2 Quotes & Sayings By Sonny Terry

Sonny Terry was born in Panama City, Florida, on March 28th, 1912. He was the second of five children to his parents, Charles and Laura. His father was of African and Irish descent and his mother of Spanish and Cherokee ancestry. Sonny's interest in music began at a very early age Read more

He loved to sing and play guitar and could be found singing around the house with his brothers or playing for family gatherings. Sonny began his career in music on the black vaudeville circuits on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, performing on such stages as the Apollo Theater in New York City and on the black vaudeville circuit in Washington, DC. He performed at such places as Café De Paris in New York where he met Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters and other great blues artists of the day. By 1930, Sonny had signed a contract with Paramount Records and recorded two sides: "Stagger Lee" and "Goodbye Blues." The latter record was released under the name Sonny Boy Sr.

In 1934, he left Paramount Records for Victor Records under whose label he recorded another three sides: "Riding The Midnight Special," "Who's Gonna Save Your Soul," and "Poor Boy." In 1935, he recorded two more sides for Victor: "Snake Hips" and "Tore Up And Down." During this time he made several appearances on Sam Donahue's popular radio show on NBC in which his performance of "Poor Boy" is a part of a collection of performances from that series called Doo-Dah Corral. This collection has been widely anthologized by various record compilations since its release in 1952. In 1936, Sonny relocated from Washington D.C. to Chicago where he got a job playing harmonica with Roosevelt Sykes's Juke Joints Orchestra at Howard Johnson's restaurant at 45th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.

In 1937, Sykes moved to Los Angeles where Sonny followed him by moving to California later that year. He continued performing with Roosevelt Sykes until 1940 when he decided to try his luck as a solo artist by forming a new group called Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee along with guitarist Brownie McGhee (brother of Roosevelt McGhee), bassist Billy McGhee (son-in-law of Roosevelt Sykes), drummer Earl Johnson (son-in-law of Roosevelt Sykes) and pianist Clarence Fountain (former member/lead singer for Roosevelt Sy