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26-495: The first broadcast of King Biscuit Time was on November 21, 1941 on KFFA in Helena, and featured blues artists Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller) and Robert Lockwood, Jr. Williamson and Lockwood played live in the studio and were the key musicians in the original studio band, the "King Biscuit Entertainers". Other musicians who joined the original band were Pinetop Perkins on piano and James "Peck" Curtis on drums. Williamson left

52-717: A compilation album featuring Williamson's recordings for the label. It was later included in Robert Christgau 's "basic record library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). In the early 1960s he toured Europe several times during the height of the British blues craze, backed on a number of occasions by the Authentics (see American Folk Blues Festival ), recording with

78-572: A bowler hat, matching umbrella, and an attaché case for his harmonicas. He appears credited as "Big Skol" on Roland Kirk 's live album Kirk in Copenhagen (1963). Upon his return to the U.S., he resumed playing the King Biscuit Time show on KFFA, and performed in the Helena, Arkansas area. As fellow musicians Houston Stackhouse and Peck Curtis waited at the KFFA studios for Williamson on May 25, 1965,

104-542: A major blues center. Helena became a stopping place for blues musicians on their way from the Delta region to the Chicago blues nightclubs and was also convenient to Memphis, Tennessee and its lively blues culture. Several blues musicians, including Little Walter Jacobs and Jimmy Rogers came to Helena and made it their home. King Biscuit Time was also a major breakthrough for African-American music in general. The popularity of

130-531: A member of Elmore James's band. During his Chess years he enjoyed his greatest success and acclaim, recording about 70 songs for the Chess subsidiary Checker Records from 1955 to 1964. His first LP record was a compilation of previously released singles. Titled Down and Out Blues , Checker released the collection in 1959. A single, "Boppin' with Sonny" backed with "No Nights by Myself", was released by Ace Records in 1955. In 1972, Chess released This Is My Story ,

156-597: A parody of Howlin' Wolf, entitled "Like Wolf".) He started his own KWEM radio show from 1948 to 1950, selling the elixir Hadacol . He brought his King Biscuit musician friends to West Memphis—Elmore James, Houston Stackhouse , Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup , Robert Nighthawk , and others—to perform on KWEM radio. Williamson married Howlin' Wolf's half-sister Maggy and he showed Wolf how to play harmonica. Williamson's first recording session took place in 1951 for Lillian McMurry of Trumpet Records , based in Jackson, Mississippi . It

182-561: The American Folk Blues Festival and recorded with English rock musicians, including the Yardbirds and Animals . "Help Me" became a blues standard , and many blues and rock artists have recorded his songs. Miller's date and place of birth are disputed. There are various opinions about his year of birth, five of which are 1897, 1899, 1908, 1909, and 1912. According to David Evans , professor of music and an ethnomusicologist at

208-569: The Mississippi Delta region. It inspired blues musicians including B.B. King , Robert Nighthawk , James Cotton , and Ike Turner . The show's 12:15 pm time slot was chosen to match the lunch break of workers in the Delta. King Biscuit Time celebrated its 17,000th broadcast on May 13, 2014. KBT has more broadcasts than the Grand Ole Opry (which was never a daily broadcast) and American Bandstand . From 1951 until his death in 2018,

234-457: The University of Memphis , census records indicate that Miller was born in about 1912, being seven years old on February 2, 1920, the day of the census. Miller's gravestone at Tutwiler, Mississippi , set up by record company owner Lillian McMurry twelve years after his death, gives his date of birth as March 11, 1908. In a spoken word performance called “The Story of Sonny Boy Williamson” that

260-600: The Yardbirds (for the album Sonny Boy Williamson and the Yardbirds ) and the Animals , and appearing on several television broadcasts throughout Europe. Around this time he was quoted as saying of the backing bands who accompanied him, "those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do". Sonny Boy took a liking to the European fans, and while there had a custom-made, two-tone suit tailored personally for him, along with

286-446: The 12:15 broadcast time was approaching and Williamson was nowhere in sight. Peck left the radio station to locate Williamson, and discovered his body in bed at the rooming house where he had been staying, dead of an apparent heart attack suffered in his sleep the night before. Williamson is buried on New Africa Road, just outside Tutwiler, Mississippi at the site of the former Whitman Chapel cemetery. Trumpet Records owner McMurry provided

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312-521: The 1930s, he traveled around Mississippi and Arkansas and encountered Big Joe Williams , Elmore James and Robert Lockwood Jr. , also known as Robert Junior Lockwood, who would play guitar on his later Checker Records sides. He was also associated with Robert Johnson during this period. Miller developed his style and raffish stage persona during these years. Willie Dixon recalled seeing Lockwood and Miller playing for tips in Greenville, Mississippi , in

338-735: The 1930s. He entertained audiences with novelties such as inserting one end of the harmonica into his mouth and playing with no hands. At this time he was often known as "Rice" Miller—a childhood nickname stemming from his love of rice and milk —or as "Little Boy Blue". In 1941 Miller was hired to play the King Biscuit Time show, advertising the King Biscuit brand of baking flour on radio station KFFA in Helena, Arkansas , with Lockwood. The program's sponsor, Max Moore, began billing Miller as Sonny Boy Williamson, apparently in an attempt to capitalize on

