Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band

Mink DeVille Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, afte ...

(1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...

, Dr. John,

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

, Allen Toussaint, and

Eddie Bo Edwin Joseph Bocage (September 20, 1930 – March 18, 2009), known as Eddie Bo, was an American singer and pianist from New Orleans. Schooled in jazz, he was known for his blues, soul and funk recordings, compositions, productions and arrang ...

. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop,

Cajun music Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem ...

, strains of French

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

, and echoes of early-1960s uptown

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

can be heard in DeVille's work. Mink DeVille was a house band at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kr ...

, the historic New York City nightclub where punk rock was born in the mid-1970s. DeVille helped redefine the

Brill Building sound Brill Building (also known as Brill Building pop or the Brill Building sound) is a subgenre of pop music that took its name from the Brill Building in New York City, where numerous teams of professional songwriters penned material for girl groups ...

. In 1987 his song "Storybook Love" was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. After his move to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

in 1988, he helped spark the

roots revival A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware ly ...

of classic

New Orleans R&B New Orleans rhythm and blues is a style of rhythm and blues that originated in New Orleans. It was a direct precursor to rock and roll and strongly influenced ska. Instrumentation typically includes drums, bass, piano, horns, electric guitar, and ...

. His soulful lyrics and explorations in Latin rhythms and sounds helped define a new musical style sometimes called "Spanish-Americana". DeVille died of pancreatic cancer on August 6, 2009, at the age of 58. Although his commercial success waxed and waned over the years, his legacy as a songwriter has influenced many other musicians, such as Mark Knopfler and Peter Wolf.

Early life

Willy DeVille was born in Stamford, Connecticut to William Paul Borsey (1919-2000), a carpenter, and Marion Elizabeth Meritt (1921-2004).Editors (September 9, 2009
"Music Obituaries: Willy DeVille."
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''. (Retrieved September 9, 2009) He grew up in the working-class Belltown district of Stamford. His maternal grandmother was a

Pequot The Pequot () are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or t ...

, and he was also of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

and Irish descent. As he put it, "A little of this and a little of that; a real street dog." DeVille said about Stamford, "It was post-industrial. Everybody worked in factories, you know. Not me. I wouldn't have that. People from Stamford don't get too far. That's a place where you die." DeVille said about his youthful musical tastes, "I still remember listening to groups like

the Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in ...

. It was like magic, there was drama, and it would hypnotise me." DeVille quit high school and began frequenting New York City's Lower East Side and

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to th ...

. "It seemed like I just hung out and hung out. I always wanted to play music but nobody really had it together then. They had psychedelic bands but that wasn't my thing." In this period, DeVille's interests ran to blues guitarists

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 ...

, John Lee Hooker, and especially John Hammond.Marcus, Richard (2006
"Interview: Willy DeVille."Leap in the Dark (blogsite)
(Retrieved 1–29–08) "I think I owe a lot about my look, my image on stage, and my vocal riffs to John Hammond. A lot of my musical stance is from John," Deville said. He credited Hammond's 1965 album ''So Many Roads'' with "changing my life."

Career

As a teenager, DeVille played with friends from Stamford in a blues band called Billy & the Kids, and later in another band called The Immaculate Conception. At age 17, he married Susan Berle, also known as Toots. DeVille struck out in 1971 for London in search of like-minded musicians ("obvious American with my pompadour hair"), but was unsuccessful finding them; he returned to New York City after a two-year absence. His next band, The Royal Pythons ("a gang that turned into a musical group"), was not a success either. Said DeVille: "I decided to go to San Francisco; there was nothing really happening in New York.

Flower power Flower power was a slogan used during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and nonviolence. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsbe ...

was dead. All the

day-glo The Day-Glo Color Corp. (also styled as DayGlo) is a privately held American paint and pigments manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Joseph and Robert Switzer and is currently owned by RPM International. It ...

paint was peeling off the walls. People were shooting

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

. I mean, it was real ''

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven pe ...

