Lil' Ed Williams (born April 8, 1955,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

) is an American blues slide guitarist,

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. With his backing band, the Blues Imperials, he has built up a loyal following.

Biography

In childhood, Williams and his half-brother James "Pookie" Young received encouragement and tutelage from their uncle, the blues guitarist, songwriter and recording artist

J. B. Hutto Joseph Benjamin Hutto (April 26, 1926 – June 12, 1983) was an American blues musician. He was influenced by Elmore James and became known for his slide guitar playing and declamatory style of singing. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame ...

, who introduced them to his student Dave Weld. Together with Dave Weld, (rhythm guitar and vocals) formed the first version of the Blues Imperials. Since 1989, the band's lineup has been Williams (lead guitar and vocals), Michael Garrett (rhythm guitar and vocals), James Young (bass) and Kelly Littleton (drums). ''Living Blues'' magazine described the band as "Rough-and-ready South and West Side blues...Ed's swirling, snarling slide guitar work can be riveting, and The Imperials pound out blues-rock riffs and rhythms behind him as if they're overdosing on boogie juice." ''Guitar Player'' called the band "a snarling boogie-blues machine." A decade later, Alligator Records offered them the chance to record a track, "Young Thing", for a compilation album, ''New Bluebloods'' (1987). Producer and label owner Bruce Iglauer encouraged them to record additional material, and they cut a full album's worth of material at that session, released as ''Roughhousin (1986). They then appeared at music festivals and toured widely. Their second album, ''Chicken, Gravy & Biscuits'', was released in 1989, and their third, '' What You See Is What You Get'', in 1992. At this point the group disbanded. Williams issued two

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albums, ''Keep On Walking'', on which he was joined by Dave Weld, a former member of the Blues Imperials, and ''Who's Been Talking'' (1998), pairing Williams with

Willie Kent Willie Kent (February 24, 1936 – March 2, 2006) was an American Chicago blues singer, bassist and songwriter. Career Kent was born in Inverness, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Although he had played the bass guitar in Chicago's clubs since th ...

. In 1999 the release of ''Get Wild'' marked the group's reunion. It was followed by ''Heads Up'' (2002), ''Rattleshake'' (2006), ''Full Tilt'' (2008) and ''Jump Start'' (2012). Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials have appeared multiple times at the Chicago Blues Festival and festivals and clubs around the world. In June 2008, Williams played on three tracks on Magic Slim & the Teardrops's album ''Midnight Blues''. In June 2009, Williams was a guest on the radio quiz show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'', produced by Chicago Public Radio and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

. Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials have been nominated for eight

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy ...

s as Band of the Year and have won that award twice.

Discography

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials

*''Roughhousin (1986),

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*''Chicken, Gravy and Biscuits'' (1989), Alligator *'' What You See Is What You Get'' (1992), Alligator *''Get Wild'' (1999), Alligator *''Heads Up'' (2002), Alligator *''Rattleshake'' (2006), Alligator *''Full Tilt'' (2008), Alligator *''Jump Start'' (2012), Alligator *''The Big Sound Of....'' (2016), Alligator

Solo

*''Keep On Walkin (1996), Earwig Music *''Who's Been Talking'' (1998), Earwig Music

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Lil Ed 1955 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers American male singers Songwriters from Illinois Singers from Chicago Slide guitarists Blues musicians from Illinois Guitarists from Chicago 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Earwig Music artists Alligator Records artists American male songwriters

Biography

Discography

Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials

Solo

See also

References