Willie Walker performing at Porretta Soul Festival, 2015 (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas)
The setting for
the weekend was perfect. It all started already on Thursday evening, and the
first song was I Can’t Stand the Rain, a duet with Sabrina Kabua. She
was the backing vocalist also on an intense and hurting interpretation of Help.
The funky A Lucky Loser closed this short set on the first night.
On Friday, the
opener on the playlist was an old blues romp called I’d Rather Drink Muddy
Water, which was followed by a thrilling deep soul ballad titled You
Name It, I’ve Had It. After the heartfelt and powerful A Change Is
Gonna Come, the swinging Is That It? made the audience move and
clap their hands, but then it was back to a poignant downtempo song again with If
Nothing Ever Changes. After Help, as an encore we were treated to
two uptempo numbers, Read between the Lines and A Lucky Loser.
Finally on
Sunday evening we could still enjoy Help – this time together with Loralee
Christensen– and Read between the Lines. In the all-star
finale, a blues standard named Rock Me Baby was squeezed in.
The paragraphs
above make a short report on Willie Walker’s performances at the
Porretta Soul Music Festival in late July 2015. Willie was in Italy for the first time, and especially on Sunday he couldn’t hide his emotions while
telling the audience that “this has been one of the most beautiful experiences
I’ve ever had.”
On the photo above: The Redemption Harmonizers
THE REDEMPTION HARMONIZERS
Willie Earl
Walker was born in December 1941 in Hernando, Mississippi, but the exact date
is followed by a small question mark. Willie: “My mom says it was the 21st.
I wasn’t born in the hospital, and it was documented on the 23rd. I
didn’t realise that until I moved to Minnesota and was sick in work and I had
to produce a birth certificate. I had already given my birthday as 21st,
and they say ‘no, it has to be the 23rd, because that’s what it says
here’” (laughing).
Willie’s
nickname ‘Wee’ came into use in the early 60s and it was later solidified by
Mr. Quinton Claunch at Goldwax Records. Neither Willie’s two sisters
and three brothers, nor his parents are anyway involved in music. “I have four
children, as of now, and I have seven children, because my wife and I have
children of our own.” Willie plays a little piano, “but I’m not a good
player.”
Willie’s actual
hometown is Memphis, Tennessee. “I moved there two days after my birth. My
mom lived in Memphis. She went down to Mississippi to see her mom and dad, and
somehow I went to see them, too” (laughing). Willie’s early musical influences
include Sam Cooke, Ira Tucker of the Dixie Hummingbirds, Johnnie
Taylor and Spencer Taylor of the Highway Q.C’s.
In Memphis Willie
lived in the Lemoyne Gardens projects area. “It was fun, but it was also learning
to survive. I went back there this May. I went to my old neighbourhood, and
it wasn’t there. Everything was changed. It was projects, low-income
families. It was just a block away from the Booker T. Washington High School.”
First Willie
went to Porter Elementary School, then to Porter Junior High and finally to
Booker T. Washington in the late 50s, together with Spencer Wiggins and Louis
Williams of the Ovations, among others. “Spencerand I were
closer as friends, because we lived pretty much in the same neighbourhood. Louislived in Foot Homes, which was the same concept as Lemoyne Garden. Percy (Wiggins) and Spencer, we went to school together throughout the whole
thing.”
One of Willie’s
pals in high school was Roy Webb. “With Roy we had a group. We called
it the Falcons. We were singing doowop together. That’s where we
learned our harmonies.” Roy was also a member of a gospel group called the
Redemption Harmonizers, and Willie got involved with them as well, on and
off already since 1953. Roy’s brother Robert Webb played guitar with
the group. “There were also James Mabon, Charles Winston and Izadora
McGhee. There were five of us.” Roosevelt Jamison was also a
member at one point. “They kicked him out. They thought he was a good singer
until they incorporated us. But he’s a great songwriter.”
At different
points, also James Carr’sand O.V. Wright’s paths crossedwith the Redemption Harmonizers, but they never became the members. In
spite of their close ties with Don Robay’s Duke/Peacock family of
companies, the Redemption Harmonizers have only one single listed in Gospel
Discography (1943-1970), and that was on Halo Records (Halo 24) out of Chicago. The A-side of the single is a 6/8 tempo song named Why Do Men Treat the Lord
the Way They Do, written by Thomas London. Willie’s most active
period with the group fell on the late 50s, so naturally he had nothing to do
with that 1967 release.
THE VAL-DONS
The Redemption
Harmonizers travelled all over the south, and on one of those travels at the
turn of the 1960s Willie left the group, his link to Memphis. “The racial
tension was way too heavy. I recognized it, I felt it and I saw an opportunity
and I took it.” Ironically, at that particular moment they were not down south
but up north, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “I stayed with one of the guys, who
happened to be the father of James Mabon. I happened to mention that I like
this place enough to stay, and he said ‘well, if you wanna stay, you’re already
home’. So I made that home for about three years” (laughing).
Willie became a
member of the Royal Jubileers, which was Clarence Mabon’s gospel group.
Besides Clarence and Willie, there were Eugene Scott, Leo Sherrel and John
Louise Hall. “The sixth member was a bass singer, but I never knew his
given name. We called him ‘Cheyenne Body’.” They didn’t make any recordings.
Willie’s next move
in Minneapolis was to switch over to a secular group. “I was in a laundromat
doing my laundry, and a guy by the name of Timothy Eason was doing his
laundry, and he just walked over and said ‘you look like you can sing, can
you’? So we started singing in the laundromat together, and he said ‘you can
sing. I’ll be right back’. He left and came back with Jimmy Crittenden,
and from there we started the group called the Val-Dons. I stayed with
them for 2 – 3 years, until I went to Memphis. Timothy called me ‘Wee Willie’,
and he called himself ‘Tiny Tim’. I don’t know, how Quinton Claunch got a hold
of that” (laughing).
Starting from
1962, the line-up of the Val-Dons varied throughout the years but mainly included
Joe Dibiaso, Timothy Eason, John Booker Arrarondo, Jimmy
Crittenden, Jerry Owens and Willie Walker. Among the musicians there
were Willie Murphy on piano and guitar, Walter Smith on piano and
Bill Lordan on drums.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Willie Murphy (www.williemurphy.net)
is a local celebrity. Prior to the Val-Dons, he played in an r&b group
called the Versatiles, and later – after stints with the Nobles and
Dave Brady and the Stars - he was best known for his band, Willie and
the Bees, later also known as Willie & the Bumblebees (more
about them below). Among other things, Willie produced Bonnie Raitt’s
first album in 1971.
The Val-Dons
mostly worked the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. “Through our
booking agency, Dick Shapiro’s Central Booking, we played in synagogue
parties, Bar Mitzvahs and dances. Dick kept us busy. Dick expanded and
started giving us different jobs after a couple of years, but I wasn’t happy
with the group itself. They weren’t serious enough about it for me. They were
just having fun. I enjoy fun, but I wanted things to be better than they were,
so naturally I left. Joe Dibiaso was the primary lead singer. When he left, I
did it and Timothy Eason did it.” A native of New York, Joe Dibiaso returned
to his home town.