364-448: The fame of the well-known Chicago-based harmonica player and singer Sonny Boy Williamson (birth name John Lee Curtis Williamson, died 1948). Although John Lee Williamson was a major blues star who had already released dozens of successful and widely influential records under the name "Sonny Boy Williamson" from 1937 onward, Miller would later claim to have been the first to use the name. Some blues scholars believe that Miller's assertion he

390-409: The headstone with an incorrect date of death. The recordings made by John Lee Williamson between 1937 and his death in 1948 and those made between 1951 and 1964 by "Rice" Miller were all originally issued under the name Sonny Boy Williamson. 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. To differentiate between

416-541: The late drummer and vocalist for The Band , credited King Biscuit Time , and in particular, James "Peck" Curtis, for inspiring his musical career. Musician King Biscuit Boy was given that stage name by Ronnie Hawkins . The King Biscuit Flower Hour is a one-hour syndicated rock and roll radio program, the name of which was derived from King Biscuit Time . In 1986, the first annual King Biscuit Blues Festival (later renamed to Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival and returned to King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2011)

442-827: The list of other contributors were to include John Anthony Brisbin, George Hansen, Sandra Pointer-Jones, and Donald E. Wilcock, the latter serving as managing editor. Regular columnists included “Sunshine” Sonny Payne and Robert Lockwood Jr. In 1997 the publication was the recipient of a "Keeping the Blues Alive Award" in Print Media by the Blues Foundation . The magazine, which later altered its name to King Biscuit Time , ceased publication in 2005.   Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford , possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson ,

468-531: The program and its reach into the untapped African-American demographic gained notice and spawned a host of imitators. By 1947, the first black disc jockey in the South, Early Wright , had been signed at WROX across the river. WDIA in Memphis soon became the first radio station in the South with an all black staff (including deejay B.B. King) and musical format based on the success of King Biscuit Time . Levon Helm ,

494-554: The program in 1947 but returned for a stint in 1965 just prior to his death. The 30-minute-long live radio program is broadcast at 12:15 pm every weekday and was named after the local brand of flour, King Biscuit Flour, distributed by the Interstate Grocer Company. The distributor financed the show at the behest of Williamson in exchange for endorsements and naming rights. KFFA was the only station that would play music by African-Americans, and it reached an audience throughout

520-399: The program was hosted by the award-winning "Sunshine" Sonny Payne who opened each broadcast with "pass the biscuits, 'cause it's King Biscuit Time!" Before Payne, the show was hosted by Hugh Smith, from 1943 to 1951. Over the years, the biggest names in blues have been associated with the program, and important blues artists continue to perform live. The popularity of the program made Helena

546-469: The two musicians, scholars and biographers have referred to John Lee Williamson (1914–1948) as "Sonny Boy Williamson I" or "the original Sonny Boy" and to Miller (circa 1912–1965) as "Sonny Boy Williamson II". In 2014, Williamson was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Helena, Arkansas. Singles Robert Lockwood Jr. Too Many Requests If you report this error to

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572-670: 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 . He first recorded with Elmore James on " Dust My Broom ". Some of his popular songs include " Don't Start Me Talkin' ", " Help Me ", " Checkin' Up on My Baby ", and " Bring It On Home ". He toured Europe with

598-519: Was born in 1899 was a ruse to convince audiences he was old enough to have used the name before John Lee Williamson, who was born in 1914. While in Clarksdale, Williamson stayed at the Riverside Hotel . A 13-year-old Ike Turner backed Williamson on piano during local gigs. In 1949, Williamson relocated to West Memphis, Arkansas , and lived with Howlin' Wolf . (Later, for Checker Records, he did

624-585: Was held in Helena, attracting thousands of blues aficionados from around the world. In 1992, Delta Broadcasting President Jim Howe started The King Biscuit Times newsletter to promote KFFA's King Biscuit Time radio show and the King Biscuit Blues Festival . This publication soon transformed into a nationally distributed blues magazine published and edited by Mike Beck, along with Grammy-nominated writer and producer Larry Hoffman who served as staff contributor and editorial advisor. As time passed,

650-468: Was later included in several compilations, Miller states that he was born in Glendora, Mississippi in 1897. According to researchers Bob Eagle and Eric S. LeBlanc, he was born in the small community of Money , near Greenwood, Mississippi , in 1912. He lived and worked with his sharecropper stepfather, Jim Miller, whose last name he soon adopted, and mother, Millie Ford, until the early 1930s. Beginning in

676-422: Was three years since the death of John Lee Williamson, which for the first time allowed some legitimacy to Miller's carefully worded claim to being "the one and only Sonny Boy Williamson". When Trumpet went bankrupt in 1955, Williamson's recording contract was yielded to its creditors, who sold it to Chess Records in Chicago. He had begun developing a following in Chicago beginning in 1953, when he appeared there as

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