Billy Boy Arnold born 16 September 1935

 William "Billy Boy" Arnold (born September 16, 1935) is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. Arnold is a self-taught harmonica player and has worked with blues legends such as Bo Diddley, Johnny Shines, Otis Rush, Earl Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and others. 

Born in Chicago rather than in Mississippi (as many of his musical forefathers were), young Arnold gravitated right to the source in 1948. He summoned up the courage to knock on the front door of his idol, harmonica great John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, who resided nearby. Sonny Boy kindly gave the lad a couple of harp lessons, but their relationship was quickly severed when Williamson was tragically murdered. Still in his teens, Arnold cut his debut 78 for the extremely obscure Cool logo in 1952. "Hello Stranger". He recorded as William Arnold, but for some reason the label billed him on the records as "Billy Boy", and although he didn't like the name, he kept it which brought him some notice. 

Arnold made an auspicious connection when he joined forces with Bo Diddley and played on the shave-and-a-haircut beat specialist's two-sided 1955 debut smash "Bo Diddley"/"I'm a Man" for Checker. That led, in a roundabout way, to Billy Boy's signing with rival Vee-Jay Records (the harpist mistakenly believed Leonard Chess didn't like him). Arnold's "I Wish You Would," utilizing that familiar Bo Diddley beat, sold well and inspired a later famous cover by the Yardbirds. . "I Wish You Would" was also recorded by David Bowie on his 1973 album Pin Ups and by Sweet on their 1982 album, Identity Crisis. That renowned British blues-rock group also took a liking to another Arnold classic on Vee-Jay, "I Ain't Got You." Other Vee-Jay standouts by Arnold included "Prisoner's Plea" and "Rockinitis," but by 1958, his tenure at the label was over. 

                                   

Other than an excellent Samuel Charters-produced 1963 album for Prestige, More Blues on the South Side, Arnold's profile diminished over the years in his hometown (though European audiences enjoyed him regularly) and he first ended up driving a bus in his hometown of Chicago, then working as a parole officer for the state of Illinois. 

By the 1970s, Arnold had begun playing festivals and in 1975 he toured Europe with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, Bo Diddely and other blues stars on the  package tour “ American Blues Legends '75” organised by Big Bear Music. He recorded a session for BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel on October 5, 1977. He also recorded in 1979 the tracks that later became the Catfish album of 1999, in London with Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs.

He returned to Europe several times over the following years, and in 1984 recorded the album "Ten Million Dollars" for the French label Blue Phoenix. He then made no more studio albums for the next nine years. He appeared in the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1992.

Fortunately his next album in 1993“Back Where I Belong” restored this Chicago harp master to prominence, and 1995’s Eldorado Cadillac drove him into the winner's circle a second time. After a six year lull between recordings, 2001's Boogie 'n' Shuffle on Stony Plain found Arnold still in fine form, backed by Duke Robillard and his band on a set of rough and ready blues. 

In 2012, Arnold released Blue and Lonesome featuring Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs. In 2014, he was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the "Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year" category. In November 2021, the University of Chicago Press published Billy Boy Arnold's first-person memoir, "The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold," written in collaboration with Kim Field. 

 (Edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic & IMDb)