The group even had
hopes of recording, when it approached Mercury Records by sending demos of
Willie’s and Timothy’s songs. “Timothy and I went there personally and they
signed us up... and nothing happened. They released us. I think during that
period they were on the decline. They weren’t as strong as they once were. I
think they had a lot of contracts lying on the table that they couldn’t
honour.”
The Val-Dons,
however, survived and actually experienced a second incarnation, although
Willie wasn’t involved anymore. “The group is still going.” Led by Clifton
Curtis,in the early 70s the Valdons were performing again in Minneapolis and they were backed by a group of musicians called Navajo Train. Their
first single in 1971 – All Day Long / Love Me, Leave Me – was released
on Twin City Movement. In 1973 the group relocated to New York, changed their
name to Philadelphia Story in ’74 and cut at Sigma Sound Studios one
single – You Are the Song (I’ve Been Writing for All of My Life) / If You
Lived Here You’d Be Home Now. Released on Wand 11280, You Are the Song sounds
remarkably like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’If You Don’t Know
Me by Now, both vocally and melody-wise. Their follow-up – People Users
/ Gotta Get Back – scraped the bottom of the Billboard Hot Soul Singles
charts at # 99 in early ’77 (H&L 4679). The same year the Valdons moved to
L.A., but came back to Minnesota ten years later. Their latest single was
released on Secret Stash exactly two years ago, in 2013. A busy dancer called Stop,
Wait a Minute was written by Clifton Curtis and Napoleon Crayton. This
release, however, took place almost fifty years after Willie Walker had left
the group and visited Memphis again in 1965.
Quinton relaxing at home, photo courtesy of Steve and Quinton Claunch
QUINTON CLAUNCH
A noteworthy
figure in Willie Walker’s early recording career, Mr. Quinton Claunch was
born in Tishomingo, Mississippi, on December the 3rd in 1921, so
this December he’ll turn 94! Quinton Claunch: “I’ve really been fortunate
with my health.” Quinton grew up in the Tishomingo area until he reached his early
twenties. “It was a real small country town, and I grew up on a farm. I’m a
country boy. My mother and father loved the square dance. They had a lot of
square dances in that area, so they took me to every one. I went to a corner
to listen to the musicians, and I kinda got smitten.”
Quinton learned
to play guitar, and he practised that skill in various country music groups, especially
after moving to Sheffield, Alabama, in the early 1940s. “With Edgar Clayton,
who was our lead singer, we got to be real good friends and we joined up, the
two of us. We played all the company functions.” The twosome also played
regularly on a local WLAY station in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
“There was a
group in Memphis that we loved very much, so with Edgar we went there to see
the show.” In Memphis they met a fiddle player, Bill Cantrell, who was
from the same area as they were. “After playing together, Bill decided to go
back to Alabama with us. There we formed the group, which we called the Dixie Pals, to begin with.” The group was soon renamed the Blue Seal Pals. When
working on a 12-station network, they found a wealthy sponsor and ended up
getting on WSM in Nashville. “We got pretty popular on the radio.”
Quinton moved to
Memphis in 1948 and started working as a hardware salesman. He and Bill had
their ‘country bopper’ song, Daydreamin’, released in late 1954. Under
the name of Bud Deckelman withthe Daydreamers, the single came
out on Meteor 5014. Still later in 1955 Lester Bihari released on his Meteor
label singles by Barney Burcham & the Daydreamers and Jess Hooper
with the Daydreamers, but they were studio musicians, not Quinton and Bill
anymore. Gene Darrell “Bud” Deckelman passed away in 1998.
Quinton, Bill
and Sam Phillips had met already earlier, but now the local success of Daydreamin’
made Sam suggest that they work with some of his artists on Sun Records.
Quinton: “I worked with Charlie Feathers, the Miller Sisters and on one
of Carl Perkins’ records... and Ray Harris. Ray introduced us to
another guy, who was Jerry Lee Lewis’ cousin, Carl McVoy. We
auditioned him. We loved him and that’s when we started Hi Records. I went to
see Joe Cuoghi, who owned a record shop, and he promised to finance a
record on him. He asked me, where I would like to record it. I answered that
for a country record we have to go to Nashville for good pickers. So we did,
put the record out and one day we got a call from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for 4,000 records. They called back and said ‘add 4,000 to that’. Anyway,
they didn’t sell any records, but we had to pay for all those presses”
(laughing). Carl McVoy’s (1931-92) rockabilly version of You Are My
Sunshine (b/w Tootsie) was released on Hi 2001 in December 1957, and re-released on Phillips International four months later.
The first
seventeen Hi singles in the course of two years went practically without a
notice. Frustrated, Quinton sold his share of Hi Records in 1959. Besides
country music, Quinton had a liking for rhythm & blues, as well. “I heard
this blues singer, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, on a jukebox in Tishomingo. I
really went for her sound, because country and blues are very closely related
anyway. I moved to Memphis, and I got into rhythm & blues. In 1962 I
started Goldwax and (in 1964) signed up O.V. Wright and James Carr.”
Together with
his partner and co-owner, a pharmacist named Rudolph Valentino Russell -
nicknamed ‘Doc’ - Quinton produced some of the most treasured gems of southern
soul in the 1960s. In their roster they had, among others, James Carr, O.V.
Wright, the Ovations, Spencer Wiggins, George Jackson and Dan Greer, Percy
Milem, Gene “Bowlegs” Miller, Ivory Joe Hunter, Barbara Perry and Timmy
Thomas. “James Carr is a wonderful guy. He and I were real close.” James
died of lung cancer in 2001 at the age of 58. “I also loved Spencer Wiggins.
He’s a good blues artist. He’s great.”
In 1965 Willie
Walker made a trip from Minneapolis down to his old home town, Memphis. Willie: “I was visiting my friends, and Roosevelt Jamison was one of my good
friends. He said ‘guess what, all your buddies are recording. They’re
recording for Goldwax. Do you wanna go over there’? Naturally I said yes.”
Quinton: “Willie
was living up north and he just came in to do the records. I don’t know a lot
about him. All I know he’s a good singer and a very nice guy. One of my
friends, Roosevelt Jamison, introduced me to him.”
In Memphis Willie stayed overnight mostly either at Roosevelt Jamison’s, or George Jackson’s
place. Willie: “George kept saying ‘I’m gonna write you a hit’. For days and
days we didn’t even discuss music, and then one morning I wake up, and he says
‘I got it’ (laughing). It was always something nice.” Quinton: “George
Jackson was a great guy and a terrific songwriter, a wonderful person. I did
everything I could to help him. I cut several of his songs.”