''. So I bought a truck and headed out west. I traveled all around the country for a couple of years, looking for musicians who had heart, instead of playing 20-minute guitar solos, which is pure ego."

The Mink DeVille years

By 1974 Willy DeVille (under the name Billy Borsay) was singing in a band with drummer Thomas R. "Manfred" Allen, Jr., bassist Rubén Sigüenza, guitarist Robert McKenzie (a.k.a. Fast Floyd), and Ritch Colbert on keyboards. The band called themselves Billy de Sade and the Marquis, but changed the name to Mink DeVille the year after; at the same time lead singer Borsay adapted the name Willy DeVille. The same year, DeVille persuaded the band members to try their luck in New York City after spotting an ad in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' inviting bands to audition. Guitarist Fast Floyd and keyboard player Ritch Colbert stayed behind in San Francisco, and after arriving in New York, the band hired guitarist Louis X. Erlanger, whose blues sensibilities helped shape the Mink DeVille's sound.Marcus, Richard (2006
"Interview: Willy DeVille."Leap in the Dark (a blog).
(Retrieved 1–29–08) During three years, from 1975 to 1977, Mink DeVille was one of the original house bands at

, the New York nightclub where punk rock music was born in the mid-1970s. Their sound from this period is witnessed by ''Live at CBGB's'', a 1976 compilation album of bands that played CBGB and for which the band contributed three songs.

In December 1976, Ben Edmonds, an A&R man for Capitol Records signed the band to a contract with Capitol Records after spotting them at CBGB. Edmonds paired Mink DeVille with producer

who had apprenticed under

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

and helped shape the

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session ...

production technique. Assisted by saxophonist Steve Douglas and a cappella singers the Immortals they recorded the band's debut album '' Cabretta'' (simply called ''Mink DeVille'' in the U.S.) in January 1976. ''Cabretta'', a multifaceted album of

, R&B, rock, and blues recordings, was selected number 57 in the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

''s 1977

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...

critics poll. Its

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

" Spanish Stroll" reached number 20 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, the only Willy DeVille recording to ever hit the charts in the United Kingdom. The band's follow-up album, '' Return to Magenta'' (1978), continued in the same vein as ''Cabretta'', except that Willy DeVille and producers Nitzsche and Steve Douglas employed string arrangements on several songs. On this album Dr. John played keyboards and, once again, Douglas played saxophone. To promote the album, Mink DeVille toured the United States in 1978 with Elvis Costello and

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,''Billboard'' 200, making it Willy DeVille's highest charting album ever in his home country. In 1979, Willy DeVille took his band in a new direction and recorded an album in Paris called ''

Le Chat Bleu ''Le Chat Bleu'' is the third album by the rock band Mink DeVille, released in 1980. The album received critical acclaim and elevated lead singer and composer Willy DeVille to star status. The ''Rolling Stone'' critics' poll ranked ''Le Chat Bleu ...

''. For the album, DeVille wrote several songs with

who had previously seen the band play in New York City. DeVille hired Jean Claude Petit to supervise string arrangements, and he dismissed the members of the band except for guitarist Louis X. Erlanger in favor of new musicians: Accordionist Kenny Margolis,

Jerry Scheff Jerry Obern Scheff (born January 31, 1941) is an American bassist, best known for his work with Elvis Presley from 1969 to 1977 as a member of his TCB Band and on the Doors' '' L.A. Woman''. Biography Scheff grew up in Vallejo, California. After ...

(bass), Ron Tutt (drums) and, once again, Steve Douglas (saxophone), who also served as producer. Capitol Records was not happy with ''Le Chat Bleu'', believing that American audiences were incapable of listening to songs with accordions and lavish string arrangements; consequently they initially released the album only in Europe, in 1980. However, the album sold impressively in America as an import and Capitol finally released it in the United States later the same year. Ironically, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' yearly critic's poll ranked ''Le Chat Bleu'' the fifth best album of 1980, and music historian Glenn A. Baker declared it the tenth best rock album of all time. By this time no members of the original Mink DeVille save Willy DeVille remained in the band, but DeVille continued recording and touring under the name Mink DeVille. He then recorded two albums for Atlantic Records, 1981's ''

Coup de Grâce A coup de grâce (; 'blow of mercy') is a death blow to end the suffering of a severely wounded person or animal. It may be a mercy killing of mortally wounded civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the sufferer's consent. ...

