Blues Boy Willie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Blues Boy Willie | |
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| Born | William Daniel McFalls November 28, 1946 Memphis in Hall County, Texas Panhandle, USA |
| Occupation | Singer; musician |
William Daniel McFalls, better known as Blues Boy Willie (born November 28, 1946), is an African-American blues singer and harmonica player from the small cotton-growing town of Memphis, the seat of Hall County in the southern Texas Panhandle located east of Amarillo. McFalls is attempting to revive the historical popularity which blues music enjoyed in his native Memphis during the earlier decades of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.[1] Ironically, blues music came of age in the much better known "Memphis", Memphis, Tennessee, once a major cotton-growing region.
McFalls is known for his unique urban sound and his keen sense of humor as he attempts to make blues, sometimes defined as the "secular folk music of American blacks"[2] pertinent to modern society. Reared in a musical family, his father was in Ma Rainey's touring minstrel show. Among McFalls' recordings are "Leroy" and "Where Is Leroy?".[3]
McFalls graduated from Memphis High School and then studied music at nearby two-year Clarendon College, then Clarendon Junior College in Clarendon, the seat of Donley County, where he learned to play the upright bass and toured the college circuit as a guitarist. Later he moved to Los Angeles, where he spent a decade promoting his music and touring the California coast with a blues trio. [4]
In 1988, McFalls joined Ichiban Records at the invitation of a boyhood friend, blues producer Gary B.B. Coleman. In 1990, his album "Be-Who?" remained on the Billboard charts for twenty-one weeks. His albums have been recorded with a small studio band. In novelty numbers, McFalls engages in bantering, including one comical exchange about the legitimacy of his children with his then wife, "Miss Lee".[5]
Through B.B. Coleman, McFalls met Johnny Rawls, and the pair started the "Blues Review" touring company which performed in the American South. Rufus Thomas, Tyrone Davis, and Johnnie Taylor joined the group. Rawls then asked McFalls to be an artist on his new label, Deep South Sound.[6]
Steve Leggett of All Music Guide says that McFalls "makes things work by the sheer force of his engaging personality."[7]
Early in 2008, McFalls was featured on a segment of Bob Phillips' syndicated television anthology series Texas Country Reporter.[8]
McFalls' musical listings:
1. Break Down and Cry
2. Keep on Moving
3. Got Some Loving
4. Always Love You
5. Down in Texas
6. Tight Jeans
7. Get Loose
8. Love
9. Greyhound Blues
10. Blues Boy (Instrumental) [9]
See other listings at [10].
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.texascountryreporter.com/show.htm; episode from week of January 26, 2008
- ^ blues - Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ^ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide:http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&EAN=807240101227
- ^ New Page 1
- ^ Jim O'Neal, All Music Guide: http://www.answers.com/topic/blues-boy-willie?cat=entertainment
- ^ New Page 1
- ^ Barnes & Noble.com - Music: American Roots: Blues, Blues Boy Willie, CD
- ^ TCR 2008 Episode Guide
- ^ Amazon.com: Back Again: Blues Boy Willie: Music
- ^ Amazon.com: blues boy willie: Music