Willie signed
with Goldwax in 1965, but his first single was released only in August 1967.
Quinton: “We had a lot of people we were working with, and we had to postpone
it for some reason. I can’t recall exactly why.” The A-side of Goldwax 329
was a funky and gritty version of Ticket to Ride. Quinton: “I said ‘we
got a lot of nerve to cover a Beatles song, but if you wanna do it,
we’ll do it’.” Willie, on the other hand, remembers that the song was given to
him only in the studio.
Produced by
Claunch and Russell and cut at Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios, the single was
flipped with a mid-tempo, emotive number called There Goes My Used to Be.
Quinton: “Roosevelt Jamison wrote the song and he’s a friend of mine, so I did
him a favour. I liked the song well enough to cut it on him.” Willie: “I
loved There Goes My Used to Be, but in Minnesota they loved Ticket to
Ride.” O.V. Wright with the Keys had cut the song first on Goldwax 106 in 1964, and later James Carr recorded his punchy cover, which, however, wasn’t released at the
time.
Released under
the name of “Wee” Willie Walker, Ticket to Ride was arranged by Al
Dante out of New York. Willie: “I definitely did like the arrangement and
I liked the idea, but I didn’t think it was going to be the song that was meant
to be the A-side. I thought it was going to be the B-side, but it turned out
they selected it as the A-side.”
Willie at Porretta Soul Festival, 2015 (Photo by Heikki Suosalo)
THE EXCITERS
At that point
Willie was working on the road with a group called the Exciters. Willie:
“Actually I’ve been doing things with them in ’63.” This Minnesota group was
formed in 1963 as the Gladiators in the line-up of Leroy Hawkins on
guitar and later Hammond organ, Arthur Williams on guitar, Jimmy “D”
Williams on bass and Herman Jones on drums. In the latter part of
the 60s, Wilbur Cole replaced Leroy and Donnell Woodson replaced
Jimmy.
James Martin,
a former gospel singer in the Friendly Five and the Mighty Golden
Voices, became the manager for the Exciters. At the same time he also had
his own secular group called the Amazers working the Twin Cities area.
Later it has
been alleged that the Exciters were supposed to play on Willie’s Ticket to
Ride. Willie: “No, they weren’t. I wanted them to play on some songs that
I had written. For some reason they (Goldwax) didn’t want them on the label
with me, because they figured that would cause problems with royalties – which
I never got anyway – but I wanted them on the label, because I actually wanted
to travel with them. I also kind of took over the group, because James Martin,
who was our manager then, was too busy with his other group (the Amazers).
Herman Jones’ dad wanted to take over the group and I didn’t think he had
enough experience at what he was trying to do. So that created some friction,
and I left. They asked me back shortly after I had done my first record.”
The only record
the Exciters managed to cut was under the name of Jackie Harris & the
Exciters on Black & Proud Records 7712, as late as in 1970. The label
was co-owned by Al Perkins. A busy, James Brown type of a funk
number called Do It, To It (b/w Get Funky, Sweat a little) was
re-released on Westbound 155. Jackie Harris, a native of Chicago, Illinois, had in 1965 recorded for Chess (No Kind of Man, Chess 1946), and later he
recorded also with the Champions (Work Your Flapper, B&P
7715). At that point, in 1970, Willie Walker wasn’t involved with the Exciters
anymore.
YOU NAME IT, I´VE HAD IT
Willie’s next
two singles were again produced by Claunch and Russell and released in 1968,
but not on Goldwax but on Checker this time. Quinton: “I liked what we had, so
I sent it to them to see what they thought, and they liked it well enough to
put it out.” Willie: “Goldwax was also weakening, so they leased my records to
Chess/Checker, so that I could possibly get more attention.”
This time under
the name of Willie Walker, the A-side of Checker 1198 was an impressive and
deep southern soul ballad called You Name It, I’ve Had It. Willie: “I
did it last night here in Porretta for the first time in years.” Indeed, the
last time Willie did it on stage was with Curt Obeda & the Butanes in 2009.
The song was
written by Clarence Shields. Willie: “He was there in the studio, when
I did it. That was something George Jackson was doing - help other writers to
get them into a position, where they can be recognized... and have their music
stolen (laughing). These guys were hungry and needed money. If you got 200
dollars, it’s a really good song.”
The flip was a
snappy dancer named You’re Running Too Fast (by Claunch and Russell),
not unlike Sam Cooke’s Cupid. Willie: “Doc Russell’s an amazing
man. He was generous, helpful and very caring – about all the artists.”
WARM TO COOL TO COLD
Willie’s third
and final single in the 60s offered a piercing funk titled A Lucky Loser (Checker
1211), written by Allen Jones and Homer Banks. This was one of
those songs that James Carr also recorded but went unreleased at the time.
James’ 1967 cut was more laid-back. Willie: “It was chosen the A-side, because
it was fast. The period that came in was all about dancing.”
For all the deep
soul fans it was the B-side that stopped us in our tracks. Warm to Cool to
Cold was composed by a famous country music writer, Gene Dobbins,
and it was first released by Roy Drusky in 1966 on his Country Song
Express album on Mercury, and later in the early 70s also Earl Gaines and
Lois Johnson recorded it, among others. But Willie first turned this
song into an unforgettable deep soul gem, full of emotion, simply his peak
recording moment in the 60s.
Besides those
six single sides, there were a few Goldwax tracks that remained in the can. I
Ain’t Gonna Cheat on You No More is an uptempo song that Sam Cooke had recorded
in the early 60s and I Don’t Want to Take a Chance is a mellow mid-pacer
written by George Jackson. Both tracks are available on Goldwax Story, vol.
2 (Kent, CDKEND 225 in 2004), and they were probably cut at Fernwood
Studios. Nothing Can Separate Us is funky, whereas Lifetime of a Man
– also cut by Stacy Lane and James Carr, shelved again – is a
touching, country-tinged deepie by William Cantrell and Quinton Claunch.
Willie: “All the
rest of those songs, except those six sides, were done exclusively with George
Jackson. I don’t remember where those were cut at. He took me to different
places, and I’m glad that he did.” After those three singles, there were no
more releases on Goldwax from Willie. Quinton: “He wasn’t selling records.
They were good, but they just didn’t sell.”
There was also a
rumour about Curtis Mayfield wanting to sign Willie Walker and record
him on his Curtom label, but Quinton was asking too much for the contract.
Quinton: “That is absolutely untrue. I never talked to Mayfield, and he didn’t
make me offers. I wouldn’t have held Willie back.” The rumour may derive from
the fact that neither Willie, nor the Exciters, but the group James Martin was mainly
managing at that time, the Amazers, jumped on an opportunity and recorded a
sweet and powerful ballad named It’s You for Me (written by Napoleon
Crayton and b/w Without a Warning) on Thomas Records (1638) out of
Chicago in 1968. And this particular single was in fact produced by Curtis
Mayfield. Actually it was a re-recording of their churchier version of the same
song four years earlier on Bangar 00639. Willie: “I wasn’t a part of that.