''—on which Jack Nitzsche returned as producer—and 1983's '' Where Angels Fear to Tread''. Both sold well in Europe but fared less well in the United States. ''Coup de Grâce'' was DeVille's last album ever to enter the Billboard 200, peaking at number 161. Mink DeVille's last album, '' Sportin' Life,'' was recorded for

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

in 1985. For this album, DeVille penned two more songs with Doc Pomus. The album was recorded at the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

with

the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or as ...

, and DeVille and Duncan Cameron producing. The album was a hit in some European countries, entering the top 20 in Switzerland and Sweden. In 1986, DeVille filed for bankruptcy as part of what '' Billboard'' called "a major restructuring of his career". He fired his personal manager, Michael Barnett, and announced that he would "put Mink DeVille to bed" and start a solo career. Consequently, Mink DeVille played its last concert on February 20, 1986 in New York City.

"Storybook Love" collaboration with Mark Knopfler

Although Willy DeVille had been recording and touring for ten years under the name

, no members of his original band had recorded or toured with him since 1980's ''

''. Beginning in 1987 with the album ''

Miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

'', DeVille began recording and touring under his own name. He told an interviewer, "Ten years with the band was enough for Mink DeVille; everyone was calling me 'Mink.' I thought it was about time to get the name straight." DeVille recorded ''Miracle'' in London with

serving as his sideman and producer. He said, "It was Mark (Knopfler's) wife Lourdes who came up with the idea (to record ''Miracle''). She said to him that you don't sing like Willy and he doesn't play guitar like you, but you really like his stuff so why don't you do an album together?" "Storybook Love", a song from ''Miracle'' and the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

of the movie '' The Princess Bride'', was nominated for an

in 1987; DeVille performed the song at that year's Academy Awards telecast.

Knopfler heard ("Storybook Love") and asked if I knew about this movie he was doing. It was a
Rob Reiner Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performan ...
film about a princess and a prince. The song was about the same subject matter as the film, so we submitted it to Reiner and he loved it. About six or seven months later, I was half asleep when the phone rang. It was the Academy of Arts and Sciences with the whole spiel. I hung up on them! They called back and Lisa (his wife) answered the phone. She came in to tell me that I was nominated for "Storybook Love." It's pretty wild. It's not the
Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
— it's the Academy Awards, which is different for a musician. Before I knew it, I was performing on the awards show with Little Richard. It was the year of ''
Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...
'', and they won.Rene, Sheila (1996
"Interview with Willy DeVille"
Willy DeVille Fan Page (Retrieved 01-30-2008)

In New Orleans

In 1988, DeVille relocated from New York City to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, where he found a spiritual home. "I was stunned", he said in a 1993 interview. "I had the feeling that I was going back home. It was very strange ... I live in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...

, two streets away from

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (french: Rue Bourbon, es, Calle de Borbón) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars an ...

; at night, when I go to bed, I hear the

boogie Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm,Burrows, Terry (1995). ''Play Country Guitar'', p.42. Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. . "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie mus ...

that comes from the streets, and in the morning, when I wake up, I hear the blues." In 1990, DeVille made ''

Victory Mixture ''Victory Mixture'' is a 1990 album by Willy DeVille. The album consists of cover versions of New Orleans R&B and soul classics by DeVille’s musical idols. Trouser Press said about the album, “A rootsy covers collection, ''Victory Mixture'' ...

'', a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

of classic New Orleans

and R&B which he recorded with some of the songs' original composers. The album was recorded without the use of overdubbing or sound editing with the goal of capturing the spirit of the original recordings.

