Joe Williams

Big Joe Williams - At Folk City
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 201 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Prestige Bluesville # OBC 580 | Country/Year: Europe 1995, 1962
Genre: Blues | Style: Delta Blues

…Williams left behind several folk club recordings from the early '60s, and they make a good contrast to the vast body of studio recordings from the same era. He was evidently at his best playing directly to an audience.

Joe Williams was the last great big-band singer, a smooth baritone who graced the rejuvenated Count Basie Orchestra during the 1950s and captivated audiences well into the '90s. Born in Georgia, he moved to Chicago with his grandmother at the age of three. Reunited with his mother, she taught him to play the piano and took him to the symphony. Though tuberculosis slowed him down as a teenager, Williams began performing at social events and formed his own gospel vocal quartet, the Jubilee Boys.

The career of blues legend Big Joe Williams stretches back to the Mississippi Delta of the 1930s and continues up through the 1980s. THE SONET BLUES STORY captures Williams performing in Sweden in 1972. Though not exactly in his prime,Williams plays with his usual boisterous spirit, reeling off classic acoustic Delta blues with a raw, propulsive edge. With only his stomping foot for rhythmic accompaniment, Williams and his guitar offer up a deep, riveting set.

Joe Williams' debut as the featured vocalist in Count Basie's band was one of those landmark moments that even savvy observers don't fully appreciate when it occurs, then realize years later how momentous an event they witnessed. Williams brought a different presence to the great Basie orchestra than the one Jimmy Rushing provided; he couldn't shout like Rushing, but he was more effective on romantic and sentimental material, while he was almost as spectacular on surging blues, up-tempo wailers, and stomping standards. Basie's band maintained an incredible groove behind Williams, who moved from authoritative statements on "Every Day I Have the Blues" and "Please Send Me Someone to Love" to brisk workouts on "Roll 'Em Pete" and his definitive hit, "All Right, OK, You Win".