Hooray for Sonny

Sonny Terry (harmonica & vocals), and Brownie McGhee (guitar) perform for an appearance on CBS Television in 1966.

Sonny Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia was taught to play basic blues harp by his father when he was young. He lost much of his eye sight due to injury by the time he was 16, which prevented him from doing farm work. In order to earn a living Terry began playing music in Shelby, North Carolina. After his father died he joined the trio of Piedmont guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. Upon Fuller’s death in 1941 he would establish a long musical partnership with Brownie McGhee. In 1938 Sonny was invited to play at Carnegie Hall for the first From Spirituals to Swing concert, and later that year he recorded for the Library of Congress. Sonny and Brownie recorded numerous songs together, and became renowned among white audiences of the growing folk movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Really The Blues is sponsored by Jazz on the Tube
Click here to Support US