Got The Bottle Up and Gone

Operating out of Lillian McMurry's Trumpet Records in Jackson, Mississippi, Sonny Boy Williamson II took an older, traditional blues theme and infused it with his deeply eccentric timing. During these early 1950s sessions, Sonny Boy would frequently change tempos and drop bars entirely, forcing his backing band (often featuring the steady piano of Willie Love) to watch him like a hawk just to keep the rhythm together. "Got The Bottle Up and Gone" perfectly captures his raspy, conversational vocal style and his razor-sharp, heavily syncopated harmonica fills that made him a towering figure in the post-war Southern blues scene.