Sonny Boy Williamson II
| Sonny Boy Williamson II | |
|---|---|
Detail of headstone at Prairie Road Cemetery, Tutwiler, Mississippi
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alex or Aleck Ford (later known as Aleck Miller) |
| Also known as |
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| Born |
December 5, 1912 Glendora, MS Tallahatchie County, Mississippi, United States |
| Died | May 24, 1965 (aged 52) Helena, Arkansas, United States |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, arranger, bandleader |
| Instruments | Singing, blues harmonica |
| Years active | Mid-1930s–1965 |
| Labels | |
Alex or Aleck Miller (né Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp stylist who recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s. Miller used various names, including Rice Miller and Little Boy Blue, before calling himself Sonny Boy Williamson, which was also the name of a popular Chicago blues singer and harmonica player. To distinguish the two, Miller has been referred to as Sonny Boy Williamson II.
He first recorded with Elmore James on "Dust My Broom". Some of his popular songs include "Don't Start Me Talkin'", "Help Me", "Checkin' Up on My Baby", and "Bring It On Home". He toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with English rock musicians, including the Yardbirds, the Animals, and Jimmy Page. "Help Me" became a blues standard, and many blues and rock artists have recorded his songs.
Miller was born Alex Ford (pronounced "Aleck") on the Sara Jones Plantation in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. The date and year of birth are uncertain. He claimed to have been born on December 5, 1899, but David Evans, professor of music and an ethnomusicologist at the University of Memphis, claims to have found census records that he was born around 1912, being seven years old on February 2, 1920, the day of the census. His gravestone in or near Tutwiler, Mississippi, set up by record company owner Lillian McMurry twelve years after his death, gives his date of birth as March 11, 1908, but has no basis for being recognized as accurate.
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