  joseph lee williams (october 16, 1903 &ndash; december 17, 1982), billed throughout his career as big joe williams, was an american delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. performing over four decades, he recorded such songs as "baby please don't go", "crawlin' king snake" and "peach orchard mama" for a variety of record labels, including bluebird, delmark, okeh, prestige and vocalion.mellor, mike. the killing floor, october 16, 2009. williams was inducted into the blues hall of fame on october 4, 1992. blues historian barry lee pearson (sounds good to me: the bluesman's story, virginia piedmont blues) attempted to document the gritty intensity of the williams persona in this description: :"when i saw him playing at mike bloomfield's "blues night" at the fickle pickle, williams was playing an electric nine-string guitar through a small ramshackle amp with a pie plate nailed to it and a beer can dangling against that. when he played, everything rattled but big joe himself. the total effect of this incredible apparatus produced the most buzzing, sizzling, african-sounding music i have ever heard".pearson, barry lee. "invitation to the blues: big joe williams," october 16, 2009. ==from busking to bluebird== born in crawford, mississippi,{{cite book | first= tony | last= russell | year= 1997 | titl
1903_births 1982_deaths American_blues_guitarists American_blues_singers American_buskers American_male_singers American_rhythm_and_blues_musicians Bluebird_Records_artists Blues_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Blues_musicians_from_Mississippi Blues_revival_musicians Country_blues_musicians Delmark_Records_artists Delta_blues_musicians Electric_blues_musicians Juke_Joint_blues_musicians People_from_Lowndes_County,_Mississippi