Big Joe Williams

Joseph Lee "Big Joe" Williams (October 16, 1903 – December 17, 1982) was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over five decades, he recorded the songs "Baby, Please Don't Go", "Crawlin' King Snake" and "Peach Orchard Mama", among many others, for various record labels, including Bluebird, Delmark, Okeh, Prestige and Vocalion. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame on October 4, 1992. The blues historian Barry Lee Pearson (Sounds Good to Me: The Bluesman's Story, Virginia Piedmont Blues) described Williams's performance: When I saw him playing at Mike Bloomfield's "blues night" at the Fickle Pickle, Williams was playing an electric nine-string guitar through a small ramshackle amp with a pie plate nailed to it and a beer can dangling against that. When he played, everything rattled but Big Joe himself. The total effect of this incredible apparatus produced the most buzzing, sizzling, African-sounding music I have ever heard.

Birth and Death Data: Born October 16, 1903 (Lowndes County), Died December 17, 1982 (Mississippi)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1935 - 1946

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, vocalist, guitar, lyricist, leader

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 44 records)

Company	Matrix No.	Size	First Recording Date	Title	Primary Performer	Description	Role
Victor	BS-85479	10-in.	2/25/1935	Sloppy drunk again	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85480	10-in.	2/25/1935	Travelin' this lonesome road	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85481	10-in.	2/25/1935	Sad and lonesome blues	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85482	10-in.	2/25/1935	Minute man	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85483	10-in.	2/25/1935	Minute man	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85484	10-in.	2/25/1935	Sweet sixteen	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85485	10-in.	2/25/1935	Wonder where my baby's gone	Walter Davis	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars and piano	instrumentalist, guitar
Victor	BS-85487	10-in.	2/25/1935	Little leg woman	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with guitar	composer, lyricist, vocalist
Victor	BS-85488	10-in.	2/25/1935	Somebody been borrowing that stuff	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars	composer, lyricist, vocalist
Victor	BS-85489	10-in.	2/25/1935	Providence help the poor people	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars	composer, lyricist, vocalist
Victor	BS-85490	10-in.	2/25/1935	49 Highway blues	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars	composer, lyricist, vocalist
Victor	BS-85491	10-in.	2/25/1935	My grey pony	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars	composer, lyricist, vocalist
Victor	BS-85492	10-in.	2/25/1935	Stepfather blues	Big Joe Williams	Male vocal solo, with 2 guitars	lyricist, composer, vocalist
Victor	BS-85520	10-in.	2/26/1935	The spasm	Daddy Stovepipe ; Mississippi Sarah	Female-male vocal duet, with guitar, harmonica, and jug	composer, lyricist
Victor	BS-85532	10-in.	2/27/1935	Milk cow blues	Amos	Male vocal solo, with guitar and piano	composer
Victor	BS-96244	10-in.	10/31/1935	Baby, please don't go	Joe Williams’ Washboard Blues Singers	Male vocal solo, with instrumental trio	leader, composer, lyricist, instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist
Victor	BS-96245	10-in.	10/31/1935	Stack o' dollars	Joe Williams’ Washboard Blues Singers	Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with instrumental trio	instrumentalist, guitar, vocalist, composer, lyricist, leader
Victor	BS-96246	10-in.	10/31/1935	Wild cow blues	Joe Williams’ Washboard Blues Singers	Male vocal solo, with instrumental trio	vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, composer, lyricist, leader
Victor	BS-96247	10-in.	10/31/1935	Worried man blues	Joe Williams’ Washboard Blues Singers	Male vocal solo ("blues singer"), with instrumental trio	vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, composer, lyricist, leader
Victor	BS-07661	10-in.	5/5/1937	I know you gonna miss me	Big Joe	Male vocal solo, with harmonica and 2 guitars	composer, vocalist
Victor	BS-07662	10-in.	5/5/1937	Rootin' ground hog	Big Joe	Male vocal solo, with harmonica and 2 guitars	vocalist, composer
Victor	BS-07663	10-in.	5/5/1937	Brother James	Big Joe	Male vocal solo, with harmonica and 2 guitars	vocalist, composer
Victor	BS-07664	10-in.	5/5/1937	I won't be in hard luck no more	Big Joe	Male vocal solo, with harmonica and 2 guitars	vocalist, composer
Victor	BS-053590	10-in.	10/30/1940	Beer drinking woman	Memphis Slim	Male vocal solo, with piano and cano	composer
Victor	BS-053591	10-in.	10/30/1940	You didn't mean me no good	Memphis Slim	Male vocal solo, with piano and cano	composer

(Results 1-25 of 44 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Williams, Big Joe," accessed November 19, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/103396.

Williams, Big Joe. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 19, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/103396.

"Williams, Big Joe." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 November 2024.

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Big Joe Williams

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 44 records)

Citation

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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