Nobody knows exactly why Alex "Rice" Miller, an extremely talented blues harmonica player from Arkansas Howlin 'Wolf yet learned to play harmonica, it was needed to take the name of Sonny Boy Williamson of Tennessee to usurp. Certainly John Lee Williamson, the original Sonny Boy, raised objections, but it never came to court. After the violent death of the first Sonny Boy in 1948 the way was open
… for Miller to also release albums under his fictitious name. He did the famous Chess label and plates were extremely successful. In the sixties he was seen regularly on British stages where he performed with The Animals and The Yardbirds. His feisty, aggressive character was reflected in his style, making it easy to distinguish from the more gentle Sonny Boy [I].more