Chick Willis

Biography

Cousin towards the later blues ballad vocalist Chuck Willis, Robert “Chick” Willis is primarily beloved for his ribald, dozens-based rocker “Stoop Straight down Baby.” The guitarist cut his first edition in 1972 for small La Val Information of Kalamazoo, MI, offering a huge amount of 45s for the jukebox marketplace just (the tune’s lyrics had been much too raunchy for airplay). Willis still left the army in 1954, hiring on as valet and chauffeur to cousin Chuck, after that riding high along with his many R&B strikes for OKeh Information. At that time, Chick’s primary part on the display was like a vocalist (he produced his own vinyl fabric debut in 1956 with an individual, “You’re Mine,” for Lee Rupe’s Ebb Information after earning a talent competition at Atlanta’s Magnolia Ballroom), but he found your guitar while on the highway along with his cousin (Chick cites Acoustic guitar Slim as his primary man for the reason that division). When Chuck passed away of stomach complications in 1958, Willis soldiered on, pausing in Chicago to are a sideman with slip acoustic guitar great Elmore Wayne. Several obscure 45s (“Twistin’ in a healthcare facility Ward,” slice for Alto in 1962, noises encouraging) preceded the introduction of “Stoop Down Baby,” which Willis offers freshened up for countless sequels since (he created the track by teasing passersby along with his ribald rhymes while employed in a carnival range present). Risqué materials continued to be a staple of Willis’s result lately. He cut many albums for Ichiban, notably 1988’s Today!, Footprints in my own Bed in 1990, and Back again to the Blues in 1991.

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