James Edward "Snooky" Pryor (September 15, 1919 or 1921 – October 18, 2006) was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

player. He claimed to have pioneered the now-common method of playing amplified harmonica by cupping a small microphone in his hands along with the harmonica, although on his earliest records, in the late 1940s, he did not use this method. In 2023, he was inducted in the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

Career

Pryor was born in

Lambert, Mississippi Lambert is a town in Quitman County, Mississippi. The population was 1,273 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all land. Climate The climate in this area is characterized b ...

, United States. He developed a

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

style influenced by

Sonny Boy Williamson I John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and singer-songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of r ...

(John Lee Williamson) and

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp s ...

(Aleck Ford "Rice" Miller). In the mid-1930s, in and around Vance, Mississippi, Pryor played in impromptu gatherings of three or four harmonica players, including

Jimmy Rogers Jay or James Arthur "Jimmy" Rogers (June 3, 1924December 19, 1997) was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters's band in the early 1950s. He also had a solo career and ...

, who then lived nearby and had yet to take up playing the guitar. Pryor moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

around 1940. While serving in the U.S. Army he would blow

bugle call A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used ...

s through a

PA system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

, which led him to experiment with playing the harmonica that way. However, most historians credit the idea to Little Walter. Upon discharge from the Army in 1945, he obtained his own

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It is a two-port electronic circuit that uses electric power from a power su ...

and began playing harmonica at the outdoor

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east–west street in Chicago, Illinois, that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). ...

Market, becoming a regular on the

scene. Pryor recorded some of the first post-war Chicago blues in 1948, including "Telephone Blues" and "Snooky & Moody's 'Boogie'", with the guitarist

Moody Jones Moody Jones (April 8, 1908 – March 23, 1988) was an American blues guitarist, bass player, and singer who contributed to the development of the postwar Chicago blues sound in the late 1940s. Early life Jones was born in Earle, Arkansas, on Apr ...

, and "Stockyard Blues" and "Keep What You Got", with the singer and guitarist

Floyd Jones Floyd Jones (July 21, 1917 – December 19, 1989) was an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was one of the first of the new generation of electric blues artists to record in Chicago after World War II, and a number of his recor ...

. "Snooky & Moody's 'Boogie'" is of considerable historical significance: Pryor claimed that the harmonica virtuoso

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

directly copied the signature riff of Pryor's song in the opening eight bars of his blues harmonica instrumental "Juke," an R&B hit in 1952. This claim is historically questionable at best. During the 1950s, Pryor regularly toured in the South. In 1967, Pryor moved to

Ullin, Illinois Ullin is a village in Pulaski County, Illinois, United States. The population was 466 at the 2020 census. History Ullin was established as a site along the Illinois Central Railroad in the mid-1850s. Some sources suggest it was named for a Ga ...

. He quit music and worked as a carpenter in the late 1960s but was persuaded to make a comeback. Blues fans later revived interest in his music, and he resumed recording occasionally until his death in nearby

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, Cape Girardeau and Scott County, Missouri, Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

, at the age of 85. In January 1973 he performed alongside

Homesick James Homesick James (April 30, 1910December 13, 2006) was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II. Early years Homesick James was born in Somervi ...

with the American Blues Legends '73 tour, which played throughout Europe. On this tour they recorded an album in London, ''Homesick James & Snooky Pryor'', for Jim Simpson's label,

Big Bear Records Big Bear Records is the oldest independent British record label set up in 1968 by Jim Simpson in Birmingham, England. It specialises in blues and jazz recordings. History Big Bear Records was founded by promoter and band manager Jim Simpson ...

, with Pryor also recording a solo album, ''Shake Your Boogie.'' Pryor appeared on

Bob Margolin Bob Margolin (born May 9, 1949) is an American electric blues guitarist. His nickname is Steady Rollin'. Biography Margolin started playing guitar in 1964, and his first appearance on record was with Boston psychedelic band The Freeborne, and ...