The Exciters was my group.”
Q'man & James Carr signing the contract with SOULTRAX Record Label 1999
SOULTRAX
Goldwax ceased
its operations in 1969. Quinton: “Bell Records was distributing our label and
it ran out. Also I had a partner I couldn’t put up with, so I left.” At that
point Goldwax wasn’t sold to anybody. Quinton: “I didn’t sell it then. It was
later on, late 90s. I sold all the master tapes and everything to Ace Records
in London.”
In 1982 Quinton and
Bill Cantrell produced Al Green’s gospel album, Precious Lord (on Myrrh
6702). Bill was the same fiddle player - and later a member of the Blue Seal
Pals - that Quinton had met in Memphis in the 40s.
In 1982 Quinton
also produced Willie Hightower in Memphis, but those twelve tracks
became available only in 2007 on a Japanese P-Vine collection called Quinton
Claunch’s Hidden Soul Treasures (PCD25052). The other artists on this
19-track CD are Jerry L, Ollie Nightingale and Joe L. Thomas. Just
recently, this October, Willie Hightower performed at the Ponderosa Stomp
Festival in New Orleans.
The same year,
in 1982, Quinton and Johnny Nash created music together. Quinton: “One
day in 1982 Johnny Nash was at Al Green’s studio and found out that I had done
an Al Green album. He called and said ‘I’d like to do a country album’. He
came from Houston, Texas, to my office twice to pick up the songs. I took him
over to Nashville to use the best musicians available over there to cut that
album. Johnny said that he would pay for the session, so that was real good
news. We cut that album, and he was tied up with the Columbia Records at that
time. He wanted 75,000 bucks front money on the album and I wouldn’t pay it.
He still has the masters in Houston. Every time I’m in Nashville, they ask
‘what happened to that Johnny Nash album’?”
In 1990 Goldwax
was re-launched by Elliott Clark, first in co-operation with Quinton. Quinton:
“He was a bogus guy. I worked with him for three months and I saw what he was,
so I walked out of there, too. He didn’t buy the old Goldwax catalogue. He
did some things unlawful. He released some masters that he shouldn’t have
done.”
Produced by
Quinton and Roosevelt Jamison, in 1991 they released James Carr’s comeback
album, Take Me to the Limit (Goldwax 1991). Quinton: “I hadn’t seen
James Carr in a while, and I got to thinking. I ran him down and asked him how
he’d like to do another album. He said ‘let’s try it’. I brought him into a
little studio down in Iuka, Mississippi. It wasn’t a first-class studio –
substandard quality, really. Anyway, I put out an album on him. It didn’t do
that well, and he had some mental problems.”
James’ next
album, Soul Survivor, was released in 1994, but now on Quinton’s own,
newly founded label, SoulTrax. Until 2001 Quinton released as many as ten CD
albums on SoulTrax by such artists as Toni Green (Mixed Emotions in
1998), the Jubilee Hummingbirds featuring James Carr (Guilty of
Serving God in 1994) and Vernis Rucker (Stranger in the Sheets in
1994). Quinton: “Vernis was part of the Ace deal. They took her but they couldn’t
do anything with her. She was a fantastic artist.” Jerry L’s Last
Word in Lonesome was the last CD in 2001. Quinton: “He’s a super
guy, but his records didn’t sell. But he’s a real nice guy.”
Quinton put
SoulTrax on a hold, but in 2013 he revived it. Quinton: “I had gotten tired
and everything and I was just pushing my SoulTrax company. Then I ran into
this guy, Alonzo Pennington (on the pic right). One of my friends in Kentucky called me
and said ‘I heard a guy in a club last night that you really ought to listen
to. He’s great’. I said ‘tell him to send me a tape to let me hear his
voice’. I got a band together and did this album with him, Born with
Nothing.” The CD was released in June 2014, and it was followed by Deep-Down
this year (http://www.soulexpress.net/deep5_2015.htm#alonzopennington).
“He’s a great entertainer. He’s going to be real good at blues. That’s where
his forte lies.”
Quinton: “Rhythm
& blues is going downhill slide over here. It’s hard to get radio stations
to play like they used to. You don’t have any full-time blues stations
anymore. Blues doesn’t get enough exposure. There’s a market for it, but you
don’t get airplay.”
“I love B.B.
King. He was going to record one of my songs, but he died before he got to
do it. I’m going to do that on Alonzo – ‘you call yourself slick, but you can
stand another greasin’. I wrote that.”
Heikki and Willie, photo by Juhani Laikkoja
THE OTHER WILLIE WALKERS
There has been
some confusion caused by other singers that also recorded under the name of
Willie Walker in the 70s. One with a lighter voice has a 1972 single on the
Atlanta-based Eutor Records, You Didn’t Know Me / Tell Me Baby, It’s Gonna
Be Alrighthttp://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/W/willie_walker_eutor/index.php.
More
gruff-voiced Willie Walker recorded for Willie Mitchell. In a group called T-99
he was the lead singer on a fine deep soul ballad named Sweetness Ain’t
Sweet No More (Hi 2213, in 1972, b/w We’ve Got Everything). Three
years later he appeared on Pawn, a subsidiary of Hi (I Love Her / Sweet
Thing, Pawn 3809), and after three years he was back on Hi again (Reaching
for the Real Thing / Love Makes the World Go Round). According to Martin
Goggin, in early 2000s this Willie was a minister in the Memphis area.
He’s also
believed to be the vocalist on some George Jackson produced demos for the
Sounds of Memphis label (If You Never See Me, Run Around, Two Paces ahead of
Love and You’re Gonna Miss Me Baby). Willie: “I remember all those
songs, but I had nothing to do with them.”
Although these
days Willie is a full-time entertainer, still in the 60s and 70s music wasn’t
enough to support him. “I worked in corrugated box manufacturing. I worked
with them from ’63 till ’78.”
Pure Dynamite: (L to R) Mark Parker, Jody Johnson, Alfred Johnson, Willie Walker, George Neal, Andre Broadnax and
Wilbur Nichols
WILLIE AND THE BUMBLEBEES
Willie Murphy of
the Val-Dons fame formed Willie and the Bumblebees in 1970, and a year later
their line-up included Willie himself on bass, Russ Hagen on guitar, Stephen
Bradley on drums, John Beach on keyboards and a 3-piece horn
section.
Willie Walker
joined them in 1971, because Willie Murphy didn’t want to be the only vocalist
in the group. Willie: “It was easy with them. The guys were great players and
we rehearsed a lot. I was the only one that didn’t do any drugs, and they were
always way out there. Certain guys didn’t seem to remember what we worked on
in rehearsals the day before and - after spinning the whole day, working on it
- they came back and we had to start all over again. We did a number of
benefits. We didn’t get any money, and I was like ‘hey, I don’t mind doing
benefits to help out, but when am I going to benefit me’?” (laughing). The
Bumblebees was a mixed band. “The drummer was black, and me. I worked with
them on and off for a couple of years.”
