TALK TO ME, TALK TO ME



NOW YOU KNOW

[Edited 11/23/08 8:50am]

Willie was a vocal beast! Another legend from the Motor City. Too sad his life ended the way it did. He influenced James Brown and Marvin Gaye.

Timmy84 said:

Yep, JB dedicated a whole album to him, Thinking of Little Willie John ... And A Few Nice Things. They were on the same label and JB used to open for Willie in his early days in the '50s. And you can hear Willie in Marvin.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Exactly... he's one of the unsung heroes of rock aka rhythm and blues.

Timmy84 said:

And he was song young, with a voice like that. He recorded Fever at age 18!!
[Edited 11/23/08 8:55am]

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Exactly!

I love "I'm Shakin'":

JB did a version also.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Aw yeah!

"He was the brother of singer Mable John, who recorded for Motown (early years of the Tamla label) and Stax, and the father of Keith John, long time background singer with Stevie Wonder."

Oh, I didn't know that.

shesoffthewall said:

His family was VERY musical. Like I said another musical hero from Detroit.

It's actually sick that he's not regarded as a rock & roll pioneer:



Rock music wasn't born in the South, lol.
[Edited 11/23/08 9:10am]

I love his You Better Leave My Kitten Alone

Harlepolis said:

I like Bill Baily, Won't You Please Come Home also.

His voice is amazing and his whole family is great. Keith John is such a nice guy, and a great vocalist too. My sister and father met up with him backstage at a stevie concert and he was a goof and a trip and real friendly.

You know it's funny that lots of people talk about Memphis, New Orleans and Georgia being the major "regions" of rock and roll but they forget about:

St. Louis
Los Angeles
New York

...and Detroit, lol.

A lot of the rock and soul pioneers actually CAME from Detroit: Hank Ballard, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, and many of the Motown acts, lol.

James Brown and the Famous Flames weren't always headliners. They used to open for Little Willie John in '56 and '57.

Aw Man! Sometime you guys just shock me with your stuff. Who would imagine that people would remember Little Willie John (unless they're as old as I am!) Loved him back in the day! And Mable used to get her hair done at the same place I did in Chicago so I saw her on occasion. Mabel also was a Raelette with Ray Charles for a while. She was like the leader of the group. Great memories!

I love these threads. Another artist's music to fall in love with.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Little Willie John, I heard, was a showman live.

James Brown said Little Willie John was the only singer who could sing better than him. And coming from James Brown (with his ego), that says a lot.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

So I heard.