Nowadays it would be called “identity theft”, but when he
took the name Sonny Boy Williamson in the early 40s – a moniker already held by
a distinguished blues singer and harmonica player who had been born in
Tennessee on 30 March 1914 – the man born Aleck Ford, in Glendora, Mississippi,
knew exactly what he was doing.
Alex or Aleck Miller (né Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 –
May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an
American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter.
He was an early and influential blues harp stylist who
recorded successfully in the 1950s and 1960s. Miller used various names,
including Rice Miller and Little Boy Blue, before calling himself Sonny Boy
Williamson, which was also the name of a popular Chicago blues singer and
harmonica player. To distinguish the two, Miller has been referred to as Sonny
Boy Williamson II. It is believed that Miller adopted the name to suggest
to audiences (and to his first record label) that he was the
"original" Sonny Boy.
The cynical act of mimicry was designed to further his
career, and, decades later, the exploit prompted a funny and moving song on
Randy Newman’s excellent album Dark Matter. On ‘Sonny Boy’, Newman sings from
the perspective of the man now known as Sonny Boy Williamson I, about how “This
man stole my name/He stole my soul”.
The Mystery Of The Two Sonny Boy Williamsons (Continued...)
ReplyDeleteA cynical act of mimicry & identity theft by Sonny Boy Williamson II sparked a blues legend based on lies and the fact that no-one in England in the 60s knew the truth about him, the latest chapter of which has been tackled in a 2022 song by Randy Newman.
“This man stole my name/He stole my soul.
As for Sonny Boy Two
The man who stole my name
He went on to glory, fortune and fame
He’s the one who went to England
Tried to teach those English boys the blues"
The REAL Sonny Boy Williamson (I) was John Lee Curtis Williamson, a distinguished blues singer and harmonica player in Chicago, born in Tennessee on 30 March 1914. John Lee’s life was cut short after he was stabbed to death in Chicago in 1948.
The FAKE Sonny Boy Williamson (II), as he is now titled was Aleck or Alex Ford, the illegitimate son of Jim Miller and Millie Ford (he was Millie’s 21st child) savagely treated while growing up on a plantation in Mississippi. Aleck was given the nickname Rice as a boy, supposedly due to his love for milk and rice, and growing up he was known as Rice Miller.
The facts of his life are mired in lies & mystery – his birthdates vary from 1894 to December 5, 1912 and died on May 24, 1965 (possibly in his early 50s)
John Lee Curtis Williamson died only 6 years after words of the deception reached him, and the Chicago-based musician went to Arkansas in 1942 to confront the man who had stolen his name but Williamson II “chased” the original Sonny Boy out of town.
Nowadays it would be called “identity theft”, but when Rice Miller took the name Sonny Boy Williamson in the early 40s – the man born Aleck Ford, in Glendora, Mississippi, knew exactly what he was doing.
Although it is simply not known who came up with the lie & deceit. Some people have claimed it was the musician’s idea, some claim that Interstate Grocery Owner Max Moore came up with the plan as a ruse to market King Biscuits to African-Americans who liked the blues.
“I’m the original Sonny Boy, the only Sonny Boy. There ain’t no other,” the FAKE Sonny Boy told British interviewers on his tour in 1963, trying to convince them that he had been the first to use the stage name.
Finally, it is a strange coincidence that the REAL Sonny Boy Williamson was stabbed 6 years after confronting the FAKE Sonny Boy when Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" 1981 book mentions that during this tour of Europe in the 1960s, Aleck Miller (FAKE Sonny Boy) allegedly stabbed a man during a street fight and left the country abruptly in 1964.
The Mystery Of The Two Sonny Boy Williamsons (Continued...)
ReplyDeleteA cynical act of mimicry & identity theft by Sonny Boy Williamson II sparked a blues legend based on lies and the fact that no-one in England in the 60s knew the truth about him, the latest chapter of which has been tackled in a 2022 song by Randy Newman.
“This man stole my name/He stole my soul.”
As for Sonny Boy Two
The man who stole my name
He went on to glory, fortune and fame
He’s the one who went to England
Tried to teach those English boys the blues"
The REAL Sonny Boy Williamson (I) was John Lee Curtis Williamson, a distinguished blues singer and harmonica player in Chicago, born in Tennessee on 30 March 1914. John Lee’s life was cut short after he was stabbed to death in Chicago in 1948.
The FAKE Sonny Boy Williamson (II), as he is now titled was Aleck or Alex Ford, the illegitimate son of Jim Miller and Millie Ford (he was Millie’s 21st child) savagely treated while growing up on a plantation in Mississippi. Aleck was given the nickname Rice as a boy, supposedly due to his love for milk and rice, and growing up he was known as Rice Miller.
The facts of his life are mired in lies & mystery – his birthdates vary from 1894 to December 5, 1912 and died on May 24, 1965 (possibly in his early 50s)
John Lee Curtis Williamson died only 6 years after words of the deception reached him, and the Chicago-based musician went to Arkansas in 1942 to confront the man who had stolen his name but Williamson II “chased” the original Sonny Boy out of town.
Nowadays it would be called “identity theft”, but when Rice Miller took the name Sonny Boy Williamson in the early 40s – the man born Aleck Ford, in Glendora, Mississippi, knew exactly what he was doing.
Although it is simply not known who came up with the lie & deceit. Some people have claimed it was the musician’s idea, some claim that Interstate Grocery Owner Max Moore came up with the plan as a ruse to market King Biscuits to African-Americans who liked the blues.
“I’m the original Sonny Boy, the only Sonny Boy. There ain’t no other,” the FAKE Sonny Boy told British interviewers on his tour in 1963, trying to convince them that he had been the first to use the stage name.
Finally, it is a strange coincidence that the REAL Sonny Boy Williamson was stabbed 6 years after confronting the FAKE Sonny Boy when Robert Palmer's "Deep Blues" 1981 book mentions that during this tour of Europe in the 1960s, Aleck Miller (FAKE Sonny Boy) allegedly stabbed a man during a street fight and left the country abruptly in 1964.