Along with a
joint album with “Spider” John Koerner entitled Music Is Just a Bunch
of Notes in 1972,the Bumblebees released still at least two albums
- Honey from the Bee on Sweet Jane Ltd (SJL 4107) in 1978 and Out of
the Woods on Sound 80(S80-DLR-107) in 1980, but Willie Walker
wasn’t on any of these anymore.
The Bound Band, L to R: Assa Birch, James Harry, Richard "Dicky" Lowe, Willie Beamen,
Willie Walker, Wilbur Cole
THE BOUND BAND
A former member
of the Exciters, Wilbur Kenneth Cole, had formed the Bound Band
in the latter part of the 70s. “It was a great group, although we didn’t have
the technology for sound, and it was way too loud. Nobody could hear what I
was doing. It was on and off for twenty years plus with that group. The
members are still around, but the name is not still around. Actually the group
that I have now is a branch from the old Bound Band. I changed the name,
because I want to get away from that ‘bound’. I now call the group We “R”. “
“Salt, Pepper
and Spice came after that, a bunch of musicians that I knew well. I became
a part of the new project that they were putting together, but they didn’t have
any idea of the direction where they wanted to go. I named the group, because
there was nine of us – three white, 3 Hispanic, 3 black; that’s how I came up
with the concept ‘Salt, Pepper and Spice’ (laughing). They didn’t have any
idea about where they would gonna get work. I turned to Dick Shapiro, who was
doing well with his Central Booking Agency, because I was a part of his
beginning. I called him up and he said ‘I can give you jobs’. ‘But you need
to hear the group’. ‘No, I know you’. So he started booking us, and
consequently I became the leader of the band.”
Along with Mark
Parker, Jodi Johnson and George Neal, Willie next worked with Pure
Dynamite and Solid on Down. “That was my group after Salt, Pepper
and Spice. Pure Dynamiteand Solid on Down are the same group. Pure
Dynamite played in 1979, and I changed the name to Solid on Down in the early
80s.” Willie, however, never played in a group called the Esquires, as
stated elsewhere.
Willie: “I was
on a hiatus in 1981-1987. There wasn’t any group willing to invest needed
time. Generally, though, all the musicians I have worked with in the past have
left positive impact in my life.” In the 80s, as well as still in the 90s,
Willie worked as a health care provider at New Harmony Health Care.
Canoise, 1996: L to R Pat Curto, Larry Seisse, Willie Walker, Neil Dunning,
Robert Coates
CANOISE
A Minneapolis
pop-rock group called Canoise was formed in 1965 and the first incarnation
lasted till 1974. During that period they recorded four singles: Something
I Could Do in 1966 on IGL, Oh No, Not My Baby on Sonic in 1967, You’re
No Good on Sonic in 1968 and Look Inside on Trim in 1971. Every now
and then they were known alternatively also as Zarathustra.
Canoise had a
reunion in 1981 in the line-up of Bob Coates, Pat Curto, Neal Dunning and
Larry Suess, and in the 90s they had as many as three CDs released: Now
and Then (in ’93), Plugged in (’95) and The True Story (’97).
In 2005 they were inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame, and
more grandiosely into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
Willie joined
the group in the 90s. “That’s the group that kind of resurrected me, got me
out of the retirement. I’d gotten sick of musicians, period! Nobody wanted to
put the work in. Canoise, they were great musicians and it was enough to keep
me interested. They would do weddings and private jobs frequently.” Willie
wasn’t singing on any of their records, but “all of them was on my very first
CD.”
“From that, some
of the same guys wanted to form the group Where’s Willie. People were
always asking ‘where was I’, so they put together a group Where’s Willie in the
90s, but it didn’t work.”
Willie and Curt Obeda, photo courtesy of Doug Knutsen, photo-illustration by Dan Miggler
THE BUTANES
Curt Obeda,
the leader of the Butanes (www.thebutanes.com),
and Willie Walker had actually met already in the 1970s, but they played
together for the first time only in 1987. Willie: “We’ve known each other for
a number of years.” Curt Obeda: “When I first asked the other musicians
about Willie, I was told ‘that’s Willie Walker... he’s a great ballad singer’.
Apparently what he had didn’t interest the ‘blues’ guys much. I began actively
booking gigs with Willie and the Butanes in 2002.”
L to R: Steve Fazion, Sue Newton, Robert Coates, Willie Walker, Pat Curto and
Larry Wiegand
On the Butanes
website, Curt tells an interesting story about Willie working together on stage
with Little Johnny Taylor in the late 80s, backed by the Butanes Soul
Revue. Willie: “That was an interesting night. Little Johnny Taylor was
having a good time, as we all were. When singing together on stage, he thought
he was going to push me out of the way, but I took the song a few levels beyond
where he wanted. It did work against him, because he finally looked around at
me and said ‘bye’ and left the stage” (laughing). Curt: “LJT had too much to
drink and sang Part Time Love three times on the first set. Willie was
at the club and we asked him, if he could sing a couple of songs with us to
help out. Willie sang a final song and the Butanes stayed on stage and called
a few other musicians up before calling LJT for a few songs – including Part
Time Love – to finish the night.”
L to R, Robert Coates, Willie Walker, Bruce Pedalty, Larry Hoffman, Unknown, Unknown
THE FIRST ALBUM
Willie’s first
record since 1968 came out on Curt Obeda’s Haute Records in 2002. The
self-titled Willie Walker CD (Haute 1108) includes material both from
the late 80s, and the 90s with Canoise. Willie: “It was a project that I was
trying to do on my own - and with Robert Coates, who was a member of Canoise. During
the bad times, when I was out of work and didn’t have insurance, Bob Coates
just happened to be the doctor (laughing). He was kind of looking out for me.
I mentioned to him that I was trying to get this CD done. I realised I was in
over my head financially, and he said ’can I help you here’? I said ‘that’s what
I’m getting to’ (laughing). I just put in what I had, and he just took over
the project and finished it for me.”
From those days,
Willie also fondly remembers Doug Knutson, a photographer. Curt: “I
introduced Doug to Willie at a Famous Dave’s show in either late 2002 or 2003.
Doug is an accomplished photographer and shot us for all three of the Butanes
CDs with Willie, as well as our most recent disc.”
Curt: “Willie’s
CD was released without a label and I allowed him to use my vendor number to sell
the CD at a local record store. They didn’t sell many CDs, but I recall I
collected the payments before turning the money over to Bob Coates.”
With real live
players backing, the music varies from blues and soul to standards, even pop. Willie:
“There was only one original song, If Nothing Ever Changes, which is the
title track of my new CD (in 2015). That was written by the keyboard player, Bruce
Pedalty.”