I got all the original guys to come back in, like
Earl King Earl Silas Johnson IV (February 7, 1934 – April 17, 2003),
known as Earl King, was an American singer, guit ...
, Dr. John and
Eddie Bo Edwin Joseph Bocage (September 20, 1930 – March 18, 2009), known as Eddie Bo, was an American singer and pianist from New Orleans. Schooled in jazz, he was known for his blues, soul and funk recordings, compositions, productions and arrang ...
. Allen Toussaint played side piano. I brought in the rhythm section of The Meters on a couple of cuts. We call it the "little" record. It's funny, because I was just trying to get them money, the writers of the songs, 'cause they all got ripped off in the 1950s and 1960s. They were all fascinated, and Dr. John (who had played on DeVille's 1978 album '' Return to Magenta'' and who DeVille knew from his association with
Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall ...
) convinced them that they wouldn't get ripped off by this northern white boy. That's when I crossed over to being a local here in New Orleans. We were all pleased with it. It's recorded the way it was originally done back then. It's live with no overdubs anywhere, no digital, no editing. We played the song several times and just picked the best take, the one that was the most natural. It's on Fnac/Orleans Records. I'm really proud of that one.

''Victory Mixture'' was recorded for a small independent label, Orleans Records, which licensed it to Sky Ranch (Fnac Music) in France. "It sold over 100,000 units in Europe very quickly—our first

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

," said Carlo Ditta, founder of Orleans Records and the producer of ''Victory Mixture''. In the summer of 1992, DeVille toured Europe with Dr John, Johnny Adams, Zachary Richard, and

The Wild Magnolias The Wild Magnolias are a Mardi Gras Indian tribe who also record and play as a funk musical act from New Orleans, Louisiana. History Origins A group calling itself the Wild Magnolias, participating in the local " Indian masking" traditions an ...

as part of his "New Orleans Revue" tour. "The travel, buses, and planes and the accommodations had to be some of the worst I've ever experienced ... but the shows themselves were great. At the end of each show we'd throw Mardi Gras throws out to the audience, you know strands of purple and gold beads, and they'd never seen anything like it and they loved it."

Recording in Los Angeles

In 1992, DeVille recorded ''

Backstreets of Desire ''Backstreets of Desire'' is an album by Willy DeVille. It was recorded in various Los Angeles recording studios in 1992. To make the album, DeVille was joined by many prominent musicians, including Dr. John, David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Zachary ...

'', the first of four albums he would record in Los Angeles with producer John Philip Shenale. "I say it every time I record in L.A. — that I'll never do it again, and I keep doing it ... It's crazy. I just record and go to the hotel, and never go out, then back to the studio. I hate L.A. It's the worst. I think they eat their children there. I never saw any kids. It's a pity there aren't more studios in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

." Although DeVille complained about having to record in Los Angeles, recording in that city put him in touch with many talented Latino musicians who helped shape his distinctive Spanish-Americana sound. For ''Backstreets of Desire'', he was joined by

David Hidalgo David Kent Hidalgo (born October 6, 1954, in Los Angeles.) is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo frequently plays musical instruments such as accordion, violin, 6-string banjo, cello, requ ...

of Los Lobos, Efrain Toro,

Mariachi los Camperos Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano is a Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles-based mariachi ensemble which was formerly led by Natividad "Nati" Cano. History In 1950, Nati Cano joined a mariachi band in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, as an ar ...

, and

Jimmy Zavala Jimmy 'Z' Zavala (born July 12, 1955) is an American musician. He is notable for playing harmonica on the Eurythmics song " Missionary Man" and performing with the band live. He also played live as part of Rod Stewart's band and appears on "Weir ...

, as well as New Orleans musicians Dr. John and Zachary Richard and L.A. session musicians

Jeff Baxter Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense cons ...

, Freebo, Jim Gilstrap, and Brian Ray.

