Jody Williams (blues musician)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Joseph Leon Williams , known as Jody Williams (also: Little Papa Joe, Little Joe Lee ; born February 3, 1935 in Mobile , Alabama ; † December 1, 2018 ) was an American blues guitarist and singer. His unique playing style, which was characterized by dazzling string-bending , imaginative voicings and a special timbre , had a great influence on the Chicago blues scene in the 1950s .

In 2013 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame .

Career

In the mid-1950s, Williams was one of the most sought-after studio musicians in Chicago , albeit almost unknown outside of the music industry as his name rarely appeared on records. His 2000 comeback resulted in a renewed interest in his early work and a re-evaluation as one of the great blues guitarists.

Flowering period in Chicago

Williams was born in Mobile, Alabama and moved to Chicago when he was five. His first instrument was a harmonica , which he traded for a guitar after hearing Bo Diddley play on a talent show he was also on. Diddley, who was seven years older, showed Williams the first steps on the guitar. In 1951, Williams and Diddley played together as street musicians, where Williams took over the accompaniment for Diddley's songs, while Roosevelt Jackson played the tub bass . Williams made his first experiences with other well-known blues musicians, such as Memphis Minnie , Elmore James and Otis Spann . After touring the west coast with pianist Charles Brown , Williams established himself as a studio musician with Chess Records .

There he met Howlin 'Wolf , who had recently come to Chicago from Memphis, Tennessee . Wolf engaged him as the first guitarist in his new band in Chicago. A year later Hubert Sumlin joined Wolf's band as another guitarist and both can be heard on Howlin 'Wolf's 1954 singles Evil Is Going On and Forty Four , as well as on the 1955 records Who Will Be Next and Come to Me Baby . Williams also played the accompaniment in Otis Spann's It Must Have Been the Devil (1954), on which the lead guitar was played by BB King , one of Williams' great idols.

Williams 'solo career began in December 1955 with the upbeat, saxophone -influenced Lookin' for My Baby , released under the name Little Papa Joe by Blue Lake Records . The record company went bankrupt a few months later, which is why his slide guitar performance Groaning My Blues Away remained unreleased. At the time, Williams was in great demand as a studio guitarist, and his virtuosity is best illustrated by his blazing lead guitar work on Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love? , a hit from Checker Records in 1956. Rock musician Marshall Crenshaw called Williams' guitar solo on Who Do You Love one of the greatest guitar solos ever recorded. Other significant recordings have included guitar accompaniment on Billy Boy Arnold's I Ain't Got You and I Wish You Would , Jimmy Rogers ' One Kiss , Jimmy Witherspoon's Ain't Nobody's Business and Otis Rush's Three Times a Fool .

In 1957 Williams released You May on Argo Records , with the innovative B-side instrumental Lucky Lou and the extraordinary opening riff , which Otis Rush copied on All Your Love (I Miss Loving) in 1958 on Cobra Records . Rush's solo on Buddy Guy's debut album Sit and Cry (The Blues) in 1958 also shows the influence of Williams, as it is an almost identical copy of Williams' You May .

disillusionment

The frequency with which his innovative riffs and melodies were copied led Williams to growing disappointment with the music business. When the particular riff that Williams copied for Billy Stewart's Billy's Blues (1956, Argo) by Mickey Baker for the hit Love Is Strange ( Mickey & Sylvia ), Chess Records took legal action. When the case closed in 1961, Williams received neither a mention nor compensation. “That's enough for me,” he later told John Sinkevics in Grand Rapids Press . By the early 1960s, Williams made a living from his Big 3 Trio (not Willie Dixon 's group of the same name ), but by the end of the decade he had retired from the business entirely. He studied electronics and became a technical engineer at Xerox , where he would work for the next 25 years.

comeback

Only after his retirement did he consider picking up the guitar again. "One day my wife said that if I played again I might feel better overall," he told the Chicago Sun-Times . In March 2000, he attended a performance by his friend Robert Lockwood, Jr. and developed feelings of nostalgia. At home he started playing the guitar again. In June 2000 he made his first public appearance as a "club gig" at the Chicago Blues Festival 2000. He was supported by Dick Shurman , who recorded his 2002 comeback album, Return of a Legend . The Vintage Guitar magazine said: "He plays with a verve and a force that sounds as good today as it did on the old recordings."

Williams performed until 2014, often at major blues festivals, and often in clubs in Chicago with blues guitarist Billy Flynn . Since then, his poor health prevented further musical activities.

technology

Williams is known for his imaginative choice of chords , characterized by "raised fives" , option tones and "minor sevenths" with "flattened fives" . He often plays with the unusual " open E tuning " that he learned from Bo Diddley.