On the blues
side, there are Robert Cray’s Bad Influence, Willie Dixon’s
Spoonful, the fast and swinging I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water (Eddie
Miller, for one) and two songs interpreted by Johnny Adams, Body
and Fender Man and One Foot in the Blues.
Familiar soul
hits include the Spinners’ I’ll Be Around, Ann Peebles’ Feel
like Breaking up Somebody’s Home, Marvin Gaye’s and Tammi Terrell’s
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – here Willie does a duet with Sue
Newton – Gladys Knight & the Pips’ Neither One of Us, Billy
Ocean’s Caribbean Queen and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’
If You Don’t Know Me By Now. You Send Me & For Sentimental
Reasons and Since I Fell for You can be counted as standards,
whereas the Eagles’ I Can’t Tell You Why is pure pop.
Curt Obeda: “I
had no input into what songs were recorded, the musicians or the mix. I
believe my guitar overdubs to be the final recording done prior to mixing.
Willie asked me to finish the last three songs, so I drove over to the studio a
few days later and cut the stuff. I made one take through each of the songs
and they told me they were done. I hadn’t even got the headphone mix to my
satisfaction and they were calling the session complete.” Those three songs
overdubbed with Curt in a studio owned by “Johnny O” were Breaking up
Somebody’s Home, Body and Fender Man and I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water.
RIGHT WHERE I BELONG
Curt: “As I left,
Willie told me he owed me a favour, as I did the session for free, and a few
months later I had him come over to my house and sing on some demos of mine. I
have set up the recording equipment in my house, and record and mix in my
living room and dining room.”
Colin Dilnot
is an U.K. entrepreneur and a big fan of soul music, and in 2003 he started
searching for Willie. Willie owes him a lot for the release of his second CD, Right
Where I Belong (One on One 761955/Haute; in 2004), which is a masterpiece
with powerful singing, Curt’s impressive songs and the Butanes’ professional
playing.
Curt: “A few
months after those demos, Colin Dilnot was in touch with me through the Yahoo
Southern Soul group asking about Willie. I sent him the demos and he said he
was interested in shopping them around for us. I think we were all frustrated,
when people Colin thought of as friends didn’t even give the stuff a listen, or
put off telling us yes or no – always a delay – so he put together a label to
release our recordings in Europe (One on One). Once Colin sent an advance, I
put together the sessions and Right Where I Belong was released.
Without Colin’s guidance and financial support we would have never recorded or
released the CD.”
Curt Obeda and
the Butanes are backing Willie up on fourteen new songs. Initially they
planned to use also some covers or new songs from George Jackson and Willie’s
former brother-in-law, Eugene Williams, and others, but - since nobody provided
any - they ended up using Curt’s songs.
Curt: “We already
had a number of demos done, before I was contacted by Colin. Later on Colin
arranged with his friend Jaap Hindriks for the Butanes to back Willie
Walker and Laura Lee in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and still later in
Japan P-Vine Records licensed Memphisapolis and they contacted me to
perform a handful of shows with Willie, arranged through P-Vine. They also
recorded us for a potential live CD. I have never heard the recordings and I
doubt it will ever be released.” Curt and the Butanes with Willie also visited
the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland, mostly because one of the organizers
liked the song Cry, Cry, Cry on the Memphisapolis CD.
Willie’s third
CD, Memphisapolis (Haute 1110), was released in June 2006. Again with
Curt and the Butanes, it is equally as impressive as its predecessor and it was
created with the same roots-digging concept. As before, all thirteen new songs
were written, produced and arranged by Curtis Obeda. Willie talks about this
CD at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep206.htm#williewalker.
HOOCHIN WITH LARRY
In June 2008, a 9-track CD entitled Hoochin with Larry was released on Semaj Music STP (199713) out of
Saint Paul, Minnesota. Semaj Music was founded the first of 2006 to work in
the fields of r&b, pop, rap, reggae, hip-hop, urban and relaxing - “helping
artists to achieve their social media goal with the power of sharing.” The man
behind Semaj and also a producer is a man by the name of Al Demmings.
Willie: “These days I hear from Al once in a great while, not very often.”
Willie: “I have
a friend, who used to live in Minnesota but lives now in Baton Rouge. He’s a
magnificent bass player and a damn good songwriter as well. His name is Johnny
B. Willis. He had written these songs and he came to Minnesota from Baton
Rouge. He knocked on my door and said ‘I want you to sing these songs for
me’. And so I did. I thought his intention was to find somebody that was
established on a label to do it. I would have preferred to do some of it
over. I thought we were just making a demo, but he decided he liked it the way
it was and asked me, if it was alright to release it on me, and I said ‘fine,
go ahead and do it’. There were no live musicians on there.”
Hoochin is
a nice CD with southern soul type of laid-back music. On the opener, a groovy
mid-tempo dancer called My Type, programmed horns is the most irritating
element, as well as on some other tracks, too. The other five mid-tempo movers
are all easy and likeable. First there’s a toe-tapper called You’ve Been
Lyin. Hard Working Woman bears a resemblance to the Johnnie
Taylor sound, while Lost a Good Thang is a quite catchy, swaying
number. Trouble has Latin elements to itand the concluding
track is a floater named That’s the Way (to Treat a Woman).
All three
ballads – Hoochin with Larry, Home Alone and Life Time of Pain – are
touching, each in its own way, and if you’re only able to distance yourself
from hearing the programming you’re bound to enjoy memorable melodies and
Willie’s soulful singing.
LONG TIME THING
For his next CD,
Long Time Thing (Haute 1111; in 2011), Willie collaborated with the
Butanes for the third time. This time the music is leaning more heavily on
bluesoul á la Bobby Blandand swinging rhythm & blues á la Ray Charles . You can read more about the CD at http://www.soulexpress.net/deep2_2011.htm#butanes.
Curt still adds that five of the sixteen originals feature Michael B. Nelson’s
big band arrangements and ten horns.
Curt: “Long
Time Thing was actually scheduled to be released after our return from
Japan in time for Christmas, but Hoochin with Larry came out in June, so
I sat on the recording, until a few people bugged me enough to finally put it
out” (in 2011).
Curt: “The
Butanes released a CD of Louisiana style music that I sing on 18 months ago, Upper
Bayou. I’m also considering a new CD for our 10-piece band, The Butanes Soul
Revue, that is really the band that backed Willie on the CDs, but has a
different singer. The Butanes play every Thursday at a club in Minneapolis and
when Willie is in town he sings with an acoustic guitar earlier. While we
occasionally see him leaving as we’re arriving, he infrequently stays long
enough to sing with us.”
Willie Walker, Willie West & Paul Metsa - Backstage at Music Box Theatre 9-16-2010
LIVE ON HIGHWAY 55
Paul Metsa (www.paulmetsa.com) is a renowned singer,
songwriter, guitarist, storyteller and a bandleader in Minneapolis, where he
has lived since 1978. He was born on the Iron Range in the northeastern
section of Minnesota. Paul Metsa: “My great grandfather, John Metsa,
was from Ylitornio, Finland. Besides soul and blues, I also am most known over
here for writing original stuff for variety of styles.” The Finnish word
‘metsa’ means ‘forest.’
