Motty And Me - Music

Snooky Pryor September 15 1921 – October 18 2006 Was An American Chicago Blues Harmonica Player. He Claimed To Have Pioneered The Now-Common Method Of Playing Amplified Harmonica By Cupping A Small Microphone In His Hands Along With The Harmonica Although On His Earliest Records In The Late 1940s And Early '50s He Did Not Utilize This Method. Career James Edward Pryor Was Born In Lambert Mississippi And Developed A Delta Blues Style Influenced By Both Sonny Boy Williamson I And Sonny Boy Williamson II. He Moved To Chicago Around 1940. While Serving In The U.S. Army He Would Blow Bugle Calls Through The Powerful PA System Which Led Him To Experiment With Playing The Harmonica That Way. Upon Discharge From The Army In 1945 He Obtained His Own Amplifier And Began Playing Harmonica At The Outdoor Maxwell Street Market Becoming A Regular In The Chicago Blues Scene. Pryor Recorded Some Of The First Postwar Chicago Blues Records In 1948 Including "Telephone Blues" And "Snooky & Moody's Boogie" With Guitarist Moody Jones And "Stockyard Blues" And "Keep What You Got" With Singer/guitarist Floyd Jones. "Snooky & Moody's Boogie" Is Of Considerable Historical Significance Pryor Claimed That Harmonica Ace Little Walter Directly Copied The Signature Riff Of Pryor's Song Into The Opening Eight Bars Of His Own Blues Harmonica Instrumental "Juke " An R&B Hit In 1952. In 1967 Pryor Moved South To Ullin Illinois. He Quit Music For Carpentry In The Late 1960s But Was Persuaded To Make A Comeback. 4 After He Dropped Out Of Sight Pryor Was Later Re-Discovered And Resumed Periodic Recording Until His Death In Nearby Cape Girardeau Missouri At The Age Of 85. In January 1973 He Appeared With The American Blues Legends Tour Which Played Throughout Europe Alongside Homesick James. Whilst On This Tour They Recorded An Album In London Homesick James & Snooky Pryor On Jim Simpson's Label Big Bear Records. Some Of His Better Known Songs Include "Judgement Day" 1956 And "Crazy 'Bout My Baby" From Snooky 1989 "How'd You Learn To Shake It Like That" From Tenth Anniversary Anthology 1989 And "Shake My Hand" 1999 . Discography This List Is Incomplete You Can Help By Expanding It.
Singles"Boogie" A-Side "Telephone Blues" B-Side 1948 Planet
"Someone To Love Me" A "Judgement Day" B 1956 Vee Jay Records
AlbumsHomesick James & Snooky Pryor 1973 Virgin Records London
"Do It If You Want To" 1973 ABC Records Los Angeles New York
Snooky 1989 Blind Pig Records
Snooky Pryor 1991 Paula Records
Johnny Shines And Snooky Pryor Back To The Country 1991 Blind Pig Records
Snooky Pryor Too Cool To Move 1992 Antones
In This Mess Up To My Chest 1994 Antones
Mind Your Own Business 1996 Antones
Snooky Pryor Shake My Hand 1999 Blind Pig Records
Super Harps II Mit Carey Bell Lazy Lester Rafuel Neal 2001 Telarc
Snooky Pryor And His Mississippi Wrecking Crew 2002 Electro-Fi
Mojo Ramble 2003 Electro-Fi
Double Shot Snooky Pryor And Mel Brown 2005 Electro-Fi read less