Sonny Boy Williamson I
Posted Wed, 04/07/2010 - 03:56 by jodanchudan
Hi Mark
In your interview, you talk about Sonny Boy Williamson I being in some ways the architect of the Chicago blues sound. I'm getting fixated on his sound at the moment and I'm trying to figure out what makes him sound like him - there are a lot of heavy tongue slaps and dirty-sounding 3(4) bends I'm hearing. I'd be interested to hear what you think gives him his characteristic style.
Comments
Sonny Boy 1
I'd say it's his rhythm & mix of chord & single notes & octives. He's kinda like James Cotton in his mix of tone ,clarity & sloppiness all at once? John Lee also had a great grasp of hand cupping techniques as well. He was definatly a HARD guy to emulate & sound like?
SBW I
Yeah, definitely hard to sound like! I've been able to figure out a couple of opening licks (he seems to use the same ones a lot, with variations) - they sound fairly simple, but it's tough to match the rhythm and get the right sound.
John Lee
amen to that!