Paul and Willie, photo by Howard Christopherson
Paul’s first
Minneapolis band was Cats under the Stars, after which he kicked off his
solo career in 1984 with the Paper Tigers album. He has received seven
Minnesota Music Awards, and in 2011 he published an autobiography called Blue
Guitar Highway (www.blueguitarhighway.com),
which was later turned into a musical. So far he has released five solo CDs
and two with Sonny Earl. One of those joint CDs, No Money Down (MFC
1033), includes as a bonus a 10-minute DVD with two of Paul’s songs, the title
tune and Whiskey or the Rain. Paul is on guitar and vocals, and Sonny
on harmonica and vocals.
Especially
Paul’s songwriting is widely acclaimed – he’s even being called “a poetic
protest singer” – and one of his most memorable recent songs is Jack Ruby,
a captivating folk song with thought-provoking lyrics. The best way to get
acquainted with Paul’s music is his 17-track CD entitled Blues, Ballads
& Broadsides – “studio and live recordings 1982-2012”(MaximumFolk.com, MFC 1034; 2012). Jack Ruby is included.
Paul has in the
can a live CD that he produced called Paul Metsa Gives you the Willies,
with Willie Walker and Willie West. Paul: “It hasn’t been pressed yet.
That show was taped four years ago in the Music Box Theater in Minneapolis.” Incidentally,
a year ago Willie West’s latest album, Lost Soul (TRCD008), was released
on Timmion Records out of Finland - https://youtu.be/mZg5LJhH0Nk.
In 2013 Paul
Metsa and Willie Walker recorded a joint CD, Live on Highway 55” (Maximum Folk.com, MFC
1035; www.paulandwillie.com). Again
there are familiar tunes from the blues and country world - I’d Rather
Drink Muddy Water, Goodtime Charlie’s Got the Blues, House of the Rising
Sun. Majority of the program is covers of often-recorded soul hits - Ain’t
No Sunshine, My Girl, Blowin’ in the Wind, Bring It on Home, When a Man Loves a
Woman, A Change Is Gonna Come - and the rest belong to the bag of Americana
songbook: Blowin’ in the Wind, Fever, Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out and
What a Wonderful World.
Willie: “I
enjoyed it. It was just the two of us. It was a birthday party and we thought
just to record it live and see how it comes out. It’s just two musicians,
or... one musician and one singer (laughing). That’s the CD we carry around
with us to sell.” Recorded at Clarity A/V Event Center in April 2013, the
atmosphere is warm and intimate, even laid-back, and the music reminds you of
many recent ‘unplugged’ albums. Paul: “With Willie we still play weekly.”
In October 2013
Willie Walker was inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame. Willie: “It
was very special. Nice people came up with that. I sang there, too.”
As you’ve probably
noticed from above, Willie has worked with many bands during his career, and
one of the more recent ones is Igor Prado Band (http://igorpradoband.com). Willie: “I’ve
done two tours in South America with Igor and his group. They’re two of the
best times I’ve had in my life. I’m looking forward to going back.”
Willie’s main
band today, however, is We “R”. Willie: Actually four years ago I
renamed the band. That’s when I was leaving the name ‘Bound’ behind.” The
current members are Ron Maye (drums, lead vocals, back-up vocals), Steve
Jones (keyboards, trumpet, back-up vocals), Jesse Mueller (keyboards),
Johnny Timm (bass guitar), Scott Ives (lead guitar) and Michael
Johnson (sax). They come from Minnesota, Chicago, Memphis and even
Jamaica.
IF NOTHING EVER CHANGES
This year Willie
came up with an impressive new album, which made many a southern and deep soul
fan still believe in the survival of uncompromised, emotional and simply soulful
music. Produced by Rick Estrin of the Nightcats fame and Christoffer
“Kid” Andersen and recorded at Kid’s Greaseland Studios in California, for
the release of If Nothing Ever Changes (LVF 1004) and other similar
ventures, Jim Pugh created a new label, www.LittleVillageFoundation.com.
Besides Jim on piano and organ, Kid on guitars and Rick on harmonica, there are
six other rhythm section musicians, eight horn players, four background
vocalists and a 3-piece string section – on one track only. Also some other
players make a visit only on certain tracks. But the sound is full and
authentic.
Willie: “We were
together with Rick on a cruise. Rick was featured on the cruise, and I was
supposed to be a passenger. I was sitting in with them. Somewhere midway in
the cruise, Rick and Kid Andersen approached me and said ‘would you come to
California and record with us?’ and naturally I said ‘yes’. And that’s what we
did, in March, a year and a half ago. We didn’t have any idea, how we’re going
to release it, and Jim Pugh had this thing with an organization that was trying
to come together called Little Village Foundation.” Under that banner the CDs
were pressed and all the artwork done. In the first place, a mutual friend by
the name of Julia Schroeder introduced Willie to Rick Estrin.
The opening
track on the album represents punchy and gritty Miami-based funk, as Willie
covers Willie Clark’s and Clarence Reid’s driving and horn-heavy Read
Between the Lines, which Michael Burks also recorded three years
earlier, just before he passed away... and on the advice of Rick Estrin.
Next we have a
great and almost painfully slow version of Help, a Beatles song
and here a duet between Willie and Curtis Salgado.Tina Turner used
to sing this song in the same slowed-down style on stage in the 80s, and she
also cut it for her Private Dancer album in 1984, but on the record it didn’t
come off as well as expected. Willie succeeds much better with his passionate
reading. “I love the way we did it. It’s my favourite on the CD. Rick Estrin
actually chose all the songs, except for one – the title song. That was a
Bruce Pedalty song.” Willie released his first version of If Nothing Ever
Changes on his debut CD in 2002, and here Willie’s slow and bluesy
interpretation sounds like something that Bobby Bland might have done.
From Eddie
Hinton’s songbook they have chosen a fast stomper called Everybody Meets
Mr Blue and a rolling and melodic toe-tapper named Hymn for Lonely
Hearts. “Actually I had never heard of Eddie Hinton until we were
recording.” Mr. Blue is musically influenced by Otis Redding and
Eddie did it first on his Letters from Mississippi album in 1986,
whereas Hymn derives from the Dear Y’all CD in 2000.
Willie Walker at Porretta Soul Festival, 2015 (Photo courtesy of Dave Thomas)
NOT THAT I CARE
After an intense
bluesoul reading of Bobby Rush’s I’ve Been Watching You - which
first appeared on the Moving South album by Southside Movement in
1975 - we can enjoy another ballad gem. Cindy Walker’s poignant and
melodic country-soul song titled Not That I Care is as touching as it gets.
