Chuck Willis
Encyclopedia
Harold "Chuck" Willis was an American
blues
, rhythm and blues
, and rock and roll
singer and songwriter
. His biggest hits, "C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached no. 1 in the Billboard
R&B chart. He was known as The King of the Stroll for his performance of the 1950s dance The Stroll
.
. Willis was spotted at a talent contest by Atlanta radio disc jockey
Zenas Sears, who became his manager and helped him to sign with Columbia Records
in 1951. After one single
, Willis began recording
on a Columbia subsidiary, Okeh
. During his stay at Okeh, he established himself as a popular R&B singer and songwriter. In 1956, he moved to Atlantic Records
where he had immediate success with "It's Too Late (She's Gone)", "Juanita" and "Love Me Cherry". His most successful recording was "C.C. Rider", which topped the US
Billboard
R&B
chart
in 1957 and also crossed over and sold well in the pop
market. "C.C. Rider" was a remake of a twelve-bar blues, performed by Ma Rainey
in Atlanta before Willis was born. Its relaxed beat, combined with a mellow vibraphone
backing and chorus, inspired the emergence of the popular dance, The Stroll
. Willis's follow-up was "Betty and Dupree", another "stroll" song, which also did well. Willis' single "Going to the River", a song by Fats Domino
, was a prototype for his "stroll" sound, reaching #4 on the R&B chart.
Willis, who had suffered from stomach ulcers for many years, died during surgery in Chicago
of peritonitis
while at the peak of his career, just after the release of his last single, "What Am I Living For?", backed by "Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes". "What Am I Living For?" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. It was also the top R&B disc of 1958.
His hit, the blues ballad
"It's Too Late (She's Gone)" was covered
by other artists
, including Otis Redding
, Roy Orbison
, Buddy Holly and the Crickets
, Eric Clapton
's Derek and the Dominos
and the Jerry Garcia Band
. In 2005, it was heavily sampled by Kanye West
on Late Registration
's "Gone". Elvis Presley
covered "I Feel So Bad" and "C. C. Rider" and Ruth Brown
and Conway Twitty
had hits with "Oh What a Dream
".
Willis's cousin is Chick Willis
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. His biggest hits, "C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached no. 1 in the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B chart. He was known as The King of the Stroll for his performance of the 1950s dance The Stroll
The Stroll
The Stroll was both a slow Rock 'n' Roll dance and a song that was popular in late 1950s. The dance called the Stroll began in black communities to the song "C. C. Rider" by Chuck Willis prior to the song by the same name....
.
Biography
Willis was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Willis was spotted at a talent contest by Atlanta radio disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Zenas Sears, who became his manager and helped him to sign with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1951. After one single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, Willis began recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
on a Columbia subsidiary, Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. During his stay at Okeh, he established himself as a popular R&B singer and songwriter. In 1956, he moved to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
where he had immediate success with "It's Too Late (She's Gone)", "Juanita" and "Love Me Cherry". His most successful recording was "C.C. Rider", which topped the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1957 and also crossed over and sold well in the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
market. "C.C. Rider" was a remake of a twelve-bar blues, performed by Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues....
in Atlanta before Willis was born. Its relaxed beat, combined with a mellow vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
backing and chorus, inspired the emergence of the popular dance, The Stroll
The Stroll
The Stroll was both a slow Rock 'n' Roll dance and a song that was popular in late 1950s. The dance called the Stroll began in black communities to the song "C. C. Rider" by Chuck Willis prior to the song by the same name....
. Willis's follow-up was "Betty and Dupree", another "stroll" song, which also did well. Willis' single "Going to the River", a song by Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, was a prototype for his "stroll" sound, reaching #4 on the R&B chart.
Willis, who had suffered from stomach ulcers for many years, died during surgery in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
of peritonitis
Peritonitis
Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the serous membrane that lines part of the abdominal cavity and viscera. Peritonitis may be localised or generalised, and may result from infection or from a non-infectious process.-Abdominal pain and tenderness:The main manifestations of...
while at the peak of his career, just after the release of his last single, "What Am I Living For?", backed by "Hang Up My Rock & Roll Shoes". "What Am I Living For?" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. It was also the top R&B disc of 1958.
His hit, the blues ballad
Blues ballad
The term blues ballad is used to refer to a specific form of popular music which fused Anglo-American and Afro-American styles from the late 19th century onwards...
"It's Too Late (She's Gone)" was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by other artists
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, including Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The Crickets
The Crickets are a rock & roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer/songwriter Buddy Holly in the 1950s. Their first hit record was "That'll Be the Day", released in 1957....
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
's Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos were a blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon, who had all played with Clapton in Delaney, Bonnie & Friends...
and the Jerry Garcia Band
Jerry Garcia Band
The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side-projects until his death in 1995...
. In 2005, it was heavily sampled by Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
on Late Registration
Late Registration
Late Registration is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released August 30, 2005, on Roc-A-Fella Records. Recording sessions for the album took place over the course of a year at various recording studios located in New York City and Hollywood...
's "Gone". Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
covered "I Feel So Bad" and "C. C. Rider" and Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown
Ruth Brown was an American pop and R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, composer and actress, noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as "So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " He Treats Your Daughter Mean".For these...
and Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
had hits with "Oh What a Dream
Oh What a Dream
"Oh What a Dream" is a 1954 blues song written by Chuck Willis and originally performed by Ruth Brown backed by members of The Drifters...
".
Willis's cousin is Chick Willis
Chick Willis
Robert "Chick" Willis is an American blues singer. His cousin was Chuck Willis.Chick Willis served in the military in the early 1950s before working as a chauffeur for Chuck Willis during his heyday...
.
Chart singles
| Year | A-side | Label | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
|||
| 1952 | "My Story" | OKeh 4-6905 | - | 2 |
| 1953 | "Going To The River" | OKeh 4-6952 | - | 4 |
| "Don't Deceive Me" | OKeh 4-6985 | - | 6 | |
| 1954 | "You're Still My Baby" | OKeh 4-7015 | - | 4 |
| "I Feel So Bad" | OKeh 4-7029 | - | 8 | |
| 1956 | "It's Too Late" | Atlantic 1098 | - | 3 |
| "Juanita" / "Whatcha' Gonna Do When Your Baby Leaves You" |
Atlantic 1112 | - | 7 11 |
|
| 1957 | "C. C. Rider" | Atlantic 1130 | 12 | 1 |
| 1958 | "Betty and Dupree" | Atlantic 1168 | 33 | 15 |
| "What Am I Living For" / "Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes" |
Atlantic 1179 | 9 24 |
1 9 |
|
| "My Life" | Atlantic 1192 | 46 | 12 | |
| "Keep A-Driving" | Atlantic 2005 | - | 19 | |