"Prince Of The Blues." That was Billy Wright's billing during his years with Savoy Records, brilliantly recaptured here in this 2003 release.
Born in 1918 in Atlanta, his style of delivery, which included dancing, gradually became what can best be described as exuberant shouting, and it was while sharing a bill in his home town with blues greats Charles Brown and Wynonie Harris that he came to the attention of saxophonist Paul Williams, whose 1949 Hucklebuck was a monster hit [14 weeks at # 1 R&B] for the Savoy label.
Williams immediately recommended him to label executives who signed him and paired him with Howard Collander and his orchestra on Blues For My Baby, which rose to # 3 R&B in late October 1949. The flipside, You Satisfy, also charted at # 9.
Follow-up hit singles were hard to come by, however, and it wasn't until July 1951, still with Savoy, that Stacked Deck made it to # 9, followed a few months later by Hey Little Girl [also shown as Heh Little Girl] which hit the # 10 slot.
But he had a following on the live circuit where he shocked and titillated audiences by wearing makeup and having his hair prepared in a large pompadour. One who was duly impressed by both his appearance and his musical style was one Richard Penniman from Macon, Georgia, and the two became fast friends. In fact, it was Wright who arranged Little Richard's first recording contract in 1951 with RCA Victor through local DJ Zenas Sears.
Wright remained with Savoy until 1955, but without any further chart success. He followed Little Richard to Peacock Records that year but was no more successful there than his friend who would, however, soon break out with Specialty Records.
For Billy Wright the future was a series of unsuccessful sessions with small labels such as Fire, and continuing local appearances in and around Atlanta. He also began suffering from a series of strokes, one of which took his life on October 28, 1991 at age 73.
One of the forgotten ones who, if nothing else, was the main influence behind one of R&R's greatest legends, and surely had some impact as well on another great, James Brown. Get a copy. In the meantime, are they asleep at the Blues Hall Of Fame? (Amazon)
trax:
01 Thinkin' Blues 02 After Dark Blues 03 Fore Day Blues 04 You Satisfy 05 Billy's Boogie Blues 06 Blues For My Baby 07 I Keep Drinking 08 Back Biting Woman 09 Heavy Hearted Blues 10 Gotta Find My Baby 11 Married Woman's Boogie 12 Empty Hands 13 When The Wagon Comes 14 Keep Your Hands On My Heart 15 Mercy, Mercy 16 Stacked Deck 17 Mean Old Wine 18 Drinkin' And Thinkin' 19 New Way Of Lovin' 20 Restless Blues 21 This Love Of Mine 22 Hey Little Girl
...served by Gyro1966...
Deep funky soul from the late 60s Miami scene -- tracks from the small, but sterling catalog of Saadia Records -- which was headed up by sax man/band leader Frank Williams and the legendary Little Beaver! Good Things is packed with blistering dancefloor funk and heavy raw soul -- with a tender moment or two that still manages to pack a wallop! Frank "Brother" Williams kicks in a couple of pummeling instrumental numbers -- including a torrential take on JB's "Cold Sweat". Little Beaver does his thing with emotive vocals, a chiming guitar sound, and he's backed by some groovy organ, funky drums and horns! Pearl Dowdell brings some stunning female funky soul to the table. Saadia only over released 10 or so 45s in its brief run and this set features an impeccable display of highlights. Not good, GREAT things (Dusty Groove)
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