"Eyesight to the Blind (The Hawker)"
Song by The Who
from the album Tommy
Released	May 23, 1969
Recorded	September 19, 1968 to March 7, 1969
Genre	Rock
Length	2:46
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Sonny Boy Williamson II
Producer(s)	Kit Lambert
Tommy track listing
24 tracks Side one "Overture" "It's a Boy" "1921" "Amazing Journey" "Sparks" "The Hawker" Side two "Christmas" "Cousin Kevin" "The Acid Queen" "Underture" Side three "Do You Think It's Alright?" "Fiddle About" "Pinball Wizard" "There's a Doctor" "Go to the Mirror!" "Tommy Can You Hear Me?" "Smash the Mirror" "Sensation" Side four "Miracle Cure" "Sally Simpson" "I'm Free" "Welcome" "Tommy's Holiday Camp" "We're Not Gonna Take It"

"Eyesight to the Blind" is a 12-bar blues song originally written and recorded in 1951 by Sonny Boy Williamson II (Aleck "Rice" Miller), and subsequently recorded by many other musicians including The Who as part of the rock opera Tommy.

The song was recorded by Sonny Boy Williamson in 1951 as his first single release on Trumpet Records. Three versions of the song were released as 78rpm singles. The first version featured Sonny Boy Williamson II (vocals/harp), Willie Love (piano), Joe Willie Wilkins (guitar), Elmore James (guitar), and Joe Dyson (drums); the second and third versions had Sonny Boy Williamson II, Willie Love, Henry Reed (bass), and Joe Dyson.

In 1957, Sonny Boy Williamson re-recorded the song on Checker Records, with Otis Spann (piano), Robert Lockwood (guitar), Luther Tucker (guitar), Willie Dixon (bass) and Fred Below (drums), under the title "Born Blind".

A blues standard, the original Sonny Boy Williamson song has been covered many times. The most successful early version was that by The Larks, originally a vocal group which had developed out of gospel group, The Selah Jubilee Singers. The group's recording of "Eyesight to the Blind", with vocals and guitar by Allen Bunn, who later worked solo as Tarheel Slim, reached #5 on the Billboard R&B charts in July 1951.

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Wikipedia