Billy Boy Arnold | |
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 Arnold in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | William Arnold |
| Born | September 16, 1935 Chicago, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1952–present |
William "Billy Boy" Arnold (born September 16, 1935) [1] is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Arnold is a self-taught harmonica player and has worked with blues legends such as Bo Diddley, Johnny Shines, Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and others. [2]
Born in Chicago, Illinois, as one of 16 children, [2] he began playing harmonica as a child, and in 1948 received informal lessons from his near neighbour John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, shortly before the latter's death. Arnold made his recording debut in 1952 with "Hello Stranger" on the small Cool label, the record company giving him the nickname "Billy Boy". [1]
In the early 1950s, he joined forces with street musician Bo Diddley and played harmonica on the March 2, 1955 recording of the Bo Diddley song "I'm a Man" released by Checker Records. [1] The same day as the Bo Diddley sessions, Billy Boy recorded the self-penned "You Got to Love Me" which was not released until the box set Chess Blues 1947–1967 in 1992. [3]
Arnold signed a solo recording contract with Vee-Jay Records, recording the originals of "I Wish You Would" and "I Ain’t Got You". [4] Both were later covered by the Yardbirds. [4] "I Wish You Would" was also recorded by David Bowie on his 1973 album Pin Ups and by Sweet on their 1982 album, Identity Crisis .
In the late 1950s Arnold continued to play in Chicago clubs and in 1963 he recorded an LP, More Blues From The South Side, for the Prestige label, but as playing opportunities dried up he pursued a parallel career as a bus driver and, later parole officer. [1]
By the 1970s, Arnold had begun playing festivals, touring Europe and recording again, including as part of the American Blues Legends '75 package organised by Big Bear Music. [5] He recorded a session for BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel on October 5, 1977. He also recorded in 1979 the tracks that later became the Catfish album of 1999, in London with Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs.
In 1993, he released the album Back Where I Belong on Alligator Records, followed by Eldorado Cadillac (1995) and on Stony Plain Records with the Duke Robillard Band Boogie ’n’ Shuffle (2001). In 2012, Arnold released Blue and Lonesome featuring Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs. [6] Another tribute to Sonny Boy was the album The Blues Soul of Billy Boy Arnold (Stony Plain - SPCD 1378, 2014). [7]
In 2014, he was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the "Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year" category. [8]
In November 2021, the University of Chicago Press published Billy Boy Arnold's first-person memoir, "The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold," written in collaboration with Kim Field. [9]
His younger brother is bassist Jerome Arnold, with whom he has recorded.
Ellas Otha Bates, known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, George Thorogood, Syd Barrett, and the Clash.
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the first half of the twentieth century. Key features that distinguish Chicago blues from the earlier traditions, such as Delta blues, is the prominent use of electrified instruments, especially the electric guitar, and especially the use of electronic effects such as distortion and overdrive.
Marion Walter Jacobs, known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him comparisons to such seminal artists as Django Reinhardt, Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix. His virtuosity and musical innovations fundamentally altered many listeners' expectations of what was possible on blues harmonica. He was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, the first and, to date, only artist to be inducted specifically as a harmonica player.
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.
James Henry Cotton was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career.
"Mannish Boy" is a blues standard written by Muddy Waters, Mel London, and Bo Diddley. First recorded in 1955 by Waters, it serves as an "answer song" to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man", which was in turn inspired by Waters' and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man". "Mannish Boy" features a repeating stop-time figure on one chord throughout the song.
Charles Douglas Musselwhite is an American blues harmonica player and bandleader, one who came to prominence, along with Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, and Elvin Bishop, as a pivotal figure in helping to revive the Chicago Blues movement of the 1960s. He has often been identified as a "white bluesman".
Carey Bell Harrington was an American blues musician who played harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass guitar for other blues musicians from the late 1950s to the early 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Besides his own albums, he recorded as an accompanist or duo artist with Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Lowell Fulson, Eddie Taylor, Louisiana Red and Jimmy Dawkins and was a frequent partner with his son, the guitarist Lurrie Bell. Blues Revue called Bell "one of Chicago's finest harpists." The Chicago Tribune said Bell was "a terrific talent in the tradition of Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter." In 2023, he was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.
