Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Willie Smith |
| Born | January 19, 1936 Helena, Arkansas, USA |
| Genre(s) | Delta Blues, Chicago blues |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist Musician Bandleader Composer |
| Years active | 1954s – Present |
| Label(s) | Rounder, Hightone |
| Associated acts | Muddy Waters |
| Website | www.WillieBigEyesSmith.com |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Harmonica, Harp, Drums | |
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (born January 19, 1936 in Helena, Arkansas) is an American blues vocalist, and multi-award winning drummer. Starting in the early 1960s, he joined the Muddy Waters band for almost two decades.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Helena, Arkansas, in 1936, Willie learned to play harmonica at age seventeen just after moving to Chicago, Illinois. Smith's influences included listening to 78s and to KFFA King Biscuit radio shows, some of which were broadcast from Helena's Miller Theater, where he saw guitar player Joe Willie Wilkins, and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II. On a Chicago visit in 1953 his mother took him to hear Muddy Waters at the Zanzibar, where Henry Strong's harp playing inspired him to learn that instrument. In 1956, at the age of eighteen he formed a trio. He led the band on harp, Bobby Lee Burns played guitar, and Clifton James, who was the drummer. As "Little Willie" Smith he played in the Rocket Four, led by blues guitarists Arthur "Big Boy" Spires. In 1955 Willie played harmonica on Bo Diddley's classic recording of the Willie Dixon song "Diddy Wah Diddy" for the Checker label. Drummers were in more demand than harp players, so Willie switched to drums and starting playing with Muddy Waters band. In 1959, Willie recorded with Waters on the 1960 album Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy a tribute to Big Bill Broonzy[1]
In 1961 Willie became a permanent member of Muddy Water's band, which then consisted of George "Mojo" Buford, Luther Tucker, Pat Hare, and Otis Spann. Willie remained with the band for eighteen years, and appears on all of Muddy's Grammy Award winning albums, Hard Again, I'm Ready, They Call Me Muddy Waters, Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live, The London Muddy Waters Session, and The Muddy Waters Woodstock Album,[2] were released between 1971 and 1979. During his eighteen year tenure with Waters, Smith is estimated to have participated in twelve sessions yielding eighty-four tracks.[3]
In June 1980 Willie and other members of Muddy's band, Pinetop Perkins (piano), Louis Myers (harmonica/guitar), Calvin Jones (bass), and Jerry Portnoy (harmonica), and Willie Smith on drums, stuck out on their own to form the Legendary Blues Band, with the vocals shared by all. Later that year, Willie and the Legendary Blues Band appeared backing John Lee Hooker in the movie The Blues Brothers (1980). Willie was the only band member, besides Hooker, to appear onscreen in close-up.[4] With varying personnel over the years, the Legendary Blues Band recorded seven albums, Life of Ease, Red hot 'n' Blue, Woke Up with the Blues (nominated for a W. C. Handy Award), U B Da Judge, Prime Time Blues, and Money Talks, were recorded between 1981 to 1993. By the time Money Talks came out in 1993, Willie became a very credible singer. The Legendary Blues Band toured with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.
His first solo recording started in 1995 with Bag Full of Blues, with Pinetop Perkins, harpist Kim Wilson, guitarists James Wheeler, Nick Moss, and Gareth Best, sticking with the Chicago blues sound. In 1999, Smith recorded with Muddy Waters son Big Bill Morganfield on his album Rising Son. Willie Smith's latest album is Way Back (2006), has 11 songs here, half of which he wrote. Backed by Bob Margolin on guitar, Pinetop Perkins on piano, and guest shots by James Cotton and others.
[edit] Selective awards and recognitions
[edit] The Blues Foundation Awards
| Willie "Big Eyes" Smith: Blues Music Awards[5] | ||||
| Year | Category | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 2006 | Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 2005 | Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 2004 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 2003 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 2002 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 1999 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 1998 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 1997 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
| 1996 | Blues Instrumentalist-Drums | Winner | ||
[edit] Selective discography
[edit] As Bandleader
| Year | Title | Genre | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Way Back | Blues | Hightone | |
| 2004 | Bluesin' It | Blues | Electro-Fi | |
| 2000 | Blues from the Heart | Blues | Juke Joint | |
| 1999 | Nothin' But The Blues Y'all | Blues | Juke Joint | |
| 1995 | Bag Full of Blues | Blues | Blind Pig |
[edit] Legendary Blues Band
| Year | Title | Genre | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Keepin' the Blues Alive | Blues | Rounder | |
| 1983 | Red Hot 'n' Blue | Blues | Rounder |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Strong, Martin Charles. The Great Rock Discography, Canongate U.S. (2004), page 1637 - ISBN 1841956155
- ^ Grammy Award search engine
- ^ Komara, Edward M. Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge (2006) page 902 - ISBN 0415926998
- ^ Hanson, Karen. Today's Chicago Blues, Lake Claremont Press (2007), page 192 - ISBN 1893121194
- ^ The Blues Foundation Database
