<back - LITTLE WILLIE JOHN - Barely 5ft. in stature, Little Willie John's diminutive frame possessed a voice box that was both powerful and extremely moving, and at its edges hinted at a fragile, turbulent, and ultimately brief life. Born William Edgar John in Arkansas in 1937, he would move to Detroit, Michigan at 14 and by his mid-teens would be touring with bandleader Paul 'Hucklebuck' Williams. The kid had a wild streak, but that soaring voice attracted lots of Industry buzz. Johnny Otis was an early booster, and eventually King Records contracted him at the age of 17.

Before attaining 18, he'd already earned 3 R&B top 10's, including 2 glorious ballads, Need Your Love So Bad and Home At Last. To get a real handle on the importance of Little Willie John in R&B annals, realize that James Brown and his Famous Flames opened for John in 1956 and 1957. And the 'Godfather of Soul' (another King artist) didn't merely regard Little Willie John as his role model. He also conferred upon him the ultimate compliment: "Please do not forget the man I was opening for in 1956 and 1957". On March 1, 1956 he cut Fever, and the rest is history. After quickly hitting #1 on the R&B charts and attracting significant crossover airplay, Fever would become one of the most covered tunes of all time. Then 6 months later, Sufferin' With The Blues was released, and it virtually defined the very essence of Soul. The dawn of 1958 marked another watershed, with the release of the ghetto serenade: Talk To Me, Talk To Me. Those dominating yet sensitive vocals were tailor-made for romantic ballads, and You Hurt Me and Let Them Talk are glorious examples. Leave My Kitten Alone and Heartbreak might have caused a quake, but Take My Love and I'm Shakin' caused a continental shift. But, by the end of 1962, there would be the releases that would go nowhere, mainly because inappropriate "middle-of-the-road" material was foisted upon him, but his worrisome alcoholism also cast a pall. After his departure from King Records in 1963, those few remaining years would not be kind ones. Little Willie John would be convicted of manslaughter in 1965 and sentenced to 10-years imprisonment. He never walked out of jail. The official reason being death by a heart attack in 1968. Who really knows? What is known, is that everyone who has ever heard Little Willie John sing has some idea what the angels in heaven must sound like. Little Willie John was posthumously inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996.
-Gary Tate/  MP3- Fever | I'm Shakin' | Sufferin' With The Blues |