If you'd asked me, I'd have said no. But then somebody sent me a photo that he swore was John Lee (Sonny Boy) Williamson cupping a big mic. And just this morning he sent me an image of a Document CD that is a collection of John Lee's songs, with that same photo:
I have three LP collections of John Lee's stuff. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't play amplified harp on any of them. But perhaps I need to go back and re-listen.
What this photo suggests is that the myth about Snooky Prior being the first Chicago guy to amp up the harp by cupping a mic is exactly that--a myth.
Please discuss. Let's get to the bottom of this. Most of all, if you know of a John Lee Williamson recording that is clearly using amped-up harp, please name it so we can check it out. And give the date, too, if you know that.
Little Walter seems to have come fairly late to the whole amplified-harp thing, if this is true.
I believe that Eddie Burns, who is blowing harp on John Lee Hooker's recording of "Burnin' Hell" (1949), is playing through an amp.
I can't recall any of his recorded material sounding "amped". But it would seem to make sense to me that John Lee Williamson being an innovator, would of at some point either have close cupped a mic on a stand or tried holding one as most of us do today. Even if only to experiment.
Of course the fact that they used tube/ valve PA systems. Which would have been running at near full volume to be heard over the crowds in the bars. Along with the probability that they would have played at least "on the mic" would give a fairly overdriven sound.
As to whether he was playing "amplified" in the sense that we know it, who knows?
As for the Snooky Pryor myth. I'd think it was just a myth. Again it would make sense to me that a number of players would most likely have come to the same conclusion about cupping the mic around the same time.
However I suspect that in all probability a number of players had most likely been doing it in some joints where a mic stand was just not available for whatever reason. Then the cupping as we know it would have just been a natural progression of that situation.
Last Edited by on Jul 04, 2009 9:30 AM
Part 1 of a short documentary film on John Lee. Towards the end of this part 1, the narrator mentions that he used some sort of amplification once he got into Chicago but no mention of a cupped mic as we know it.
I'll go along with Kingley...I'm listening to John Lee backing Yank Rachel figuring he might have tried amplified in a sideman role but no. Must have been simply to be heard over the bar crowd. The photo was supposedly taken by his half brother TW Utley