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 databa ...

said about the album:

Willy DeVille's ''Backstreets of Desire'' stands tall as his masterpiece as both a singer and a songwriter. DeVille's considerable reputation in Paris buoyed him up to make this disc ... With guest spots by Dr. John, Zachary Richard, and David Hidalgo, DeVille creates a tapestry of
roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...
and Crescent City second line, traces of 1950s doo-wop, and elegant sweeping vistas of Spanish soul balladry, combined with lyrics full of busted-down heroes, hungry lovers, and wise men trying to get off the street. The sound of the album balances Creole soul and pure rock pyrotechnics. DeVille sounds like a man resurrected, digging as deep as the cavernous recesses of the human heart.

''Backstreets of Desire'' included a novel mariachi version of the Jimi Hendrix standard "

Hey Joe "Hey Joe" is an American song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and has been performed in many musical styles by hundreds of different artists. The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooti ...

" that was a hit in Europe, rising to number one in Spain and France. DeVille said about "Hey Joe": "The song originally comes from the Texas-Mexico border area ... ey call it Texico. I tried, instead of doing something that sounded like Jimi Hendrix that would have been a cliché, I tried to take the song back to the way that it must originally have sounded, which would be with mariachis. It's classic, but it's classic with a little twist. A little different. I put a bit of

pachuco Pachucos are male members of a counterculture associated with zoot suit fashion, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as '' caló'', and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society that emerged in El Paso, ...

Canal Street slang talking. I added a couple of verses of my own." ''Backstreets of Desire'' was released in the United States in 1994 on Rhino Record's Forward label.

Continued success in Europe

In 1984, DeVille married his second wife, Lisa Leggett,Trynka, Paul (2007) ''Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed.'' New York: Broadway Books. p. 346. A footnote in this book reveals wife Lisa's maiden name. who proved to be an astute business manager. On the strength of his success touring and selling albums in Europe, they bought a horse farm, ''Casa de Sueños'', in

Picayune, Mississippi Picayune ( ) is the largest city in Pearl River County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 10,878 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately from New Orleans, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport– Biloxi. The Stennis Space Cen ...

and began living there as well as at their apartment and studio in the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. DeVille told an interviewer in 1996: "I finally got the plantation ... I just bought this house and . It looks a little bit like

Graceland Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...

... I got into horses since my wife is into them. We're raising Spanish and Portuguese bullfighting horses. The

bloodline Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic informa ...

is 2000 years old. She's into breeding, but I just love riding. I've also got five dogs, four cats and a partridge in a pear tree." DeVille did not have a recording contract with an American label in the mid-1990s. His next two albums, '' Willy DeVille Live'' (1993) and ''

Big Easy Fantasy ''Big Easy Fantasy'' is an album by Willy DeVille and the Mink DeVille Band. It was released in Europe on the French New Rose label in 1995. The album is a mixture of studio tracks and concert recordings made in New York and Paris. The "big easy ...

'' (1995), were recorded for Fnac Music, a French label. ''Willy DeVille Live'' was a number one record in Spain.Eagle Rock Entertainment (2007
"DeVille, Willy"
Web site of Eagle Rock Entertainment. (Retrieved August 3, 2008.) ''Big Easy Fantasy'' presents live recordings of the Mink DeVille Band playing with

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

legends

and

and remixes from the ''

'' sessions. DeVille said, "I was pissed off and I didn't have a record deal for a few years. At the time I didn't want one. I was getting very gun-shy about labels. I was performing in Europe and I was doing great without one. When you get to that stage in your mind, they all start coming around. It's pretty strange the way that happens". In 1995, he returned to Los Angeles to record ''

Loup Garou In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely o ...

'', again with producer John Philip Shenale. '' Musician'' said about the album: "''Loup Garou'' is subtle in nuance but staggering in scope, it connects the dots between all of the artist's sacrosanct influences, often within the framework of a single song ... All of it is on the money, performed from the heart ... " ''Loup Garou'' featured a duet with

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed onl ...

