Jimmy Lee Williams

Born in 1925 in Polan in Worth County, GA, folk-blues guitarist Jimmy Lee Williams lived his whole life in the area, working as a farmer growing soybeans, peanuts, and watermelons. He learned to play guitar in 1941, and was soon spending his weekends playing for all-night frolics in the area's juke joints. He played a gritty electric guitar style, hummed as much as he sang, and for a time played a rack-mounted harmonica. Musicologist George Mitchell recorded Williams in Polan at two sessions in 1977 and 1982, and eventually 13 of Williams' tracks were released on LP under the ...