| Sonny Is King | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1963 | |||
| Recorded | October 26, 1960 & September 1962 | |||
| Studio | Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ & New York City | |||
| Genre | Blues | |||
| Length | 33:17 | |||
| Label | Bluesville BVLP 1059 | |||
| Producer | Ozzie Cadena/Kenneth S. Goldstein | |||
| Sonny Terry chronology | ||||
| ||||
Sonny Is King is an album by blues musician Sonny Terry recorded and sessions in 1960 and 1962 and released on the Bluesville label. [1] [2] [ unreliable source ]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |  [4] |
AllMusic reviewer Thom Owens stated: "Half of Sonny Is King is devoted to a rare session between Sonny Terry and Lightnin' Hopkins ... but the rhythm section fails to kick the pair into overdrive, and much of the music disappointingly meanders ... That's proven by the second side of the album, where Terry falls into the comfortable setting of duetting with Brownie McGhee. While these aren't among the duo's very best recordings, they are nonetheless enjoyable, suggesting that there's something to be said for the familiar". [3]
All compositions by Sonny Terry
Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee was an American folk and Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaboration with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.
Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Saunders Terrell, known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occasionally imitations of trains and fox hunts.
Blues in My Bottle is an album by Lightnin' Hopkins, released in 1961 on Bluesville Records.
Bluesville Records was an American record label subsidiary of Prestige Records, launched in 1959, with the primary purpose of documenting the work of the older classic bluesmen passed over by the changing audience. Such bluesmen as Roosevelt Sykes, Lightnin' Hopkins, Rev. Gary Davis, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee recorded for the label, accounting for more than one quarter of their overall output. By 1966, Bluesville had ceased to issue LPs.
Leonard Gaskin was an American jazz bassist born in New York City.
Luke "Long Gone" Miles was an American Texas blues and electric blues singer and songwriter. He was a protégé of Lightnin' Hopkins and variously recorded or performed with Hopkins, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee and Willie Chambers. Miles is best known for his 1964 album Country Born, issued by World Pacific Records.
Sonny's Story is an album by blues musician Sonny Terry recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label.
Down Home Blues is an album by blues musicians Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label.
Blues & Folk is an album by blues musicians Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry. This record was recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label.
Blues All Around My Head is an album by blues musicians Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label the following year.
Lightnin' is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label the following year.
Last Night Blues is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, with Sonny Terry, recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label the following year.
Smokes Like Lightning is an album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded in Texas in 1962 and released on the Bluesville label the following year.
Down South Summit Meetin' is an album by the blues musicians Brownie McGhee, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Joe Williams and Sonny Terry, recorded in 1960 and released on the World Pacific label.
Blues Hoot is a live album by blues musicians Lightnin' Hopkins, Brownie McGhee, and Sonny Terry recorded at the Ash Grove in Los Angeles in 1961 and originally released on the Davon label before being reissued by Horizon Records in 1963 and Vee-Jay Records in 1965.
Down Home Blues is an album by blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins recorded in 1964 and released on the Bluesville label.
The Swarthmore Concert, subtitled King of the Blues, is a live album by the blues musician Lightnin' Hopkins, recorded at the Swarthmore College Folk Festival in 1965. It was originally released as part of the seven-CD box set Lightnin' Hopkins: The Complete Prestige/Bluesville Recordings, in 1991, before being reissued on Bluesville as a single CD in 1993.
Brownie's Blues is an album by blues musician Brownie McGhee recorded in 1960 and released on the Bluesville label in 1962.
I Couldn't Believe My Eyes is an album by blues musicians Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry with Earl Hooker recorded in 1969 but not released by the BluesWay label until 1973.