Discography

Singles

  • 1956 - Looking For My Baby / Easy Lovin ' (Blue Lake 116) (Little Papa Joe)
  • 1957 - You May / Lucky Lou ( Argo 5274) (Little Joe Lee)
  • 1963 Lonely Without You / Moanin 'For Molasses (Nike 1013)
  • 1963 - Lonely Without You / Time For A Change (Jive J-1004)
  • 1963 - Hideout / Moanin 'For Molasses ( Smash 1801)
  • 1966 - Lonely Without You / Time For A Change (Yulando R-133-8665)

Albums

  • 2002 - Return Of A Legend (Evidence ECD 26120)
  • 2004 - You Left Me In The Dark (Evidence ECD 26130)

Appearances

  • 1954 - Howlin 'Wolf , Evil Is Going On / Baby How Long ( Chess 1575)
  • 1954 - Howlin 'Wolf, Forty Four / I'll Be Around (Chess 1584)
  • 1954 - Otis Spann , It Must Have Been The Devil / Five Spot ( Checker 807)
  • 1955 - Howlin 'Wolf, Who Will Be Next / I Have A Little Girl (Chess 1593)
  • 1955 - Howlin 'Wolf, Come To Me Baby / Don't Mess With Me Baby (Chess 1607)
  • 1955 - Sonny Boy Williamson II , Don't Start Me Talkin ' / All My Love In Vain (Checker 824)
  • 1955 - Billy Boy Arnold , I Was Fooled / I Wish You Would ( Vee-Jay VJ 146)
  • 1955 - Earl Phillips, Oop De Oop / Nothing But Love (Vee-Jay VJ 158)
  • 1955 - Bo Diddley , Diddy Wah Diddy / I'm Looking For A Woman (Checker 832)
  • 1956 - Billy Boy Arnold, Don't Stay Out All Night / I Ain't Got You (Vee-Jay VJ171)
  • 1956 - Lu Mac, Albert Is His Name / I'll Never Let Him Know (Blue Lake 117)
  • 1956 - Bo Diddley, Who Do You Love? / I'm Bad (Checker 842)
  • 1956 - Floyd Dixon , Alarm Clock Blue s / I'm Ashamed Of Myself (Checker 857)
  • 1956 - Bobby Charles , Why Did You Leave / Don't You Know I Love You (Chess 1617)
  • 1956 - Billy Stewart , Billy's Blues (Part 1) / Billy's Blues (Part 2) (Chess 1625 and Argo 5256)
  • 1956 - Billy Boy Arnold, Here's My Picture / You Got Me Wrong (Vee-Jay VJ 192)
  • 1957 - Jimmy Rogers , One Kiss / I Can't Believe (Chess 1659)
  • 1957 - Otis Rush , Groaning The Blues / If You Were Mine ( Cobra 5010)
  • 1957 - Harold Burrage, Messed Up / I Don't Care Who Knows (Cobra 5012)
  • 1958 - Howlin 'Wolf, I Didn't Know / Moanin' For My Baby (Chess 1695)
  • 1958 - Otis Rush, Three Times A Fool / She's A Good 'Un (Cobra 5023)
  • 1959 - Bobby Davis , I Was Wrong / Hype You Into Sellin '(Your Head) (Bandera 2505)
  • 1959 - Bo Diddley, Dancing Girl (on Have Guitar Will Travel : Checker LP 2974)
  • 1960 - Bobby Davis and the Big “3” Trio, One Love Have I / She's A Problem (Bandera 2508)
  • 1964 - Billy Boy Arnold, I Wish You Would / Prisoner's Plea (Vivid 109)
  • 2007 - The Mannish Boys , Groan My Blues Away / Young & Tender (on Big Plans : Delta Groove DGPCD 116)

Later publications

  • 1976 - JT Brown , Lonely (As a Man Can Be) / Going Home to My Baby / It's a Shame to Tell the People / When I Was a Lad / Use That Spot (on Windy City Boogie , Pearl PL-9; recorded 1956 )
  • 1979 - Harold Burrage, I Love My Baby (on Rockin 'Wild : P-Vine PLP-9021; recorded 1957)
  • 1982 - Willie Dixon , Firey Love (on Blues Roots Series Vol. 12 : Chess LP 6.24802AG; recorded 1957)
  • 1989 - Jody Williams, Moaning Blues (Groan My Blues Away) / What a Fool I've Been (I Feel So All Alone) (on Cool Playing Blues : Relic LP 8025 / CD 7016; recorded 1955)
  • 1990 - Jimmy Witherspoon , Congratulations / Ain't Nobody's Business (on Spoon So Easy , Chess CH-93003; recorded 1956)
  • 1991 - Jody Williams, What Kind of Gal Is That? (on The Blues Vol. 6 , Chess / MCA CH / CHD 9330; recorded 1957)
  • 1995 - Willie Dixon , All the Time (on The Original Wang Dang Doodle , Chess / MCA CHD-9353; recorded 1957)
  • 1996 - Bobby Charles , Watch It, Sprocket / Hey Good Lookin ' (on Chess Masters , MCA Victor MVCM-22078; recorded 1956)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 2013 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees Announced. Blues.org 2013-03-06.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Bill Dahl: CD liner notes. Return of a Legend . 2002.
  3. ↑ Bo Diddley - The Originator. Members.tripod.com 2011.
  4. ↑ thereducers.com 2008.
  5. ↑ Scott Dirks: Backstage Pass. Deltagrooveproductions.com 2012-12-10.
  6. ↑ "I was ripped off."
  7. ↑ John Sinkevics: Grand Rapids Press 2004: D1.
  8. ↑ "One day my wife said if I started playing again I might feel better about life in general."
  9. ↑ Dave Hoekstra: Chicago Sun-Times . May 31, 2002: 22.
  10. ^ "He plays with a verve and vigor that sound as good today as it did on the classic records." 2000.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Williams, Jody
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Joseph Leon; Little Papa Joe; Little Joe Lee
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Mobile , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH 1st December 2018