Rice Miller (or Alec or Aleck Miller – everything about this blues great is somewhat of a mystery) probably didn't need to take the name of the original Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee Williamson) to get noticed, since in many ways he was the better musician, but Miller seemed to revel in confusion, at least when it came to biographical facts, so for whatever reason, blues history has two Sonny Boy Williamsons. Like the first Williamson, Miller was a harmonica player, but he really sounded nothing like his adopted namesake, favoring a light, soaring, almost horn-like sound on the instrument…

These sixteen tracks are split equally between Sonny Boy Williamson II and pianist Willie Love, who befriended each other in the early 40s, and recorded a number of sides for Trumpet records. All eight Sonny Boy-numbers are previously unreleased, and the fidelity is very good, better than on Trumpet's other Sonny Boy Williamson-releases. Rice Miller (Sonny Boy) is backed by various electric combos. Three cuts feature Willie Love on piano, and Miller's harp blowing is augumented by the presence of a saxophone player on five tracks. Here are early vesions of "Keep It To Yourself" and "I'm Not Beggin' Nobody", as well as a great "Shuckin' Mama" and the piano-driven boogie of the title track. And it's no surprise that Miller's playing and singing is every bit as impressive as on his later Chess releases…