, harmonica); Robert Lee McCoy (vocals, guitar); Yank Rachell (guitar, mandolin); Joe "Jackson Joe" Williams (guitar); Elijah Jones (guitar); Henry Townsend (guitar); Big Joe Williams (guitar); Walter Davis (piano).
Credits: Keith Briggs - liner notes; Walter Davis - piano; Charlie "Little Buddy" Doyle - performer, primary artist; Elijah Jones - guitar, speech/speaker/speaking part; Robert Lee McCoy - guitar, vocals; Johnny Parth - compilation producer, producer; Yank Rachell - guitar, mandolin, speech/speaker/speaking part; Henry Townsend - guitar; Big Joe Williams - guitar, speech/speaker/speaking part; Joe "Jackson Joe" Williams - guitar; Sonny Boy Williamson II - composer; Sonny Boy Williamson I - composer, harmonica, primary artist, vocals.
Tracks: 1) Good morning, school girl; 2) Blue bird blues; 3) Jackson blues; 4) Got the bottle up and gone; 5) Sugar mama blues; 6) Skinny woman; 7) Up the country blues; 8) Worried me blues; 9) Black gal blues; 10) Collector man blues; 11) Frigidaire blues; 12) Suzanna blues; 13) Early in the morning; 14) Project highway; 15) My little cornelius; 16) Decoration blues; 17) You can lead me; 18) Moonshine; 19) Miss Louisa blues; 20) Sunny land; 21) I'm tired trucking my blues away; 22) Down south; 23) Beauty parlor; 24) Until my love come down; 25) Honey bee blues.
Credits: Keith Briggs - liner notes; Walter Davis - piano; Charlie "Little Buddy" Doyle - performer, primary artist; Elijah Jones - guitar, speech/speaker/speaking part; Robert Lee McCoy - guitar, vocals; Johnny Parth - compilation producer, producer; Yank Rachell - guitar, mandolin, speech/speaker/speaking part; Henry Townsend - guitar; Big Joe Williams - guitar, speech/speaker/speaking part; Joe "Jackson Joe" Williams - guitar; Sonny Boy Williamson II - composer; Sonny Boy Williamson I - composer, harmonica, primary artist, vocals.
Tracks: 1) Good morning, school girl; 2) Blue bird blues; 3) Jackson blues; 4) Got the bottle up and gone; 5) Sugar mama blues; 6) Skinny woman; 7) Up the country blues; 8) Worried me blues; 9) Black gal blues; 10) Collector man blues; 11) Frigidaire blues; 12) Suzanna blues; 13) Early in the morning; 14) Project highway; 15) My little cornelius; 16) Decoration blues; 17) You can lead me; 18) Moonshine; 19) Miss Louisa blues; 20) Sunny land; 21) I'm tired trucking my blues away; 22) Down south; 23) Beauty parlor; 24) Until my love come down; 25) Honey bee blues.