Sonny
Boy Williamson: King Biscuit Time (Arhoolie CD 310)
Well before Muddy moved to Chicago...one Rice Miller -
aka “Sonny Boy Williamson II” was - w/the crucial
aid of Robert Johnson’s son-in-law (Robert Jnr. Lockwood)
& an anarchic ex-tapdancer called James “Peck”
Curtis - busily modernising the delta blues...courtesy
of their sponsor “King Biscuit Flour” on local
Arkansas station KFFA.
Regular broadcasts - sans Peck - started as early as
1941...right before the start of the wartime shellac shortage.
Within a year, Rice & Robert’d roped in the mighty
“Peck” - undoubtedly thee finest free-form blues
drummer ever (no contest), soon to be followed by one
“Dudlow” on piano - and they could...then, easily
(in those isolated days), pretend to be what they damn-well
weren’t...
But - interestingly - what they were was far, far more
important than what the (real) Sonny Boy had to offer
by this stage... Because, whilst he was still (basically)
delivering one more variation on the “Bluebird”
house sound of 30s Chicago blues...down south, Rice &
Robert were in the midst of developing the original band
approach that served as the engine-room of all of the
rockin’ Mississippi valley sounds to emerge over
the next decade or so...including rockabilly, I’d
venture to say...
Still...that’s not - exactly - what (finally) made
it onto record, nigh-on a decade later. Robert Jnr. was
long gone (although his heir stuck to his sound), and
“Peck” - despite his radio fame - was considered
far too weird for recording purposes. Still...the result
is the closest we’ll (now) hear to that historically
crucial outfit (apart from one Ike Turner-recorded session
- w/dodgy sound - that’s also never been widely available).
The characteristic feel is best described as pumping -
the vocals/harp riding atop, amidst the (somewhat) muffled,
yet richly distorted guitar lead/rhythm - underpinned
by the mostly inextricably mixed piano/drums groove, whilst...snapping
his fingers, and slyly mouthing many of the finest original
lines in modern blues, “Sonny Boy” gleefully
screwed w/our minds...
And, that ain’t all. Because - unlike any of its
competitors we have on record - this was a band that,
even w/out the truly anarchic “Peck” on board,
clearly enjoyed turning the beat around...most evidently
on the stunning “Come on Back Home”.
Still...admittedly, I’d have to say that this collection
is far from ideally programmed...not to mention the fact
that a handful of the very finest cuts - such as the truly
awesome “No Nights by Myself” - aren’t
here...but, most of the best are. However, Arhoolie -
in characteristically generous fashion - have also included
a genuinely rugged radio broadcast from the early 60s
- this time including the mighty “Peck”...so,
you’d have to be a fool to miss this one. Cause blues
literally turning into rock’n’roll has never
been so evident as here...in (crucial) King Biscuit Time...
John Henry Calvinist
