Reverend Willie Morganfield (July 11, 1927 – October 18, 2003), was an American gospel musician and minister. He started his music career, in 1959, with the release of a single, "What Is This?", which was made into a popular arrangement by the gospel music singer and pastor

Walter Hawkins Walter Lee Hawkins (May 18, 1949 – July 11, 2010) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the ...

in 1980. His albums were primarily released by Jewel Records with a few by Paul Records. The only release that charted, ''Golden Hits'', was released by Jewel in 1984, and this placed on the ''Billboard'' magazine Gospel Albums chart.

Early life

Morganfield was born on July 11, 1927, in

Stovall, Mississippi Stovall, also known as Prarieville, is an unincorporated community in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States, along Mississippi Highway 1, north of Sherard and approximately south of Friars Point. History Stovall is named after the Stovall ...

. He was raised in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, by a father who preached at King Solomon's Church. He was the pastor of Bell Grove Baptist Church of Clarksdale, Mississippi, until his death. He was a cousin of McKinley Morganfield, better known as the blues musician

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

, who also lived on the Stovall plantation.

Music career

His music recording career commenced with the single, "What Is This?", that became a gospel music standard, the likes of Brother Joe May would go on to record another version of the song already popular with gospel music radio stations at the time being the most played track. He released albums primarily with Jewel Records with a few released by Paula Records. The album, "Golden Hits" in 1984 with Jewel Records, was the only release to chart on a ''Billboard'' magazine list of the Gospel Albums, where it placed at No. 34.

Personal life

Reverend Willie Morganfield was married to Jane Anna Morganfield. Together, they were parents to Cassandra, Reginald, Delories, and Theresa Morganfield. Their grandchildren include Cynthia Williams, Tiffany Williams, Tanesha Williams, Regina Chambers and Cory Williams. Their great-grandchildren include Rayshun Williams and Jayden Williams. Reverend Morganfield died in

, on October 18, 2003, of a sudden cardiac arrest.

Discography

References

1927 births 2003 deaths African-American male singer-songwriters African-American Christians Singer-songwriters from Mississippi 20th-century African-American male singers {{US-singer-songwriter-stub