Joe used to sleep in the basement of Bob Koester's Jazz Record Mart on Grand Street whenever he was in Town. I met him in the shop in 1966.Bob had started Delmark Records in a record store in St. Louis during the early '50s. It was originally a jazz label specializing in local dixieland bands. One day a man came in carrying an old guitar and a scrapbook. He asked for the owner of the record label and Bob introduced himself. "I'm Joe Lee Williams," the visitor said, "I used to be known as 'Big Joe'. Maybe you have some of my records." Bob was flabbergasted. No one in the blues world had heard from "Big Joe" for years. Many thought he had died.
Bob quickly arranged for a recording session and produced an album, calling it Blues on Highway 49 after one of Joe's most famous songs. Thus began a long standing friendship that was in full bloom when I met Joe at Bob's store, long since located in Chicago. The album had set off a revival of Big Joe's career which would eventually include more albums for Delmark and other labels, numerous festival appearances and tours, and an introduction to a whole new generation of blues enthusiasts, many of whom would be influenced by him. THEM featuring Van Morrison had a worldwide hit with Joe's original Baby Please Don't Go. The picture above was shot in January 1967 during one of the worst storms of the decade. Joe was staying at the shop and Bob and he and I were listening to some of Joe's recordings.He was happy to pose with his "rediscovery" album.