; DeVille said: "She didn't know who the hell I was. I just called her up, played the song for her, and she loved it. She had her business people check me out, and they reported that I was big in Europe and had been recording for twenty years. So I flew to Nashville o record with her... That's got to go down in my book as one of the most memorable experiences in my career." The cover of ''Loup Garou'' showed DeVille in turn of the 20th century New Orleans garb posing on a street corner in New Orleans'

. It included voodoo chants and a song subtitled "Vampire's Lullaby". The singer had completely immersed himself in New Orleans culture. Percussionist Boris Kinberg, a longtime member of the Mink DeVille Band, said about the stages of Willy DeVille's career:

To my mind there were three main eras. The first era was the Lower East Side, skinny tie, purple shirt, ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'', Puerto Rican Sharks
gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...
vibe. Then it transmuted into the Mississippi plantation-gambler riverboat rogue, the
Rhett Butler Rhett Butler (Born in 1828) is a fictional character in the 1936 novel '' Gone with the Wind'' by Margaret Mitchell and in the 1939 film adaptation of the same name. It is one of Clark Gable's most recognizable and significant roles. Role Rh ...
thing where he had had custom-made suits, and really got into the period and the clothes and just totally immersed himself in New Orleans, not the present New Orleans, but the New Orleans of the 1880s and 1890s—the absinthe-drinking, voodoo New Orleans. He totally immersed himself in that. Then he left New Orleans and moved to the
Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and came back as the second coming of
Black Elk Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a ''wičháša wakȟáŋ'' (" medicine man, holy man") and '' heyoka'' of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and ...
.

Before moving to the Southwest in 2000, DeVille recorded '' Horse of a Different Color'' in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. The 1999 album, produced by

Jim Dickinson James Luther Dickinson (November 15, 1941 – August 15, 2009) was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Biography Dickinson was born in Li ...

, includes a chain-gang song, a cover of Fred McDowell's "Going over the Hill," and a cover of Andre Williams's "Bacon Fat".

said about the album, "Simply put, no one has this range or depth in interpreting not only styles, but also the poetics of virtually any set of lyrics. DeVille makes everything he sings believable. 'Horse of a Different Color' is the most consistent and brilliant recording of Willy DeVille's long career." ''Horse of a Different Color'' was the first Willy DeVille album since 1987's ''

'' to be released simultaneously in Europe and the United States. His previous five albums had been released first in Europe and picked up later, if they were picked up at all, by American record labels.

Epiphany in the Southwest

By 2000, DeVille had cured his two-decades-long addiction to heroin. He relocated to Cerrillos Hills, New Mexico, where he produced and played on an album, ''Blue Love Monkey'', with Rick Nafey, a friend from his youth in Connecticut who had played in DeVille's first band, Billy & the Kids, as well as The Royal Pythons. In New Mexico, DeVille's wife Lisa committed suicide by hanging; DeVille discovered her body. He said:

I got in a car accident because I got crazy. I think I was somewhat taunting death because somebody who I loved very much died. And I found them. That's what that lyric in that song means ("she hurts me still since I cut her down" rom_"Downside_of_Town"_on_''Crow_Jane_Alley''.html" ;"title="Crow_Jane_Alley.html" ;"title="rom "Downside of Town" on ''Crow Jane Alley">rom "Downside of Town" on ''Crow Jane Alley''">Crow_Jane_Alley.html" ;"title="rom "Downside of Town" on ''Crow Jane Alley">rom "Downside of Town" on ''Crow Jane Alley''. I cut her down. Next thing you know the police show up, I was in tears ... I was in love with another woman and we were going through some hard times, and I got in the car and I wanted to go off the cliff. I was in the mountains in New Mexico ... They came right around the corner head on. You know how big a Dodge Ram truck is? I broke my arm in three places and my knee went into the dash board ... It was bone to bone ... I was on crutches and on a cane for about three years and I couldn't go anywhere or do anything. I was fucked up. I was ready for the scrapheap.

