Willy Foster (April 20, 1922 – November 25, 1987), known as Little Willy Foster (or Little Willie Foster), was an American

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

harmonicist, singer, and songwriter.

Biography

Foster was born in

Dublin, Mississippi Dublin, also known as Hopson Bayou, is a census-designated place and unincorporated community located along U.S. Route 49 in southeastern Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. Dublin is located on the Mississippi Delta Railroad. Dublin has ...

, to Major Foster and Rosie Brown. He was raised on a plantation about ten miles south of Clarksdale. His mother died when he was aged five, and he was raised by his father, who was a local musician. Willy worked the fields from an early age and had little formal education. His father taught him to play the family's piano, and Willy later taught himself to master both the guitar and the harmonica. By 1942, he was working in Clarksdale. Around 1943, he relocated to Chicago. He played the blues around the city and teamed up with

Floyd Jones Floyd Jones (July 21, 1917 – December 19, 1989) was an African-American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was one of the first of the new generation of electric blues artists to record in Chicago after World War II, and a number of h ...

, Lazy Bill Lucas, and his cousin Leroy Foster. Having befriended

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter 'Shakey' Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

, Foster learned to play the harmonica in Horton's Chicago blues style. Beginning in the mid-1940s, this led to periodic work for Foster on

Maxwell Street Maxwell Street is an east-west street in Chicago, Illinois that intersects with Halsted Street just south of Roosevelt Road. It runs at 1330 South in the numbering system running from 500 West to 1126 West.Hayner, Don and Tom McNamee (1988). '' ...

and in clubs in the city for over a decade. He also worked during this time in a band with

Homesick James Homesick James (April 30, 1910December 13, 2006 was an American blues musician known for his mastery of the slide guitar. He worked with his cousin, Elmore James, and with Sonny Boy Williamson II. Early years Homesick James was born in Somervil ...

, Moody Jones and Floyd Jones. In January 1955, Foster recorded two sides for

Parrot Records Parrot Records was an American record label, a division of London Records, which started in 1964. The label usually licensed (or leased) recordings made by Decca Records, England, for release in the United States and Canada, most notably by the ...

, his own compositions "Falling Rain Blues" and "Four Day Jump", with accompaniment by Lucas, Jones and

Eddie Taylor Eddie Taylor (January 29, 1923 – December 25, 1985) was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. Biography Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing ...

. Foster reportedly incurred the displeasure of the record label's owner,

Al Benson Arthur Bernard Leaner (June 30, 1908 – September 6, 1978), who was known professionally as Al Benson, was an American radio DJ, music promoter and record label owner in Chicago between the 1940s and 1960s. He was particularly significan ...

, for reporting him to the

American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...

for underpaid dues on the recordings. In March 1957, Foster was back in a recording studio in Chicago, where he recorded two more of his songs, "Crying the Blues" and "Little Girl". Regarding the former,

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 ...

noted that it "reflected both his emotional singing and his wailing, swooping harmonica". From this point onwards, his personal life started to degenerate. Attending a house party, Foster was accidentally shot in the head by a woman playing with a handgun. The shooting caused partial paralysis and severely affected his ability to speak. He made a slow recovery but rarely played in public thereafter. In January 1974, Foster voluntarily surrendered himself to the local police after he shot and killed his roommate. Pleading self-defense and impairment of judgement due to his brain injury, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sent to a state hospital in 1975. Foster died of kidney cancer in the Illinois Insane Asylum in Chicago on November 25, 1987, aged 65. His four released recordings are available on numerous

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s, issued both before and after his death.

Confusion

The variant spelling of his first name is due to the different spellings on his two singles. He is not to be confused with another blues harmonica player, Willie James Foster (September 19, 1921 or 1922 – May 20, 2001).

Singles discography

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Little Willy 1922 births 1987 deaths American blues harmonica players American blues singers 20th-century African-American male singers Songwriters from Mississippi Chicago blues musicians People from Dublin, Mississippi Musicians from Clarksdale, Mississippi Deaths from cancer in Illinois 20th-century American singers Songwriters from Illinois 20th-century American male singers Cobra Records artists African-American songwriters American male songwriters

Biography

Confusion

Singles discography

See also

Notes

References