On this 16th day of September in 1935 Harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold was born in Chicago. Billy Boy Arnold had a long absence from the studio, but in the past decade has made a terrific comeback. When Arnold was a young teen, he went directly to the source. He knocked on John Lee Sonny Boy Williamson door and politely asked the harmonica legend to give him lessons. Williamson gave the young A rnild lessons for a short time before his murder in 1948. By 1952, while still in his teens, Arnold cut an obscure 78 for the Cool label, Hello Stranger, and the label gave him the nickname Billy Boy. In 1955, Arnolds career got a big boost when he teamed up with Bo Diddley, appearing on the double-sided smash hit Bo Diddley/ I`m a Man. That record led to a solo deal with Vee-Jay, and Arnold had a hit with I Wish You Would, which was covered by The Yardbirds a decade later. (The Yardbirds also covered Arnold?s I Aint Got You.) Other Vee-Jay hits for Billy Boy were Prisoner?s Plea and Rockinitus. In 1963, Samuel Charters produced a great album of Arnold for the Prestige label, More Blues From The Southside. Arnold`s recording career came to a halt and he went to work as a bus driver and then a parole officer. In 1993, Billy Boy bounced back in a big way wen he signed with Alligator and released Back Where I Belong. e followed with the equally impressive Eldorado Cadillac. In 2001, Arnold released another goodie, Boogie and Shuffle on Stony Plain. His Vee-Jay recordings are available on I Wish You Would on Charly. youtu.be/UUwTONWZKtY
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 13:47:00 +0000
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