Part I: ‘Mighty Long Time’

Peter Green is rightfully considered one of the greatest guitarists to come out of the British Blues scene of the mid-to-late sixties but as we celebrate his seventy-eighth birthday (born October 29, 1946) I’d like to take a look at two songs featuring his harmonica playing.

There is currently only one recording of the each of these two songs in circulation; each a live performance, with neither ever attempted in the studio (to the best of my knowledge)

The first was by the “second” Sonny Boy Williamson (Alec “Rice” Miller).  Green would have been exposed, in depth, to Williamson’s catalog by John Mayall; but where Mayall drew from Williamson’s Checker recordings, Green chose one of his earliest releases on the Trumpet label. 

Sonny Boy Williamson

Sonny Boy Williamson: vocal & harmonica /

Cliff Givens: bass vocal

Recorded December 04, 1951

Released, A-side Trumpet 78 (1952)

Sonny Boy Williamson – Mighty Long Time (3:00) –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RskDf5jqcIw

Accompanied solely by Cliff Givens’ vocalized bass line, Williamson puts a quaver in his harp sounding as if it is sniffling after a crying fit.

When he begins to sing, his voice is quiet, displaying a bruised resignation with his situation, yet holding on to the slimiest of hopes that things may someday get better as he cannot bear to admit the truth. 

His harmonica mirrors the elasticity of time, as the minutes drag like hours and the hours drag like days as he waits for his woman to return to him, and Given’s imitates the ceaseless ticking of each second of the day.

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac

Peter Green: vocal & harmonica /

Bob Brunning: bass / Mick Fleetwood: drums

Recorded August 15, 1967 – The Marquee Club, London, England

Released, “Live at the Marquee” (Receiver Records Limited 1992)

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac – (Intro) / Mighty Long Time (Sonny Boy Williamson II) (0:16 / 4:29) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pRybvcryn0

In the intro, it sounds as if Green is saying that this is a number that they will be recording but that is most likely simply wishful thinking on my part, as there is no evidence that the number was ever attempted in the studio.

Brunning thumbs a loping bass line and Fleetwood provides a steady shuffle with his brushes to back Green.  Like Williamson, Green sings softly, without self-pity but the lower volume coming from the stage frustratingly allows the ambient noise of the restless crowd to dominate the recording.

Green’s vocal does not yet have the depth that it would rapidly acquire over the coming months and years, but in this performance, Green is using the words as the bridge between his harmonica breaks.

Among his contemporaries, (Mayall excluded) the harmonica was mainly used for punctuation; when featured, it was in a fast tempo showpiece like Jack Bruce’s ‘Train Time’ (originally performed with the Graham Bond Organization or Mayall’s version of Williamson’s ‘Bye Bye Bird’. 

Green too used the instrument for accent and coloration in his early work, (see: ‘Looking for Somebody’) but here it becomes the lead instrument and his approach is similar to his guitar playing: favoring emotion and feel over technique or flash. 

That he allows the break to last as long as he does, shows his commitment not only to the song but to his belief that he too must be fulfilled if he is to give his most to his audience. 

Immediately after the last verse, there is an audible glitch making one believe that there was a second solo, but the number has been shortened.  The outro begins to fade too quickly for my tastes and the music’s slow softening amplifies the crowd noise even more.

It is a shame that they didn’t perform this one for the BBC as that would have been a perfect setting for it.

The second Sonny Boy Williamson first traveled to Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival in 1963 and stole the show.  He returned the following year and made a number of recordings with British blues musicians, renewing interest in his extensive catalog on both sides of the Atlantic.

Part II: ‘Until My Love Comes Down’ / ‘Lemon Squeezer’

The original Sonny Boy Williamson defined the sound of blues harmonica for a generation before his life was pointlessly taken at the age of thirty-four, during a street robbery.   

He recorded prodigiously and with great success, his songs covered by many of his contemporaries, but only his first recording, ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’ seemed to have caught the attention of Green’s generation.

I am not sure where Green would have first heard this second number, but the lascivious lyrics were certainly the hook for Green, as he had already recorded a number of originals in the style. 

Williamson’s song was a variation on Bumble Bee Slim’s ‘Lemon Squeezing Blues’ recorded and released in 1935.  Charlie Pickett recorded a close copy of Slim’s number as ‘Let Me Squeeze Your Lemon’ two years later.

Sonny Boy Williamson

John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson: vocal & harmonica /

Joe Williams: guitar / Yank Rachell: mandolin & possibly spoken word

Recorded March 13, 1938 – Leland Hotel, Aurora, IL

Release, B-side Bluebird 78 May 1938

Sonny Boy Williamson – Until My Love Come Down (3:11) –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGS4QZIA_g

Williamson’s tongue-tied vocal found the perfect accompaniment with Big Joe Williams on guitar and Yank Rachell on mandolin as the two create the aural equivalent of two men attempting to squeeze through a doorway at the same time, trying to keep up with Williamson who is hot on the trail of a young woman he is hoping to sweet-talk into a liaison.

By the second verse, everyone has found their place and Big Joe creates a wonderful tension as Sonny Boy becomes more insistent, explaining that it makes no difference what the girl’s Mama will or won’t allow.

The number rolls on steadily without a break, Sonny Boy wearing down the girl’s resistance until the outro, with the three playing in full cooperation, a jaunty hitch in their steps.   

When Green’s cover of the song was released on the “Shrine ‘69” CD the label was apparently unaware of the song’s parentage and credited it to James Lane, guitarist Jimmy Rogers’ real name (he had released a cover of the song in 1994).

Fleetwood Mac

Peter Green: guitar, harmonica & vocals /

Danny Kirwan: guitar / Jeremy Spencer: piano /

John McVie: bass / Mick Fleetwood: drums

Recorded January 25, 1969 Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA

Available On: Shrine ’69 (Rykodisc 1999)

Fleetwood Mac – Lemon Squeezer (John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson) (5:29) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV4h9S4qlOw

               Fleetwood Mac simplify the backing and it is Green’s vocal and harmonica playing that carry the song.  When playing numbers such as ‘Stop Messin’ Round’ or ‘Lazy Poker Blues’ Green would often slip a bit of profanity into the lyrics to heighten the excitement, but on this number, he knows there is no need.

               He has the confidence to allow his vocal to carry the number, singing the verses a cappella with the band coming in during the chorus. 

               Green drops Williamson’s second verse, but not wanting the fun to end, he reprises the first and throws in another chorus before adding a verse of his own, about “riding” his woman on the bed and on the floor; one that he most likely would not have been allowed to sing on record while with Blue Horizon. 

The audience, like the band, all seem to be holding their breath as Green sings the song; Spencer breaks the tension after the third verse with a shout of “Have mercy!”  

               Green’s harmonica break shows how far he had come from the recording at the Marquee Club a year and a half earlier.

               Coming out of the break, the absolute joy in Green’s voice is so infectious that Spencer now joins in on piano.

               Green concludes with a wonderful outro, getting a much fuller tone on the harmonica than he had achieved on the earlier number.

               The number is simply a tour de force for Green and the band and for me, to me a fitting way to say “Happy Birthday” to Peter Green and celebrate his legacy.