Music Path

John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson grew up in Jackson, TN. He introduced the harmonica as a solo instrument for blues performers and electrified its sound with a $200 public address amplifier. Billy Boy Arnold met Sonny Boy and asked him to teach him to play the harmonica. Before Sonny Boy was killed in Chicago, he taught the eleven year old Bill Boy to play, bending notes and inhaling through the instrument to provide breath to sing and play simultaneously. Billy Boy relates his memories, his visits to Sonny Boy's house and beginning a life-long career and a blues harmonica player himself.

In 1962 it was unusual to have an international hit record. It was the early stirrings of rock music, and a record named "Hey Baby" rolled out the red carpet for Bruce Channel and Delbert McClinton as the concert headliners in London. Bruce and Delbert shared a dressing room with their warm up act, a talented cover band getting started: John, Paul, George, and Pete. The Beatles, a year or so before adding Ringo.

Bruce talks about writing and living and creating in Tennessee. He's been devoting full days to writing music for more than 55 years and has upwards of 300 songs that he brought to the earth. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Christine.

Bobby started performing with the Rolling Stones in 1970. Between tour dates he returned to Nashville, TN over a 10 year period to compose and perform on an album, produced by his friend Ricky Ray. In this first episode of Music Path you hear about the process of writing and recording this album and some of the tracks.