Tennessee-born John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was to the blues harmonica what Bach was to the church organ. In Chicago, where he relocated in 1937, Williamson Skinny Woman (1937), Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (1937), Another Half A Pint, Moonshine, Win The War Blues, I Just Keep Loving Her, Hoodoo Hoodoo (1946), also known as Hoodoo Man Blues. He often played with bands (featuring the aggressive guitar of Robert Nighthawk) that predate rhythm and blues. He died at 34, victim of a robbery.

Mississippi-born harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II (real name Aleck Ford, also known as Rice Miller) was actually older than John Lee Williamson I, but he remained in the South until much later (1955), and he recorded his music only in 1951. Nonetheless songs such as Nine Below Zero (1951), Mighty Long Time, Eyesight to the Blind, Don't Start Me To Talking (1955), Keep It To Yourself (1956), One Way Out (1961), Help Me (1963), Checking Upon My Baby, Fattening Frogs For Snakes, displayed some of the greatest harmonica playing of all time. He was one of the first bluesman to create a sensation in Europe (1963) and influenced the first rock bands of Britain (especially the Yardbirds).