American Piedmont blues musician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saunders Teddell,[1][2] or Saunders Terrell (or other variants, sources differ) (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986),[3] known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician,[4] who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and occasionally imitations of trains and fox hunts.
He was born Saunders Terrell. His father, who was a farmer and musician, taught him the basics of harmonica playing. At the age of 16 he became blind. Because of this he was not able to work on the farm of his father. He started playing music. He developed a harmonica style which included also vocal parts and hollers. Also the imitation of trains was part of his style.
In 1938 he played in the Carnegie Hall during the first From Spirituals to Swing concert. The same year he recorded for the Library of Congress. Although he was famous as pure folk blues artist he also played jump blues in a band. From 1941 till 1982 he played together with the guitarist Brownie McGhee (1915–1996). He also played with other folk and blues legends like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Pete Seeger, Champion Jack Dupree, Blind Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Big Bill Broonzy amongst others.
In the 1980s he stopped due to age his career.He played only some concerts. He died in 1986. This year he also was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.[5]
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