Sonny Boy Williamson - The Real Folk Blues/More Real Folk Blues

A TRUE MASTER OF THE GENRE

SONNY BOY 11, AKA RICE MILLER. THE MOST SOULFUL OF THE CHICAGO BLUES ARTISTS. THERE WAS NO OTHER LIKE HIM. HE IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE OF THE "TRUE FATHERS OF ROCK & ROLL, NOT TO MENTION, R&B." THIS CD HAS MOST OF HI BEST, BUT IT IS MISSING A COUPLE OF MY FAVORITES, LIKE, "DON'T START ME TALKING", AND "I DON'T KNOW." OTHER THAN THAT, IT IS FULL OF GREAT BLUES THAT HAS BEEN REMASTERED BEAUTIFULLY. GREAT BUY!! May 4, 2008

A must have for blues harp fans

This is the second Sonny Boy Williamson, a quirky harmonica genius. Some of his best known songs are here - "One Way Out," "Help Me," "Bring It On Home," "Nine Below Zero" - along with some, like "The Hunt," that are just plain strange. If you like blues harp, buy this CD.

I also highly recommend Sonny Boy's CDs "One Way Out" and "Down And Out Blues." April 13, 2008

A very interesting collection of latter-day Chess sides

MCA/Chess' "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson" remains the ultimate Rice Miller-compilation, with "His Best" in second.
But this twofer-CD, which brings together all 24 tracks from Miller's two "Real Folk Blues" albums, doesn't make a bad supplement. It does repeat eight songs from "His Best", but it also has 16 songs which can't be found on that collection. Conversely, if you have the more extensive "Essential" anthology, you'll find only eight songs here that you don't already have.

The overall standart of this material is high, with "The Real Folk Blues" being slightly stronger than its companion volume.
"Help Me", "Bring It On Home", "Nine Below Zero", "Down Child", the supremely tough "Checkin' Up On My Baby", and the punchy "One Way Out" are all among Rice Miller's best most familiar songs, and numbers like "Too Young To Die", "Decoration Day" and "My Younger Days" are equally excellent. Rice Miller was by far the best songwriter of all the Chess greats of the 50s and early 60s, an awesome lyricist whose highly personal songs express sentiments ranging from pure joy to the deepest, darkest despair. Willie Dixon's way with words was impressive, but Rice Miller is something else:

"When I first met the lil' girl / I didn' know what I was doin' /
Now we all tied up / And my life is ruined!
I'm scared o' that child / I'm scared o' that child /
I'm scared o' that child / I'm too young to die!"

She's a cute lil' girl / She got such a wonderful mug /
When she start to talk / Her voice but stone jug /
I'm scared o' that child...

We had a date and I couldn't make it / That's what made 'er mad /
Now I'm lookin' at two brown eyes / They turned greenish-gray /
So I'm scared o' that child...

I called my baby / And I told 'er I would be late /
'Time my baby opened the door I looked in the barrel of a .38 /
I'm scared o' that child..."

23 of these 24 songs are from the 60s, and they are significantly better than Miller's 60s recordings for Delmark, even if this collection doesn't quite maintain the magnificent level of quality of MCA/Chess's main Sonny Boy-compilations.
Among the best lesser-known songs are the funky, playful "Peach Tree", Willie Dixon's swinging "That's All I Want", and the slow "Got To Move" from Miller's first LP, "Down & Out Blues". "Stop Right Now", "The Goat", "Close To Me" and a couple of other great songs will be familiar to those who own "The Essential Sonny Boy Williamson", but not to those who "only" have "His Best". ("Sad To Be Alone", on the other hand, is on "His Best", but not on the "Essential" collection.)

Newcomers will be better off with "His Best", but this CD is a really fine addition to that compilation...the sound is very good, and the liner notes get a B+ as well.
4 1/4 stars. Definitely recommended. August 14, 2004

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