His birth date may have been in doubt (he claimed he was born as early as 1905), but the slashing slide guitar skills of Homesick James Williamson were never in question. Many of his most satisfying recordings placed him in solo settings, where his timing eccentricities didn't disrupt the proceedings (though he made some fine band-backed waxings as well).
Williamson was playing guitar at age ten and soon ran away from his Tennessee home to play at fish fries and dances. His travels took the guitarist through Mississippi and North Carolina during the 1920s, where he crossed pa...