"I guess I was testing the waters to see if I would live through it", DeVille told another interviewer. "It was a foolish, foolish thing to do." For the next five years, DeVille walked with a cane and performed sitting on a barstool, until he had

hip replacement Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...

surgery in 2006. DeVille's stay in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

awakened his interest in his Native American heritage. On the cover of his next album, 2002's '' Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin'', recorded to celebrate his 25 years' of performing, DeVille wore long hair. He began wearing Native American clothing and jewelry on stage. In 2004, DeVille returned to Los Angeles to record '' Crow Jane Alley'', his third album with producer John Philip Shenale. The album continued his explorations of his Spanish-Americana sound and featured many prominent Los Angeles Latino musicians. On the cover, DeVille wore a Native American headdress and breastplate. Richard Marcus said of the album, ''"Crow Jane Alley'' is the work of an artist who after thirty plus years in the business still has the ability to surprise and delight his listeners. Listening to this disc only confirms that Willy DeVille is one of the greats who have been ignored for too long."

Return to New York City

After living for 15 years in New Orleans and the Southwest, DeVille returned to New York City in 2003, where he took up residence with Nina Lagerwall, his third wife. He continued touring Europe, usually playing music festivals in the summer. On Mardi Gras of 2008, '' Pistola'', DeVille's sixteenth album, was released. ''Independent Music'' said about the album: "(Willy DeVille) has never been more artistically potent than on Pistola, confronting the demons of his past with an impressive lyrical honesty and unexpectedly diverse musical imagination."

Personal life

Willy DeVille was married in 1971 to Susan Berle (February 19, 1950 – August 12, 2004), who was known as Toots Deville. Toots and Willy had known each other while growing up in Stamford, Connecticut. They were married in 1971, and he adopted her son, Sean.

Alex Halberstadt Alex Halberstadt is an American nonfiction writer and journalist. He grew up in Moscow and in 1980 came to the United States, where he and his family settled in New York City. He attended Stuyvesant High School, Oberlin College and Columbia Univers ...

's biographer, wrote about Toots, "Half French and half Pima Indian, Toots favored a pair of

nose rings A nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which receive and expel air for respiration alongside the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes thr ...

, snow-white

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

make-up and a Ronettes-style

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

the color of tar. She'd once put out a lit

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Mar ...

in a woman's eye just for staring at Willy." In 1984, DeVille married his second wife, Lisa Leggett, whom he met in California. She became his business manager. They lived near New Orleans and on a horse farm in

. After her suicide in 2001, he married Nina Lagerwall (daughter of Sture Lagerwall), his third wife, whom he met in New York in August 2000. They returned to New York City, where he spent the rest of his life.

Death and legacy

In February 2009, DeVille was diagnosed with Hepatitis C, and in May of that year doctors discovered pancreatic cancer in the course of his Hepatitis C treatment. He died in New York City in the late hours of August 6, 2009, three weeks shy of his 59th birthday. About his legacy, DeVille told an interviewer, "I have a theory. I know that I'll sell much more records when I'm dead. It isn't very pleasant, but I have to get used to this idea." Jack Nitzsche said that DeVille was the best singer he had ever worked with. Critic Robert Palmer wrote about him in 1980, "Mr. DeVille is a magnetic performer, but his macho stage presence camouflages an acute musical intelligence; his songs and arrangements are rich in ethnic rhythms and blues echoes, the most disparate stylistic references, yet they flow seamlessly and hang together solidly. He embodies (New York's) tangle of cultural contradictions while making music that's both idiomatic, in the broadest sense, and utterly original." In a 2015 interview,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

suggested DeVille should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Said Dylan, "(DeVille) stood out, his voice and presentation ought to have gotten him in there by now." Critic Thom Jurek said about him, "His catalog is more diverse than virtually any other modern performer. The genre span of the songs he's written is staggering. From early rock and rhythm and blues styles, to Delta-styled blues, from Cajun music to New Orleans second line, from Latin-tinged folk to punky salseros, to elegant orchestral ballads—few people could write a love song like DeVille. He was the embodiment of rock and roll's romance, its theater, its style, its drama, camp, and danger." His sometime collaborator

