Sonny Boy Williamson

Man, does Shake the Boogie reveal what a raw deal the original Sonny Boy Williamson has received in blues history. He was the first blues harmonica star, but his recordings fall into the mid-zone between pure country blues and post-WWII urban blues, and he was murdered in 1948 just as Chess began to establish the electric Chicago sound that became a foundation of rock & roll. Not to mention that Rice Miller came along to steal his thunder by copping the name and no small part of his vocal and instrumental sound to become the Sonny Boy of blues harmonica legend, leaving his predecessor, John Lee Williamson, as a mere footnote known mostly to serious blues fanatics. But just look at the classic songs here: "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl," "Sugar Mama Blues," "Miss Ida Lee," "Dealing With the Devil," "Decoration Day Blues," "Elevator Woman," "Bring Another Half Pint" (aka Jimmy Rogers' "Sloppy Drunk"), and "I'm Tired Trucking My Blues Away" (hello, R. Crumb and Mr. Natural's archetypal hippie phrase). Check out the caliber of his collaborators -- Big Joe Williams, Robert Lee McCoy (aka Robert Nighthawk), Yank Rachell, Big Bill Broonzy, Eddie Boyd, Blind John Davis, Ransom Knowling, and Willie Dixon. The biggest revelation is actually hearing the sound of the blues changing before your ears on these tracks. The first half-dozen tracks are strongly rooted in acoustic country blues, with quavering harmonica wails and wah-wahs on "Sugar Mama Blues" complementing vocals that Rice Miller definitely went to school on ("Dealing on the Devil," "My Little Machine," and "Ground Hog Blues" clearly show that debt, too). "Decoration Blues" finds Rachell's mandolin playing up high with Williamson's harmonica -- a variation on the old string band group sans fiddle -- and it gives a strong sense of idea of the simultaneous soloing element in early blues.

Piano enters on "Miss Ida Lee," but "Dealing With the Devil" introduces a major change in both the recorded sound and music on seven 1940 tracks with just Williamson's harp, the little-known Joshua Altheimer's barrelhouse piano, and minimal drums to give the music an urban blues stomp feel. Altheimer constantly changes up his focus from right-hand melodic lead to left-hand rhythmic foundation -- he's particularly strong on "War Time Blues" and deserves every bit of the liner note praise he gets. The final sonic sea change, prompted by the wartime ban on recording, flowers fully on the famed "Elevator Woman," with another quantum leap in recorded sound quality and the addition of bass for a full band sound. Broonzy's solos on the final tracks are clearly played on electric guitar, and the energy level is noticeably higher on "Mellow Chick Swing," the jaunty and vibrant title track, and the high-stepping "Better Cut That Out." The fact the last two songs were R&B chart hits -- of the one-week, initial sales burst variety -- proves that John Lee Williamson was an A-list star who was surviving the postwar changes that made most of his old country blues cronies passé. Excellent liner notes put Williamson's career and his harmonica innovations in context, and Shake the Boogie is an absolutely essential single-disc collection for anyone interested in blues and a virtual primer on how the blues sound changed. Seminal is a critic's cliché, but the music here genuinely deserves the term -- the first Sonny Boy Williamson was that important an artist, one who has been criminally underrated in conventional-wisdom blues history. ~ Don Snowden, All Music Guide