Chick Willis -2 albums: Let The Blues Speak For Itself / I Got A Big Fat Woman

Album: Let The Blues Speak For Itself
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 47:55
Size: 109.7 MB
Styles: Soul-blues, Modern electric blues
Year: 2011
Art: Front

[0:51] 1. Intro (Let Me Play)
[3:37] 2. Short-Haired Woman
[4:02] 3. Picture On The Wall
[4:13] 4. Just A Bad Dream (Feat. Travis Haddix)
[3:22] 5. On Your Way Fishing
[3:26] 6. Crush On My Next Door Neighbor (Feat. Travis Haddix)
[4:46] 7. My Fannie Mae
[4:32] 8. Don't Know What You Got
[2:38] 9. We're Gonna Boogie (Feat. Travis Haddix)
[4:13] 10. Worried About You
[4:29] 11. Money Is The Name Of The Game
[3:20] 12. Since I Fell For You
[4:19] 13. Let Me Play My Blues

Chick Willis' signature song, "Stoop Down Baby," which he cut originally in 1972 for a tiny Kalamazoo, Michigan independent label called La Val Records, was based around the dozens game, and Willis' carnival barker's ability to be risqué and ribald right up to the very point where public prosecution was possible, but not beyond, makes him sort of the Redd Foxx of Chicago blues, a master of the soft porn blues lyric. He's been doing this for a long time -- he cut his first track, "You're Mine," in 1956 for Lee Rupe's Ebb Records -- but since his most popular songs are so blue that they have no chance for radio airplay, he's remained an underground artist, even though he is a good draw on the club circuit and has plenty of fans. This release, in some ways, seems to address that disparity, and there are tracks here, like the closing "Let Me Play My Blues" (which could almost be called a gospel sermon filtered through electric Chicago blues), that feature Willis free of his trademark ribald gestures, and they reveal an artist who isn't trying to reinvent much but is very good at what he does, which is play straight-ahead electric Chicago blues, this time out with harp player Louisiana Dan and guitarist Travis Haddix sitting in with his regular touring band. There are songs that do fit Willis' good-humored but risqué style here, too, like "Picture on the Wall," but as an album, Let the Blues Speak for Itself is easily the most balanced one Willis has ever done. When he's not following his normal leering template, though, his lyrics fall to the generic side of the blues spectrum, but this is the blues, after all, which never met a rhymed line it couldn't fit into a thousand songs, so it's hardly a glaring problem, and most of this album is Willis at his most radio-friendly. The playing is sharp, tight, and has a live-in-the-studio feel. Willis doesn't reinvent classic Chicago blues here, but he shows that he definitely knows how to deliver it. ~Steve Leggett

Let The Blues Speak For Itself mc
Let The Blues Speak For Itself zippy

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Album: I Got A Big Fat Woman
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 46:13
Size: 105.8 MB
Styles: Soul-blues, Modern electric blues
Year: 1994
Art: Front

[5:36] 1. I Got A Big Fat Woman
[4:33] 2. I Cain't Work And Watch You
[6:02] 3. Coming Prison Farm
[4:52] 4. Today I Started Loving You Again
[3:29] 5. She Likes To Live High On The Hog
[6:40] 6. (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
[2:45] 7. You Lost What You Had
[1:06] 8. Rock Me Baby
[3:04] 9. Look On Yonders Wall
[8:01] 10. Tin Pan Alley

Born Robert Willis on September 24, 1934 in Cabiness, Georgia, "Chick" is the cousin of late blues legend Chuck Willis. He began his musical career in the 50's touring with his cousin Chuck Willis , a rollicking R&B showman who became known as the “King of the Stroll”. Chick left the military in 1954 and worked as valet and chauffeur for Chuck, also playing in Chuck's band. When Chuck died of stomach problems in 1958, Chick worked with slide guitar great Elmore James. On his own Chick released a few obscure singles before hitting it big in 1972 with the infamous "Stoop Down Baby," which allegedly went on to sell 3 million copies! Since then, like Marvin Sease, he made a career out of similar risque material despite having genuine blues talent. Fortunately, he has proved himself as a blues singer and guitarist as much as an author of "blue" material.To date Chick has over a dozen recordings and has appeared in the movies “Petie Wheatstraw” and the Buddy Holly story. In addition to being a first rate guitarist
and vocalist, Chick plays drums, keyboard, harmonica, and bass.

I Got A Big Fat Woman mc
I Got A Big Fat Woman zippy

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