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BIG JOE WILLIAMS

Biography

Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams was born on October 16, 1903, near Crawford in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, on the edge of the Noxubee Swamp. Coming from a musical family that included his blues-performing grandfather Bert Logan and uncles Bert and Russ Logan, Williams epitomized the life of the traveling bluesman. He crafted his first instrument as a one-string guitar before becoming famous for his innovative nine-string guitar, created by adding three extra strings to a standard six-string guitar. Leaving home in his teens, Williams made his living playing at railway camps, turpentine operations, levee camps, and logging sites, while also traveling with minstrel troupes and medicine shows throughout the 1920s.

Williams's recording career began in 1930 with the Birmingham Jug Band for Okeh Records, but his breakthrough came in 1935 when he signed with Bluebird Records and recorded his signature song "Baby Please Don't Go," which he sometimes credited to his wife, blues singer Bessie Mae Smith. This song became one of the most covered blues standards in history, later recorded by Muddy Waters, Van Morrison with Them, and Bob Dylan. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Williams recorded extensively for Bluebird and Columbia labels, producing hits like "Crawlin' King Snake" (1941) and "Peach Orchard Mama." He became a fixture of the St. Louis blues scene in the 1930s before relocating to Chicago, though he never stopped his constant traveling.

When African American music trends shifted toward electric blues and rhythm and blues after World War II, Williams adapted by launching a second career as a "folk blues" artist in the late 1950s. He performed widely at coffeehouses, nightclubs, and festivals across America and Europe, recording numerous albums for labels including Delmark, Arhoolie, Testament, Bluesville, and Folkways. His legendary travels and cantankerous personality were documented in guitarist Mike Bloomfield's memoir "Me and Big Joe," and he became known for living in the basement of Chicago's Jazz Record Mart. Williams also worked as a talent scout, helping to locate and record many artists including J.D. Short and John Wesley "Mr. Shortstuff" Macon. He died on December 17, 1982, in Macon, Mississippi, and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame on October 4, 1992.

Fun Facts

  • Williams created a distinctive nine-string guitar by adding three extra strings (doubling the D, B, and high E) to a standard guitar, producing what one historian described as 'the most buzzing, sizzling, African-sounding music' he had ever heard.
  • According to Williams himself, he had to stop traveling with young Muddy Waters because women kept complimenting his 'young son,' and Waters was taking away his female attention: 'I had to put Muddy down because he was takin' away my women.'
  • Williams lived in the basement of Chicago's Jazz Record Mart during his later years and became legendary for his cantankerous personality and indefatigable traveling spirit.
  • He performed at Mike Bloomfield's 'blues night' at the Fickle Pickle using an electric nine-string guitar through a ramshackle amplifier with a pie plate nailed to it and a beer can dangling against it—when he played, everything rattled except Big Joe himself.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

  • Charley Patton - Williams came under the influence of legendary Delta blues pioneer Charley Patton during his time in the Mississippi Delta (Delta blues style and performance techniques) [1920s-1930s]

Key Collaborators

  • John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson - Harmonica great who featured on many of Williams's recordings (Multiple recordings for Bluebird and Columbia labels) [1930s-1940s]
  • Robert Nighthawk - Fellow blues musician who recorded with Williams (Various recording sessions) [1930s-1940s]
  • Peetie Wheatstraw - Blues singer who collaborated on recordings (Various recording sessions) [1930s-1940s]
  • Bob Dylan - Williams influenced the young Dylan in the early 1960s; Dylan played harmonica on Williams's sessions (Several duets recorded for Victoria Spivey's Spivey Records) [1962]
  • Birmingham Jug Band - Early recording collaboration (Recordings for Okeh Records) [1930]

Artists Influenced

  • Muddy Waters - Young Muddy Waters accompanied Williams on harmonica through the Mississippi Delta during the early 1930s; Williams was his mentor and took him on the road (Waters later covered 'Baby Please Don't Go') [Early 1930s (Waters was around 15 when they met in Rolling Fork)]
  • Honeyboy Edwards - Young bluesman whom Williams mentored and took on the road (Delta blues performance and traveling techniques) [1930s]

Connection Network

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Discography

Albums

Title Release Date Type
Going Back to Crawford 1999-01-01 Album
Down and Out 2019-07-09 Album
Classic Delta Blues 1966 Album
Tough Times 1960 Album
The Sonet Blues Story 2005-01-01 Album
Mississippi's Big Joe Williams and His Nine String Guitar 1962 Album
Have Mercy! 1996-02-06 Album
Baby Please Don't Go 2012-07-09 Album
Shake Your Boogie 1990-01-01 Album
Back to the Roots 2023-08-09 Album
Blues on Highway 49 1961 Album
Big Joe Williams And The Stars Of Mississippi Blues 2003 Album
Mississippi's Big Joe Williams and His Nine-String Guitar 1995-10-17 Album
Big Joe Williams Vol. 1 1935 - 1941 1991 Album
Big Joe Williams Vol. 2 1945 - 1949 1991 Album

Top Tracks

  1. Baby Please Don't Go (Going Back to Crawford)
  2. Rollin' And Tumblin' (Classic Delta Blues)
  3. She Left Me a Mule to Ride (Tough Times)
  4. Nobody Knows When You're Down (Down and Out)
  5. Baby Please Don’t Go (Down and Out)
  6. Whistlin' Pines (Mississippi's Big Joe Williams and His Nine String Guitar)
  7. Back Home Blues (Going Back to Crawford)
  8. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
  9. Hang It Up On The Wall (The Sonet Blues Story)
  10. Stool Pigeon Blues (Have Mercy!)

Tags: #acoustic-blues, #blues, #delta-blues

References

  1. msbluestrail.org
  2. aaregistry.org
  3. bigtrainblues.com

Heard on WWOZ

BIG JOE WILLIAMS has been played 10 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.

DateTimeTitleShowSpotify
Dec 22, 202515:18Christmas Bluesfrom GREATEST CHRISTMAS HITSBlues Eclecticw/ Andrew Grafe
Dec 22, 202502:39What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?The Dean's Listw/ Dean Ellis
Dec 1, 202515:51JIVIN' WOMANfrom DOWNHOME DELTA BLUES 1949-52Blues Eclecticw/ Andrew Grafe
Nov 21, 202519:32Baby Please Don't GoMusic of Mass Distractionw/ Black Mold
Oct 20, 202520:38jivin' womanBlues and R&Bw/ Gentilly Jr.
Oct 20, 202514:38BAD HEART BLUESfrom DELTA BLUES 1951Blues Eclecticw/ Andrew Grafe
Oct 19, 202506:14Eveninfrom Having The Blues Under European SkyThe Sunday Morning Jazz Setw/ Mark Landesman
Oct 1, 202516:29goin' to chicagofrom sing along with basieJazz from Jax Breweryw/ Al Colón
Sep 29, 202523:41I Wanna KnowKitchen Sinkw/ Derrick Freeman
Sep 28, 202506:37Goin To Chicagofrom Having The Blues Under European SkyThe Sunday Morning Jazz Setw/ Mark Landesman