AS THE YEARS GO PASSING BY
THE SONS OF BLUES
SONGWRITERS: DON ROBEY & DON D. ROBEY
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: AS THE YEARS GO PASSIN BY
LABEL: BLACK & BLUE RECORDS
GENRE: BLUES
YEAR: 2004
Branch was born at the Great Lakes Naval
Hospital in North Chicago, Illinois, United States. His family moved from Chicago to Los Angeles when he was five years old. At
ten years of age he bought his first harmonica at a Los Angeles Woolsworth
store. He immediately began playing simple tunes and melodies. After that
initial purchase, Billy was never without a harmonica. In 1969 he moved back to Chicago to attend the
University of Illinois. eventually he graduated from UIC with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Political Science University of Illinois at Chicago.
In August
1969, Branch attended the first Chicago
Blues Festival,
which was produced by Willie Dixon. Six years later, after
graduating from the University of Illinois, he was touring with the Chicago
Blues All-Stars, led by Dixon. Branch soon took the place of Carey Bell,
Dixon's long time Harp player, when Bell left the All-Stars to form his own
band.
In the
1970s, Branch founded his own group, the Sons of Blues, with Lurrie Bell(the son of Carey Bell) on guitar and Freddie
Dixon (the son of Willie Dixon) on bass guitar. They recorded for
Alligator
Records and,
after a change in personnel, for Red Beans Records. The new band consisted of Carlos Johnson on guitar and J. W. Williams on vocals and bass guitar. Branch has also recorded for Verve Records and Evidence Records.
Since then, Branch has played on over 250
different recordings, including 12 under his own name. He has recorded with Willie Dixon, Keb Mo, Johnny
Winter, Lou Rawls, Koko Taylor, Eddy Clearwater, Honeyboy Edwards, Syl Johnson, Lurrie Bell, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Taj
Mahal. He
has received three Grammy nominations (losing one nomination to B.B. King and
Eric Clapton). He served two consecutive terms on the Grammy Board of Governors
and currently is chairman of the Grammy Blues Committee. He has won multiple Blues Music Awards, an Emmy Award, an Addy Award, two Chicago
Music Awards, and numerous humanitarian and achievement awards. The
2007 Chicago Blues Festival honored the 30th anniversary of Billy Branch and
the Sons of Blues. Likewise, in 2017 the Chicago Blues Fest celebrated the 40th
anniversary of Billy Branch and the SOBs.
Branch
annually appears at major festivals around the world, including the Montreux
Blues Festival, the North Sea Blues Festival, the Cognac Blues Festivals and Long Beach Blues Festival, the Chicago
Blues Festival,
the San Francisco Blues Festival and the North
Sea Jazz Festival.
The current lineup of the Sons of Blues
consists of Branch (harmonica and vocals), Andrew "Blaze" Thomas.
(drums and vocals), Sumito Ariyoshi (keyboards and vocals), Marvin Little (bass
and vocals), and Giles Corey (guitar and vocals).
His 2019
recording, Roots and Branches: The Songs of Little Walter, was chosen as a
'Favorite Blues Album' by AllMusic.
He can also
be seen in several Playing
for Change music
clips.
Ah the blues
The ball and chain
that is 'round every English musician's leg
In fact every
musician's leg
Tryin' to kick it off baby?
No no.
You'll just never
do it
And these are the blues
of time
And the blues
of a woman
And a man thinkin' of her
As time goes by
There is nothin' I can do
If you leave
me here to cry
There is nothin' I can do
If you leave
me here to cry
You know my love will follow
you baby
Mmm until the day I die
I've given
you all I own;
That is one thing
you cannot deny
Oh I've given
you all I own;
Baby that is one thing
you cannot deny
And my love will follow
you baby
Yeah
Till the day this man dies.
I've got failure
all around me
No matter how hard I try.
I've got failure
It's all around
me
No matter how hard I
Try try
You know my ghost
will haunt you baby
Until the day you stop down and die
Well you better
get up
Right now right
now
Well
You think that you have left me behind
And that with your other
man you're safe
And you're away from me baby but uh
One o' these
days you're gonna break down and cry
Because there
is no escape from this man
Because this man's love is so strong
He's gonna
haunt you
You know my love will follow
you
Mmm until the day I die
There is just one thing
I want to tell you before I go
I'm gonna leave it
I'm gonna leave it
Leave it up to you
So long
baby bye-bye
Hey I'm gonna
leave it up to you baby
So long
baby bye-bye
Well you know my love will follow
you
Mmm 'til the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I am dead
Till the day that they rest my head
Till the day I die
Till the day I I I I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day that you die and I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Die
Die
Die
Die.
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