Sonny Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds
Encyclopedia
Sonny Boy Williamson & the Yardbirds is a live album by Chicago blues veteran Sonny Boy Williamson II
backed by English blues-rock band The Yardbirds
. It was recorded in England at the Crawdaddy Club
in Richmond, Surrey on December 8, 1963.
When Williamson visited London with the (September/October) 1963 American Folk Blues Festival
tour, he attended a Yardbirds concert near the festival. He returned shortly afterwards for a small club tour of England and to record this album. There he was backed by several local rock bands, including The Animals
with whom a similar live album was recorded.
Side 1
Side 2
All songs are written by Sonny Boy Williamson II, except as noted. Tracks 1-6 feature The Yardbirds; the rest are Williamson backed by The Yardbirds. Tracks 1-15 were recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club; tracks 16 & 17 recorded 7 December 1963, Star Club; tracks 18-20 recorded 28 February 1964, Birmingham Rhythm & Blues Festival.
After the boxset, expanded reissues of Sonny Boy Williamson & the Yardbirds appeared. However, they invariably leave off two or more of the twenty-two recordings available. Some of the labels that have reissued the album include Repertoire,
JVC,
Victor,
and Sunspots.
The Yardbirds
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
backed by English blues-rock band The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
. It was recorded in England at the Crawdaddy Club
Crawdaddy Club
The Crawdaddy Club was a 1960s music venue in Richmond, Surrey, England. Several other seminal British blues and rhythm and blues acts also played there....
in Richmond, Surrey on December 8, 1963.
When Williamson visited London with the (September/October) 1963 American Folk Blues Festival
American Folk Blues Festival
The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe beginning in 1962.German jazz publicist Joachim-Ernst Berendt first had the idea of bringing original African-American blues performers to Europe. Jazz had become very popular, and rock and roll was just gaining a foothold,...
tour, he attended a Yardbirds concert near the festival. He returned shortly afterwards for a small club tour of England and to record this album. There he was backed by several local rock bands, including The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
with whom a similar live album was recorded.
Original album
All songs are written by Sonny Boy Williamson II, except as noted. The recordings have been consistently reissued in various formats.Side 1
- "Bye Bye Bird" (Williamson, Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) - "Pontiac Blues"
- "Take It Easy Baby"
- "I Don't Care No More"
- "Do The Weston"
Side 2
- "Mister Downchild"
- "23 Hours Too Long" (Williamson, Eddie BoydEddie BoydEdward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
) - "Out On The Water Coast"
- "Baby Don't Worry"
Related recordings
Over the years, other songs recorded during this club tour were released piecemeal by various record labels. In 1993, most were collected on The Yardbird's four-CD boxset "Train Kept a Rollin' - The Complete Giorgio Gomelsky Productions" (Charly LIKBOX3). (Two songs from the original album were not included: "I Don't Care No More" and "Baby Don't Worry"; these are essentially solo pieces by Williamson and feature little or no Yardbird backing.) Besides additional recordings by Williamson, it also includes a six-song set by The Yardbirds from the 8 December 1963 Crawdaddy date.All songs are written by Sonny Boy Williamson II, except as noted. Tracks 1-6 feature The Yardbirds; the rest are Williamson backed by The Yardbirds. Tracks 1-15 were recorded 8 December 1963, Crawdaddy Club; tracks 16 & 17 recorded 7 December 1963, Star Club; tracks 18-20 recorded 28 February 1964, Birmingham Rhythm & Blues Festival.
- "Smokestack LightningSmokestack Lightning"Smokestack Lightning" is a classic of the blues. In 1956, Howlin' Wolf recorded the song and it became one of his most popular and influential songs...
" (Howlin' WolfHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
) - The Yardbirds - "You Can't Judge a Book by Looking at the Cover" (Willie Dixon) - The Yardbirds
- "Let It RockLet It Rock (Chuck Berry song)"Let It Rock" is a song by Chuck Berry from his 1960 album Rockin' at the Hops. The same year, it was released as the B-side of the single "Too Pooped to Pop " and reached #64 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #6 in the UK. The song is about working on a train track as a train is...
" (Chuck BerryChuck BerryCharles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
) - The Yardbirds - "I Wish You WouldI Wish You Would"I Wish You Would" is a song recorded by Chicago blues musician Billy Boy Arnold in 1955. It was developed while Arnold was performing with Bo Diddley and incorporates a Diddley-style rhythm...
" (Billy Boy ArnoldBilly Boy ArnoldBilly Boy Arnold is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.-Biography:...
) - The Yardbirds - "Who Do You Love" (Bo DiddleyBo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
) - The Yardbirds - "Honey in Your Hips" (Keith RelfKeith RelfKeith William Relf , was a musician best known as the lead singer and harmonica player of The Yardbirds. After the Yardbirds broke up Relf formed the acoustic duo Together, with fellow Yardbird Jim McCarty, followed by Renaissance, which also featured his sister, singer Jane Relf, then hard rock...
) - The Yardbirds - "Bye Bye Bird" (Williamson, Dixon)
- "Mister Downchild"
- "The River Rhine"
- "23 Hours Too Long" (Williamson, Boyd)
- "A Lost Care"
- "Pontiac Blues"
- "Take It Easy Baby" (version 1)
- "Out on the Water Coast"
- "Western Arizona" aka "Do the Weston" (version 1)
- "Take It Easy Baby" (version 2)
- "Do the Weston" (version 2)
- "Slow Walk" aka "The River Rhine"
- "Highway 69"
- "My Little Cabin"
After the boxset, expanded reissues of Sonny Boy Williamson & the Yardbirds appeared. However, they invariably leave off two or more of the twenty-two recordings available. Some of the labels that have reissued the album include Repertoire,
JVC,
Victor,
and Sunspots.
Personnel
- Sonny Boy Williamson IISonny Boy Williamson IIWillie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
- vocal, harmonica
The Yardbirds
- Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
- guitar - Chris DrejaChris DrejaChris Dreja was the rhythm guitarist, and later bassist, in the 1960s British band, The Yardbirds.-Early life:...
- guitar - Jim McCartyJim McCartyJim McCarty is an English musician, best known as the drummer for The Yardbirds and Renaissance.-Early life:...
- drums - Paul Samwell-SmithPaul Samwell-SmithPaul Samwell-Smith is best known as a founding member and bassist of the 1960s English band, The Yardbirds, a group that spawned such noteworthy musicians as Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page...
- bass - Keith RelfKeith RelfKeith William Relf , was a musician best known as the lead singer and harmonica player of The Yardbirds. After the Yardbirds broke up Relf formed the acoustic duo Together, with fellow Yardbird Jim McCarty, followed by Renaissance, which also featured his sister, singer Jane Relf, then hard rock...
- handclapping, shouting and foot-tapping