said of DeVille, "Willy had an enormous range. The songs he wrote were original, romantic and straight from the heart." Thom Jurek wrote about him after his death, "Willy DeVille is America's loss even if America doesn't know it yet. The reason is simple: Like the very best rock and roll writers and performers in our history, he's one of the very few who got it right; he understood what made a three-minute song great, and why it mattered—because it mattered to him. He lived and died with the audience in his shows, and he gave them something to remember when they left the theater, because he meant every single word of every song as he performed it. Europeans like that. In this jingoistic age of American pride, perhaps we can revisit our own true love of rock and roll by discovering Willy DeVille for the first time—or, at the very least, remember him for what he really was: an American original. The mythos and pathos in his songs, his voice, and his performances were born in these streets and cities and then given to the world who appreciated him much more than we did." Singer Peter Wolf of the

J. Geils Band ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

said about him, "He had all the roots of music that I love and had this whole street thing of R&B – just the whole gestalt ... He was just a tremendous talent; a true artist in the sense that he never compromised. He had a special vision and remained true to it." Writing in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' about the posthumous release of DeVille's ''Come a Little Bit Closer: The Best of Willy DeVille Live'' (2011), Marc Meyers declared, "There was creative heat and pain in Mr. DeVille's eerie, edgy look and sound. While his punk-roadhouse fusion sailed over the heads of many at home, his approach inspired many British pop invaders of the 1980s, including

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...

, Human League and Culture Club ... He was a punk eclectic with a heart of golden oldies and Joe Cocker's pipes. A seedy sophisticate, Mr. DeVille was decades ahead of his time."Meyers, Marc (May 20, 2011
Brilliant, Shook-Up Guy
''The Wall Street Journal''.

Discography

: ''For a complete discography of Willy DeVille recordings, see

Willy DeVille discography The discography of American singer and songwriter Willy DeVille includes, as well as his solo recordings, recordings released by his band Mink DeVille in the period from 1977 to 1985. It consists of fourteen studio albums, three live albums, fi ...

. ''With

:'' * 1977: '' Cabretta'' (in Europe); ''

Mink Deville Mink DeVille was a rock band founded in 1974, known for its association with early punk rock bands at New York's CBGB nightclub and for being a showcase for the music of Willy DeVille. The band recorded six albums in the years 1977 to 1985, afte ...

'' (in the U.S.) (

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

) * 1978: '' Return to Magenta'' (Capitol) * 1980: ''

'' (Capitol) * 1981: ''

'' (

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

) * 1983: '' Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (Atlantic) * 1985: '' Sportin' Life'' (

) ''As Willy DeVille:'' * 1987: ''

'' (

) * 1990: ''

'' (Sky Ranch) 1990 (Orleans Records) * 1992: ''

'' (Fnac Music) (

Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, 1994) * 1993: '' Willy DeVille Live'' (Fnac Music) * 1995: ''

'' (New Rose) * 1995: ''

'' ( EastWest) ( Discovery, 1996) * 1999: '' Horse of a Different Color'' (EastWest) * 2002: '' Acoustic Trio Live in Berlin'' (

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

) * 2004: '' Crow Jane Alley'' (Eagle) * 2008: '' Pistola'' (Eagle)

References

External links

The Official Willy DeVille Website

Willy DeVille Social Network

Willy DeVille and The Mink DeVille Band on MySpace
*

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081206022827/http://www.faceculture.nl/artist.php?id=267 FaceCulture: Video interview with Willy DeVille
"Music Obituaries: Willy DeVille"
– ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary

– ''New York Times'' obituary
"Willy DeVille, RIP: Remembering an American Original"
– Allmusic obituary
"Willy DeVille, Whose Creativity and Influence Outgrew the New York Punk Scene"
– ''The Guardian'' obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Deville, Willy 1950 births 2009 deaths American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American harmonica players American rock guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters American male singer-songwriters American soul singers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Deaths from pancreatic cancer Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Singers from New York City Slide guitarists Mink DeVille members 20th-century American singers Guitarists from Connecticut Guitarists from Louisiana Guitarists from New York City People from Picayune, Mississippi 20th-century American guitarists Pequot 20th-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Eagle Records artists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Connecticut Singer-songwriters from Mississippi