Sonny Boy Williamson - Sonny Boy Williamson: The Blues (2018) [DSD64]

Whenever Sonny Boy Williamson began to play, any generational or cultural barriers that might have existed quickly crumbled. His harmonica spoke a language of our time, tortured, wailing, crying – and strangely beautiful; its effect was powerfully human and its appeal penetrated national, racial, and economic frontiers.

Sonny Boy Williamson represented a powerful and direct link to the source of the blues. His wildly expressive harmonica playing echoed the hollers, shouts, howls and whispers of the slaves who so often had little more than their own voices with which to express their responses to being in captivity. The welcome reissue of this album offers a rich example of Sonny Boy’s range of musical emotion, from rage through tenderness to sometimes unexpected humour.

Sonny Boy Williamson, harmonica, vocals
Memphis Slim, piano
Matt Murphy, guitar
Bill Stephney, drums

Recorded In Copenhagen Nov. 1., 1963 At The Ivar Rosenberg Studio

Digitally remastered