's 1995

Alligator Records Alligator Records is an American, Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971. Iglauer was also one of the founders of the '' Living Blues'' magazine in Chicago in 1970. History Iglauer started the label using ...

release ''My Blues and My Guitar''. Some of his better-known songs are "Judgement Day" (1956), "Crazy 'Bout My Baby" (from ''Snooky'', 1989), "Where Did You Learn to Shake It Like That" (from ''Tenth Anniversary Anthology'', 1989), and "Shake My Hand" (1999). Pryor's son Richard "Rip Lee" Pryor is also a blues musician and performs in and around his hometown of

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,083, making it the most po ...

Discography

Singles

*"Stockyard Blues" (A) / "Keep What You Got" (B) (1948), Marvel Records; reissued on Old Swing-Master in 1949 *"Telephone Blues" (A) / Snooky & Moody's "Boogie" (B) (1948), Planet Records; reissued on Old Swing-Master in 1949 *"Boogy Fool" (A) / "Raisin' Sand" (B) (1949),

JOB Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

*"I'm Getting Tired" (A) / "Going Back on the Road" (B) (1952), JOB *"Crosstown Blues" (A) / "I Want You For Myself" (B) (1953),

Parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

*"Cryin' Shame" (A) / "Eighty Nine Ten" (B) (1954), JOB *"Someone to Love Me" (A) / "Judgement Day" (B) (1956),

Vee-Jay Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The label was founded in Gary, Indiana, in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...

*"Boogie Twist" (A) / "Uncle Sam Don't Take My Man" (B) (1963), JOB

Albums

*''Snooky Pryor'' (1970), Flyright Records FLY LP-100 *''Homesick James & Snooky Pryor'' (1973), Virgin Records, London under licence from

, Birmingham *''Do It If You Want To'' (1973),

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels bef ...

, Los Angeles, New York *''Snooky Pryor and the Country Blues'' (1973), Today Records *''Shake Your Boogie'', (1976), Big Bear Records, Birmingham *''Real Fine Boogie'', Snooky Pryor and Moody Jones (1980), Flyright Records *''Snooky'' (1989),

Blind Pig Records Blind Pig Records is an American blues independent record label. Blind Pig was formed in 1977 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Jerry Del Giudice, owner of the Blind Pig Cafe, and his friend Edward Chmelewski. The label is now based in San Francisco. I ...

*''Back to the Country'', Johnny Shines and Snooky Pryor (1991), Blind Pig Records *''Snooky Pryor'' (1991), Paula Records ompilation of early singles and unissued material*''Too Cool to Move'' (1992), Antone's RecordsRecord label founded in 1987 by Clifford Antone, owner of Antone's Nightclub, in Austin, Texas, to release live recordings of performances at the club
Profile of Antone's Records

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

.com. Retrieved 2015-07-27. *''In This Mess Up to My Chest'' (1994), Antone's Records *''Mind Your Own Business'' (1996), Antone's Records *''Shake My Hand'' (1999), Blind Pig Records *'' Double Shot!'', Snooky Pryor and Mel Brown (2000), Electro-Fi Records *''Super Harps II'', with Carey Bell,

Lazy Lester Leslie Johnson (June 20, 1933 – August 22, 2018), known as Lazy Lester, was an American blues musician who sang and played the harmonica and guitar. In a career spanning the 1950s to 2018, he pioneered swamp blues, and also played harmonic ...

, Raful Neal (2001),

Telarc Records Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

*''Snooky Pryor and His Mississippi Wrecking Crew'' (2002), Electro-Fi Records *''Mojo Ramble'' (2003), Electro-Fi Records

Appears on

* ''American Blues Legends '73'' (1973), Big Bear Records

References

External links

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

.
Pryor Biography
Blind Pig Records.
Pryor bio

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg ...

Harmonica Company, which has
Pryor sound clip
(

mp3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

format).
Obituary
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Accessed December 1, 2006.
Obituary
KLBC radio. Accessed December 1, 2006.

Accessed December 19, 2007. * *, July 2000. Accessed December 1, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Snooky 1921 births 2006 deaths American blues harmonica players American blues singers Songwriters from Mississippi Blues musicians from Mississippi American street performers Harmonica blues musicians Vee-Jay Records artists People from Lambert, Mississippi Blind Pig Records artists Telarc Records artists Virgin Records artists ABC Records artists African-American male songwriters United States Army personnel of World War II Southland Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers 20th-century American songwriters