Just over 60 years ago, after a movie matinee with my cousin and a friend, I made the trip of several blocks from my home on Chicago’s Southside to 3226 Giles Street, the home of my musical idol the original Sonny Boy, John Lee Williamson.

I’d admired his records and wanted badly to meet him. My knock on the door was answered by an elegantly dressed dark skinned man who asked me “can I help you”? I said “we want to see Sonny Boy”, he answered “well this is Sonny Boy”. “We want to hear you play your harmonica”.

He said “Come on up, I’m proud to have you all”. He invited us in and when I asked “Sonny Boy, show me how you make your harmonica say wah, wah, wah,. He proceeded to pull out his harps and amplifier and spent half an hour teaching me how to choke the harp. That was the most exciting day of my life and it made me determined to become a Bluesman. This album, released on the sixtieth anniversary of his untimely passing in 1948, is my way of celebrating the music of a man who revolutionized the Blues.

Billy Boy Arnold. Chicago, 2008. – www.billyboyarnold.com

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