“I listened to a Willie Nelson version, before we recorded it.” Wilburn
Brothers recorded the song already in 1963 on Decca, and Willie Nelson’s
version derives from 2006.
Is That It? is
– surprise, surprise! – a swinging jazz number. “Rick Estrin wrote that, and
he did the arrangement.” The second song Rick wrote and arranged is a pretty
soul ballad called What Love Can Do, with a full orchestration. Rick
also co-wrote with Kid an uptempo jump number called Hands of Time,
which may bring Hi-Heel Sneakers to your mind.
I Don’t
Remember Loving You is another delightful country-soul ballad, sweetened
with strings and background vocals. “That is a beautiful song.” Written by Harlan
Howard and Bobby Braddock, the song was first cut by a country
artist John Conlee in 1982, and later in the soul genre we remember fine
versions by J. Blackfoot and Walter Jackson. Finally, there’s Calvin
Arnold’s song Funky Way, which he himself recorded for Venture in
1967.
Willie’s own
favourites on the CD are Help!, If Nothing Ever Changes and I Don’t
Remember Loving You. “The CD is a little deep. You got to really think about
what you’re listening to.” Indeed, this deep and soulful CD requires your concentration,
as well as attention from as many true soul fans as possible, because it simply
is one of the best releases in 2015.
“When I’m around
in Minneapolis, I perform at the Minnesota Music Cafe every second Sunday,
which is enough for me. I don’t want to sing too much in the same place. And
I play at a place called Crooners. They’re both really comfortable places.
Between that and what Paul Metsa and I do together, I have a pretty nice busy
week.” Willie also keeps performing abroad. Only recently, in mid-November,
he was one of the star performers at the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.
But first and foremost, do yourself a favour and get absorbed in the sounds of If
Nothing Ever Changes.
WILLIE WALKER DISCOGRAPHY
SINGLES
(label # / titles / year)
Goldwax 329)
Ticket To Ride / There Goes My Used To Be (1967)
Checker 1198) You
Name It, I’ve Had It / You’re Running Too Fast (1968)
Checker 1211) A
Lucky Loser / Warm To Cool To Cold (1968)
ALBUMS/CDs
(title / label # /
year)
WILLIE WALKER (Haute 1108) 2002
Bad Influence /
Body And Fender Man / One Foot In The Blues / Spoonful / I’ll Be Around / I’d
Rather Drink Muddy Water / You Send Me (& For Sentimental Reasons) / Feel
Like Breaking Up / Since I Fell For You / I Can’t Tell You Why / If Nothing
Ever Changes / Ain’t No Mountain High Enough / Neither One Of Us / Caribbean
Queen / If You Don’t Know Me By Now
WILLIE WALKER AND
THE BUTANES: RIGHT WHERE I BELONG (One on One 761955) 2004
I Don’t Mind At
All/ (We Gotta) Put Out the Fire) / Careless / No Longer For Me / Right Where I
Belong / Give As Good As You Get / Sometimes Love’s Not Enough / I Don’t Know
If I Can Make It Through / Change / Crying To Do / I Understand / Down For The
Count / Ain’t It Funny / I Feel It
WILLIE WALKER AND
THE BUTANES: MEMPHISAPOLIS (Haute 1110) 2006
What’s It Take? /
I Won’t Be Lonely / Sweet (The Yeah, Yeah Song) / The Dream For Me / My Baby
Drives Me Crazy / Real Love / The Last Time / Exactly Like Me / Just Wait Til I
Get Home / Cry, Cry, Cry / Opposites Attract / I’ll Get To You / Thanks For
Being There
HOOCHIN WITH
LARRY (Semaj Music STP
199713) 2008
My Type / You’ve
Been Lyin / Hoochin With Larry / Home Alone / Hard Working Woman / Lost A Good
Thang / Life Time Of Pain / Trouble / That’s The Way (To Treat A Woman)
THE BUTANES
FEATURING WILLIE WALKER: LONG TIME THING (Haute 1111) 2011
Long Time Thing / It
Ain’t Your Ladder / Let’s Fall In Love / How Long You Think You Got? / You’ve Never
Had A Love Like Mine / Drift To Sleep / Do It Yourself / I Just Don’t Believe /
I Want To Be The One / Dirty Deeds / If You Expect To See Another Day / I’m OK
/ A Little Piece Of Mind / She Lifts Me/ Betrayed / Crawl Inside A Bottle
PAUL METSA &
WILLIE WALKER: LIVE ON HIGHWAY 55 (MaximumFolk.com, MFC1035) 2013
I’d Rather Drink
Muddy Water / Ain’t No Sunshine / My Girl / Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues /
House Of The Rising Sun / Blowin’ In The Wind / Bring It On Home / When A Man
Loves A Woman / Fever / A Change Is Gonna Come / Nobody Knows You When You’re
Down And Out / What A Wonderful World
WEE WILLIE WALKER:
IF NOTHING EVER CHANGES (Little Village Foundation, LVF 1004) 2015
Read Between The
Lines / Help! / Everybody Meets Mr Blue / I’ve Been Watching You / Not That I
Care / Is That It? / I Don’t remember Loving You / Funky Way / What Love Can Do
/ Hands Of Time / If Nothing Ever Changes / Hymn For Lonely Hearts
RAPHAEL WRESSNIG & IGOR PRADO:
THE SOUL CONNECTION (Chicoblues 2104)
2016 (with Willie Walker on lead vocals on):
Trying To Live My Life Without You / Suffering With The Blues / Home At Last / My Love Is / Heartbreak
WEE WILLIE WALKER & THE GREASELAND ALL STARS: LIVE! NOTODDEN BLUES FESTIVAL (Little Village Foundation, CDLVF 1009) 2017
Intro (Memphis Troll Stew) / Between The Lines / Is That It? / You Name It, I've Had It / Ticket To Ride / Little Red Rooster / Funky Way / There Goes My Used To Be / I Ain't Gonna Cheat On You No More / I've Been Watching You / Can I Change My Mind / A Change Is Gonna Come / A Lucky Loser / Help!
WEE WILLIE WALKER & THE ANTHONY PAULE SOUL ORCHESTRA: AFTER A WHILE (Blue Dot Records, BDR CD 109) 2017
Second Chance / After A While / I Don't Want To Take A Chance / Romance In The Dark / Hate Take A Holiday / Thanks For The Dance / If Only / Cannot Be Denied / Look What You've Done To Me / I Don't Want To Know / The Willie Walk / Lovey Dovey (& Terrie Odabi) / Your Good Thing (Is About To End) <(p>
Acknowledgements
to Willie Walker, Quinton Claunch, Curt Obeda, Paul Metsa; Graziano Uliani,
Dave Thomas, Juhani Laikkoja; Colin Dilnot, David Cole, Debbie Dixon, Julia
Schroeder, Will Gilbert, Eric Foss, Danny Sigelman, Mike Elias, John Ridley, Hitoshi Takasawa and
Martin Goggin)