Lew Williams
Lew Williams (born January 12, 1934 in Chilicothe , Texas , † September 1, 2019 in Texas) was an American rockabilly singer and musician.
Life
Childhood and youth
Lew Williams was born the third child to parents Ernest and Callie Williams. With the encouragement of his mother, he gave his first local appearances from the age of four, but gave up singing five years later. Williams' family moved to Dallas when he was twelve. There he finished his education at WH Adams High School and began studying at Midwestern University in 1952 . He had already learned to play the guitar two years earlier .
Beginnings
At the time, Williams was influenced by regional rhythm and blues as well as country music . He had found his interest in music again and, as a musician, had already become a member of the WFAA Saturday Night Shindig , a local live radio show. During his studies he often spent time in Jim Beck's recording studio, where he made his first demo recordings. Further demos followed in July of the same year. After he had received a recording contract with Flair Records in 1953, he recorded his first single I've Been Doing Some Slippin 'Too in Beck's studio . The song was not a hit, but gave Williams the opportunity to make more recordings. In July 1954 he recorded more demo tapes.
Career
The recordings were passed on from Beck to the record label owner Lew Chudd, who brought Williams to his Imperial Records label . Chudd was particularly impressed by Williams' song Cat Talk , which he recorded with other titles in 1956.
The single was released in June 1956, in May he had already released a first with Imperial. All of his singles were held in the popular rockabilly style, but this did not help the breakthrough. Still studying, Williams decided to give up his career. After graduating from college, he was drafted into the army in 1958 . After his release, he took up his last release for the time being for Dot Records . As a songwriter, however, like so many other unsuccessful rockabilly musicians, Williams was far more successful. Country stars like Porter Wagoner , Ferlin Husky or Floyd Cramer recorded his titles.
In the 1960s he opened a recording studio with Adrene Bailey. He later got completely out of the music business, ran a delivery service and worked as a publisher . In 1998 his Imperial recordings were released on CD by Bear Family Records . He achieved unprecedented fame in the rockabilly fan communities in England and Japan and appeared at the Las Vegas Rockabilly Festival in 2000, almost forty years after his unsuccessful attempt to make a career . In the same year he released his first album Teenager's Talking On The Phone .
Discography
Singles
| year | title | Record company |
|---|---|---|
| 1954 | I've Been Doin 'Some Slippin' Too / Please Don't Tell A Lie About Me | Flair Records |
| 1956 | I'll Play Your Game / Don't Mention My Name | Imperial Records |
| 1956 | Cat Talk / Gone Ape Man | Imperial Records |
| 1956 | Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop / Something I Said | Imperial Records |
| 1957 | Centipede / Abracadabra | Imperial Records |
| 1958 | The Girl I Saw On Bandstand / I Saw You Crying In The Show (as Vik Wayne ) | Hamilton Records |
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Albums
- 1999: Cat Talk
- 2000: Teenager's Talking On The Phone
Web links
- Official website
- Lew Williams at Allmusic (English)
- Works by and about Lew Williams in the catalog of the German National Library
- Discography with audio samples
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Williams, Lew |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rockabilly singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 12, 1934 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chilicothe , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1st September 2019 |
| Place of death | Texas |