Bo Diddley is the debut album by American rock and roll musician Bo Diddley. It collects several of his most influential and enduring songs, which were released as singles between 1955 and 1958. Chess Records issued the album in 1958. In 2012, it was ranked number 216 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list alongside his second album, Go Bo Diddley (1959). The ranking of the album pair dropped to number 455 in the 2020 update of the list.
"I Wish You Would" is a song recorded by Chicago blues musician Billy Boy Arnold in 1955. It was developed while Arnold was performing with Bo Diddley and incorporates a Diddley-style rhythm. Called "a timeless Chicago blues classic", "I Wish You Would" is Arnold's best-known song and has been recorded by several artists, including the Yardbirds, who recorded it for their debut single in 1964.
"I'm a Man" is a rhythm and blues song written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1955. Inspired by an earlier blues song, it was one of his first hits. "I'm a Man" has been recorded by a variety of artists, including the Yardbirds, who adapted it in an upbeat rock style.
The Siegel–Schwall Band was an American electric blues band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1964 by Corky Siegel and Jim Schwall. They played many live shows, and released ten albums. They disbanded in 1974. The Siegel-Schwall Band performed occasional concerts, and released two more albums, from 1987 to 2016.
"Bo Diddley" is a song by American rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley. It introduced the rhythm that became known as the Bo Diddley beat and topped the Billboard R&B chart for two weeks in 1955. The song is included on many of Diddley's compilation albums including Bo Diddley (1958) and His Best (1997). Buddy Holly recorded a version that became his highest-charting single in the UK.
Mississippi Heat is an American blues band based in Chicago, led by harmonica player Pierre Lacocque. Formed in 1991, the band has toured in the United States, Canada, and Europe, with occasional performances in South America and North Africa.
Lafayette Leake was an American blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer who played for Chess Records as a session musician, and as a member of the Big Three Trio, during the formative years of Chicago blues. He played piano on many of Chuck Berry's recordings.
Joseph Leon "Jody" Williams was an American blues guitarist and singer. His singular guitar playing, marked by flamboyant string-bending, imaginative chord voicings and a distinctive tone, was influential in the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s.
"Diddley Daddy" is a song by Bo Diddley. The song was issued as a single on Checker Records in June 1955. His second single, it followed on the heels of the success of the eponymous "Bo Diddley." The song spent four weeks on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1955, peaking at No. 11.
Mark Hummel is an American blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of the Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James Cotton, Carey Bell, John Mayall and Charlie Musselwhite. Although he is typically identified as performing West Coast blues, Hummel is also proficient in Delta blues, Chicago blues, swing and jazz styles. Hummel also played with the Golden State Lone Star Revue, a rock blues side group the FlashBacks, as well as the current edition of the Blues Survivors. Since 2021, Hummel and documentary film maker Jeff Vargen have collaborated on a video podcast, 'Mark Hummel's Harmonica Party' with both interviews and live performances of 50 blues and rock musicians including Charlie Musselwhite, Elvin Bishop, Barbara Dane, Nick Gravenites, Duke Robillard, Country Joe MacDonald, Barry Goldberg, Magic Dick, Lee Oskar, Willie Chambers, Anson Funderburgh, Angela Strehli, Chris Cain and others.
His Best is a 1997 greatest hits compilation album by American rock and roll icon Bo Diddley released by Chess and MCA Records on April 8, 1997. The album was re-released by Geffen Records on April 17, 2007 as The Definitive Collection with a different album cover. The Definitive Collection reached #2 on Billboard magazine's Blues Albums chart on June 21, 2008, which was the week that the album debuted on the charts.
Samuel Julian Lay was an American drummer and vocalist who performed from the late 1950s as a blues and R&B musician alongside Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Paul Butterfield, and many others. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
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