When he was 9, Arthur Williams sneaked one of his father’s harmonicas to school, went into the bathroom and began to blow. His family had moved from Mississippi to the Chicago suburb of Argo when Williams was 2. “They wanted to better themselves,” he says of his parents. “They got tired of the cotton-picking fields.” His dad got a job at the Argo Starch Co., where some of Williams’ uncles already worked. Williams attended high school at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy with Sam Cooke and Pervis Staples. In 1972, after a short time in the Army and dead-end jobs working in Mississippi cotton and bean fields, he and his wife moved to St. Louis, where she had friends.Six years earlier, he made his recording debut, backing Frank Frost on Jewel Records. From there, the list of blues legends he played with grew long and impressive: Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Hound Dog Taylor and Eddie Taylor. Now, as he nears 81, his career has turned to the big screen. The wisecracking, fast-talking Williams will appear later this year in “Honeydripper,” a movie directed by John Sayles and starring Danny Glover. Williams will be seen working the door of a juke joint in the early 1950s. The film was shot in Alabama. He liked the Hollywood treatment but has no intention of giving up his regular gig.
1999
Fedora 5013/ 11 tr./ 47:20 min.
2000
Fedora 5019/ 12 tr./ 50:59 min.
2001
Rooster Blues 2646/ 14 tr./ 49:41 min.
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