I have so many good things to say about Sonny Boy Williamson II, also known as Rice (or Alex) Miller, it’s good I have so many of his records. There are some singers that whatever they may be saying, you know they are singing about sex. Sonny Boy was one. The way he says ‘Come here, baby’ in I Can’t Do It Without You would be hard to resist.
This record is widely known for its nearly 12-minute compilation of outtakes for a song Williamson called Little Village. When Leonard Chess asked why that was the title, Sonny Boy referred to him as ‘motherfucker,’ adding that Chess could name it for his momma if he wanted. Not only is there lively discussion, it is a great record.
Great lyrics: In She Got Next to Me, he says Believin’ is all right, just so you don’t believe the wrong thing. (I can almost hear Descartes say that). The reason he wants to believe her is ‘She is just as cool in the summer as she is in the spring.’ That is poetry. He also reports that when ‘It was 9 below zero on the outside, I brought my baby’s temperature up to 110.’ In Take Your Hand Outa My Pocket, he says ‘I caught your hand in my pocket above the elbow.’ I don’t think she was reaching for his wallet.
converselyspeaking 