Memphis Slim | Sonny Boy Williamson - Live at Jazz House (1963) - Full Album

Jazz House,
Wiesbaden, Germany,
November, 1963.

Featuring Memphis Slim, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, Sonny Boy Williamson, & Bill Stepney.

"The tour was repeated in 1963, because the whole "American Folk and Blues Festival thing" proved to be lucrative for Lippmann & Rau. They had successfully realized an innovative idea, and so they kept on presenting the "American Folk Blues Festival".

But along with the success also came difficulties. It was no longer possible to simply walk backstage and book the musicians. You had to go through the management. And the promoters were prepared for demand from smaller venues and organized a so-called "small tour" in 1963 that also had its own slimmer tour program booklet, with the title "Folk Blues USA". The smaller line-up of this tour segment included Memphis Slim (again), Sonny Boy Williamson, Matt "Guitar" Murphy, and Bill Stepney on drums.

This well-chosen combination featuring musicians that were quite well acquainted with each others was sent across the country. And bigger stars such as Muddy Waters and Otis Spann, who were part of the concert version of the 1963 AFBF, probably wouldn't have agreed to do additional club dates. This quartet probably stayed on after the regular tour had been completed, which would have been the second half of November. The precise date for the appearance at the Jazz House in Wiesbaden can unfortunately not be pinpointed.

As the pictures prove in an impressive way, the 1963 Jazz House gig was also a very delightful evening. Witnesses report that Sonny Boy Williamson could only be lured off stage with a bottle of whiskey held out to him by the hostess. And this time, sound recordings from the evening have also survived, albeit in bad quality, but with lots of atmosphere.

Albert Butz remembers with a smile: "A friend of mine sat in the kitchen in front of the reel-to-reel tape recorder and desperately tried to adjust the recording levels." Incidentally, the titles performed that evening have nothing in common with the song titles printed in the official program booklet – maybe somebody should have shown it to the musicians... It all goes to prove that this was quite an easy-going affair, almost like in a corner bar inChicago. Sonny Boy Williamson, who contributed immensely to the success of the whole tour, was in high spirits and had the audience in the palm of his hands."

Memphis Slim & Matt "Guitar" Murphy: Shuffle
Memphis Slim Announcement: Baby, Please Come Home (Gotta Satisfy My Baby)
Memphis Slim: Low Down Dirty Shame
Matt "Guitar" Murphy: Jamboree
Talk / Memphis Slim: After Hours
Memphis Slim: Baby Please Come Home
Memphis Slim: I Know A Girl Like You
Announcement & Sonny Boy Williamson: Unreign Me / Loose Me Baby
Sonny Boy Williamson: Talk / I Can't Live Without You / That's What I Want You To Do
Sonny Boy Williamson: Tell Me What It's All About / Your Funeral And My Trial (solo)
Sonny Boy Williamson: Sad To Be Lonesome
Sonny Boy Williamson: Talk / I Don't Know (solo)
Sonny Boy Williamson: From The Bottom
Sonny Boy Williamson: Talk / Bye, Bye Bird (solo)
Sonny Boy Williamson: Talk / I Don't Care No More
Sonny Boy Williamson: Nine Below Zero
Sonny Boy Williamson: Eyesight To The Blind
Sonny Boy Williamson: Talk / One Way Out
Sonny Boy Williamson: Trust My Baby (with unknown guitar - Matt "Guitar" Murphy?)
Sonny Boy Williamson: C-Jam Blues
Sonny Boy Williamson: Unknown Title
Memphis Slim: Two Unknown Instrumentals

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