Though Lillian McMurry had earlier recorded blues singer Casey Jones, the first successful blues artist she recruited for her fledgling Trumpet Records label was Sonny Boy Williamson. Having made a name for himself for over a decade earlier, playing on the King Biscuit Time radio program and performing all over the south, Williamson had not made a record until he was approached by McMurry. In addition to the many sides he cut for Trumpet, he brought in Elmore James, Willie Love, and others who would also record for the label. Some of his best recordings were done on the Trumpet label, including “Eyesight to the Blind” and “Nine Below Zero.”

Display contents:

• Eyesight to the Blind / Sonny Boy Williamson. Trumpet [1951]
• She Brought Life Back to the Dead / Sonny Boy Williamson and his House Rockers. Trumpet [1951].
• Nine Below Zero / Sonny Boy Williamson. Trumpet [1951]
• Promotional Material for “Cat Hop b/w Too Close Together”

Lillian McMurry Locates Sonny Boy Williamson

Word of mouth alerted McMurry to the popularity of a harmonica player in the Mississippi Delta. Without even knowing his name, McMurry, along with her brother Milton and her friend Curtis, drove to the Delta in search of “a black man who played harmonica and sang.”

According to McMurry, they:

got to Belzoni, to a kind of shack of a house with a jukebox playing like it may have been a juke joint. Milton got out, went to the door, came back and said, “No, they don’t know him.” I said, “Milton, you don’t even know how to talk to people. They are scared of you. You and Curtis just sit right here in this car. They think you’re the sheriff looking for him”…I got out, knocked on the door, and a black lady answered. I told her that I was Mrs. McMurry from the Record Mart in Jackson and I was looking for a singer and harmonica player to make some records that I’d heard his name was Sonny Boy Williamson but I wasn’t sure. She smiled and said she listened to the Record Mart shows on the radio all the time and knew who I was. In a few minutes, out came [his wife] Mattie Williamson, who told me Sonny Boy wasn’t there right then. So I asked if he wanted to make some records and she said, “Yes.”…I got back in the car, told Milton and Curtis what happened, and they did not believe me until much later when Sonny showed up.

Display contents:

• Event poster from Trumpet Records for the Mississippi Blues Trail Marker Unveiling Ceremony on November 17, 2007 (309 N. Farish St., Jackson, MS)
• Mr. Down Child / Sonny Boy Williamson, his harmonica and House Rockers [1952]
• Red Hot Kisses / "Sonny Boy" Williamson and his orchestra [1953]
• From the Bottom / Sonny Boy Williamson and his Houserockers [1955]
• Goin’ in your direction / Sonny Boy Williamson with B. B. King, with Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup and Willie Love. Trumpet (1991)

Display contents:

• Poster by “Signifyin”, ©2015 Kennie Jones
• 6 harmonicas, including models by Marine Band and Hohner
• The Blues of Sonny Boy Williamsson [sic] / Storyville, 1965.
  • Adjacent text: “Seeing him perched on the back of a chair or hovering over a microphone Sonny Boy Williamson reminded you of a buzzard. He had the same mocking grimace and the same cool eyes with their heavy lids that had seen so much and told so little. Sonny Boy was something of an enigma; one of his own making perhaps but just as puzzling nonetheless.” (Paul Oliver, blues scholar)
• Photo of Sonny Boy Williamson with a harmonica
  • Adjacent text: "They didn't call him the king of the harmonica for nothing. . . He was a big dude who blew the blues out of that sucker until there was nothing left to blow. He played sitting down, using his feet like a drum--stomping loud and hard--shouting and inhaling like his life was on the line." (B. B. King on Sonny Boy Williamson)