Blues Turns Electric with 'Crawling King Snake'

Big Joe Williams was part of the first generation of blues players, and lived to help spark the blues revival of the 1960’s. An active performing and recording musician, he traveled the country starting in the 1920’s, and by the 1970’s, had become very popular on the folk circuit as well. He is best known for the songs “Baby Please Don’t Go” and “Crawling King Snake” which he recorded in 1941. His unique sound came in part from his custom 9-string guitar, which could sound like a mandolin or banjo at times. He had a tremendous sense of rhythm and would also use the guitar percussively. John Lee Hooker also had an original sound, very different that the blues coming out of Chicago. Landing in Detroit, Hooker virtually invented his own genre of blues. Built on a traditional North Mississippi style that emphasized a droning, modal blues sound, he refined the fine art of the “endless boogie”. His “Crawling King Snake” was recorded in 1949. One of a few blues players to cross into pop

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