John Lee Williamson (March 30, 1914- June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson. He was born somewhere near Jackson, Tennessee on March 30, 1914. His original harmonica recordings were considered to be in the country style, but he soon demonstrated skill at making harmonica a lead instrument for blues. He has been called "the father of modern blues harp". March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in leap years). ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... The blues is blal vaökdgohdtzkhchg cnlncgdl a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the full twelve note chromatic scale plus the microtonal intervals and a characteristic eight and twelve-bar chord progression. ... Wikibooks has a manual, textbook or guide to this subject: Harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ or mouth harp, French harp, tin sandwich, blues harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze... Jackson is a city located in Madison County, Tennessee. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (90th in leap years). ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Wikibooks has a manual, textbook or guide to this subject: Harmonica A harmonica is a free reed musical wind instrument (also known, among other things, as a mouth organ or mouth harp, French harp, tin sandwich, blues harp, simply harp, or Mississippi saxophone), having multiple, variably-tuned brass or bronze...

His very first recording, "Good Morning, School Girl", was a hit on the 'race records' market in 1937. He was hugely popular among black audiences throughout the whole southern US as well as in the midwestern industrial cities such like Detroit and his home base in Chicago, and his name was synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade. Other well-known recordings of his is are "Shake the Boogie", "You Better Cut That Out", "Sloppy Drunk", and "Early In The Morning". John Lee's style influenced a number of blues harmonica performers, including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, and Snooky Pryor among many others. He was easily the most widely heard and influential blues harmonica player of his generation. His music was also influential on many of his non-harmonica playing contemporaries and successors, including Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers. Junior Wells (December 9, 1934 - January 15, 1998), real name Amos Blackmore, was a blues harmonica player based in Chicago who was famous for playing with Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Lonnie Brooks, the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. ... Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1911 and died on March 11, 1986 in Mineola, New York. ... Snooky Pryor, born James Edward Pryor on September 15, 1921 in Lambert, Mississippi, pioneered the thicker, amplified sound of blues harmonica. ... McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1915 or 1913 – April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician and is generally considered the father of Chicago blues. ... Jimmy Rogers (June 3, 1924 - December 19, 1997) is a blues guitarist best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters band of the 1950s. ...

He was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. John Lee objected to this, though no legal action took place. On June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson was killed in a mugging on Chicago's South Side. // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... Sonny Boy Williamson, circa 1964 Aleck Rice Miller (December 5, 1899 - May 25, 1965), a. ...

External links:

• http://www.geocities.com/shakin_stacks/sonnyboywilliamson1st.txt

• http://www.island.net/~blues/johnlee.html