Blues Boy Willie (born William Daniel McFall, November 28, 1946) is an American

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and

soul blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

singer, musician, and songwriter. Influenced jointly by his grounding in

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and

Junior Parker Herman "Junior" Parker (March 27, 1932November 18, 1971) Li ...

's recordings, Blues Boy Willie's songwriting has produced gritty songs, including "Be Who?", "Injustice", and "The Fly". He has released ten albums and a string of singles in a long career, including work which appeared in the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B albums

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. Steve Leggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

stated that Blues Boy Willie "makes things work by the sheer force of his engaging personality."

Life and career

He was born in

Memphis, Texas Memphis is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Texas, Hall County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 2,290. History Memphis, Texas, the county seat of Hall County, is at the jun ...

, United States. His father, James "Tim" McFall was, reportedly, a musician in a

tent show Tent shows have been an important part of American history since the mid-to-late nineteenth century. In 1927, Don Carle Gillette gave "statistical evidence that the tented drama constituted 'a more extensive business than Broadway and all the rest ...

band that once accompanied

Ma Rainey Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of s ...

. His mother was Thelma McFall. Willie first appeared on stage, at the age of five, playing drums in one of his elder brother's band. By the age of eight he had heard and became enchanted with blues music. He graduated from Memphis High School, and then studied music at Clarendon College in

Clarendon, Texas Clarendon is a city in Donley County, Texas, United States. Its population was 2,026 at the 2010 census. The county seat of Donley County, Clarendon is located on U.S. Highway 287 in the Texas Panhandle, east of Amarillo. History Clarendo ...

. He learned to play the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

there, and then toured the college circuit playing the guitar. Blues Boy Willie later relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He spent the next ten years touring and performing along

Coastal California Coastal California, also known as the California Coastline and the Golden Coast, refers to the coastal regions of the U.S. state of California. The term is not primarily geographical as it also describes an area distinguished by cultural, economic ...

as part of a blues trio. Continually trying to make a living from music, by playing his now local Texas patch of the

chitlin' circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

for years, Blues Boy Willie was thrown a lifeline in 1989, when his childhood friend, Gary B.B. Coleman, invited him to join the roster at

Ichiban Records Ichiban Records is an American independent record label, founded in 1985 by John Abbey and Nina Easton in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. History Wrap Records and Nastymix Records were some of its subsidiary labels. Urgent! Records and Mr. Henr ...

. Willie's debut album, ''Strange Things Happening'', was recorded and released the same year. His baritone voice, was augmented by a

backdrop enriched by touches of humor. He introduced the character, 'Leroy', a hapless individual who re-appeared in later songs, and the songs "The Fly" and "Fishing Trip", the latter introducing a series of metaphors for infidelity. The album was produced by Coleman, who also provided guitar work.

Koko Taylor Koko Taylor (born Cora Anna Walton, September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009) was an American singer whose style encompassed Chicago blues, electric blues, rhythm and blues and soul blues. Sometimes called "The Queen of the Blues", she was known for ...

recorded "Fishing Trip" on her 1990 album, ''Jump for Joy''. His sophomore effort, ''Be Who?'' (1990), contained Blues Boy Willie's most played track, "Be Who?", containing comedy laden dialogue between Willie, his then wife 'Miss Lee', and his producer/friend Coleman, with the crux of it being Willie's suggestion that some of his children are not his. The popularity of the track helped propel the album to spend 21 weeks on the US ''

'' R&B albums

, peaking at No. 57. This modest success gave Blues Boy Willie a nationwide profile, and continued the series of novelty numbers, that long earned him exposure in the Southern soul blues arena. His next release came in 1991 with ''Be Who? 2''. The songs, mostly written by Blues Boy Willie and Coleman, included another instalment of the "Be Who?" saga, with Willie still protesting that another is "dipping in my sugar bowl". The album peaked at No. 98 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. It was followed the next year by ''I Got The Blues'', with largely formulaic fare, and a record sleeve that oddly depicted Blues Boy Willie holding a guitar which he did not play throughout the album. Ichiban issued ''Don't Look Down'' in 1993. He wrote five tracks such as "Funny Stuff", and other songs which also had his version of

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

's, "So Close". The album was produced by Jimmy O'Neill. His finale on Ichiban was ''Juke Joint Blues'', again produced by O'Neill, which incorporated another comedic cut, "Marry Myself". Willie opined that he might marry himself as he "can do the same thing a little girl can do... well, almost the same thing." Through his connection with Coleman, Blues Boy Willie had met Johnny Rawls, and they jointly started the 'Blues Review' touring company, which concentrated their efforts in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Veteran musicians including

Rufus Thomas Rufus C. Thomas, Jr. (March 26, 1917 – December 15, 2001) was an American rhythm-and-blues, funk, soul and blues singer, songwriter, dancer, DJ and comic entertainer from Memphis, Tennessee. He recorded for several labels, including Chess Rec ...

Tyrone Davis Tyrone Davis (born Tyrone D. Fettson or Tyrone D. Branch, October 3, 1937 – February 9, 2005) was an American blues and soul singer with a long list of hit records over more than 20 years. Davis had three number 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' R ...

, and

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor was ...

, all performed in the touring ensemble in the late 1990s In 2002, ''American Roots: Blues'', was a 14-song collection of the best cuts from his six Ichiban albums. Highlights included "Leroy" and "Where Is Leroy," two installments in the ongoing saga. ''Back Again'' was Blues Boy Willie's first studio album in seven years, it was released on his record producer Johnny Rawls own label, Deep South Sound. Willie played the harmonica on the final track "Blues Boy". With his years of recording and performing live, Blues Boy Willie had by now built a solid following. In 2008, Blues Boy Willie was featured as part of

Bob Phillips Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips (born June 23, 1951), is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program ''Texas Country Reporter''. In 2005, Phillips was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Lone Star Ch ...

' television anthology series, ''

Texas Country Reporter ''Texas Country Reporter'' is a weekly syndicated television program, hosted and produced by Bob Phillips and Kelli Phillips, which airs in all twenty-two Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and nationally on the satellite/cable channel ...

''. His once prolific recording schedule had slowed down and his next two offerings, ''Can't Deny The Blues'' (2013) and ''Back Porch Blues'' (2020), were both digital-only releases. In January 2019, in his long-time home base of

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, the Texas Blues Rangers organized a fundraiser to assist Blues Boy Willie to effect vital repairs to his house. Around 40 musicians from the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

helped raise funds, with Willie playing the harmonica on stage for the first time in years.

Discography

Albums

≠ - Compilation album
§ - Digital only release

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blues Boy Willie 1946 births Living people American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American double-bassists Blues harmonica players Singers from Texas Songwriters from Texas Electric blues musicians Soul-blues musicians American baritones People from Memphis, Texas 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American male songwriters

Life and career

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

References