His Best [MCA]

by Sonny Boy Williamson II

Overview

While some hardliners will point to his early 1950s Trumpet recordings as his most undiluted work, Sonny Boy's tenure at Chess Records was his longest and most successful and therefore deserves first look for the novice coming to this remarkable bluesman at ground level. This 20-track collection takes 17 tracks from the excellent two-disc Essential Sonny Boy Williamson collection and adds "Sad To Be Alone," "My Younger Days" and an alternate session-second version of "One Way Out" with Buddy Guy on guitar (yes, this is the version that the Allman Brothers used as the blueprint for their cover version) to the final mix. This is another entry into MCA's Chess 50th Anniversary Series and the digital transfers here are exemplary, making this an automatic audio upgrade for those who already have this material in their collection. Because his output for the label was of such a uniformly high quality, virtually everything Williamson put down on tape at the Chess studios could make a final cut on any best of package you'd want to put together on the man. So bemoaning the absence of any track here would be minor critical carping, especially in light of no less than five other Sonny Boy Chess packages still being in print at press time. But if you're only going to own one of them and your wallet tends to shy away from two-disc anthologies, this makes an excellent first purchase. ~ Cub Koda

Product Details

Release Date:	05/20/1997
Label:	Chess / Mca/Chess
UPC:	0076732937723
Rank:	54635

Tracks

1. Good Evening Everybody
2. Don't Start Me to Talkin'
3. All My Love in Vain
4. Keep It to Yourself
5. Fattening Frogs for Snakes
6. I Don't Know
7. Cross My Heart
8. Born Blind
9. Ninety Nine
10. Your Funeral and My Trial
11. Keep Your Hands Out of My Pockets
12. Sad to Be Alone
13. Checkin' up on My Baby
14. Down Child
15. Nine Below Zero
16. Bye Bye Bird
17. Help Me
18. Bring It on Home
19. My Younger Days
20. One Way Out

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sonny Boy Williamson II   Primary Artist,Harmonica,Vocals
Luther Tucker   Guitar
Matt "Guitar" Murphy   Guitar
Otis Spann   Piano
Jack Meyers   Bass
Jarrett Gibson   Saxophone
Donald Hankins   Saxophone
Al Duncan   Drums
Muddy Waters   Guitar
Jimmy Rogers   Guitar
Lafayette Leake   Piano
Clifton James   Drums
Fred Below   Drums
Robert Lockwood, Jr.   Guitar
Buddy Guy   Guitar
Willie Dixon   Bass
Milton Rector   Bass
Eugene Pierson   Guitar

Technical Credits

Sonny Boy Williamson II   Composer
Valerie Wilmer   Photography
Andy McKaie   Producer
Bill Inglot   Remixing
Elmore James   Composer
Erick Labson   Remastering
John Strother   Remixing
Leonard Chess   Engineer,Producer
Phil Chess   Engineer,Producer
Marshall Sehorn   Composer
Williamson   Composer
Dick Shurman   Liner Notes
Vartan   Art Direction
Ralph Bass   Composer
Willie Dixon   Composer,Engineer,Producer
Geary Chansley   Photo Research
Meire Murakami   Design
Galen Gart   Photography