Willie D. Warren
Encyclopedia
Willie D. Warren was an American
electric blues
guitarist
, bass player
and singer. In a long career, he worked with Otis Rush
, Al Benson, Little Sonny Cooper, David Honeyboy Edwards
, Baby Boy Warren
, Guitar Slim
, Freddie King
, Jimmy Reed
, Morris Pejoe, Bobo Jenkins
and Jim McCarty
. One of Warren's better known recordings
was "Baby Likes to Boogie".
He was described by Allmusic journalist
, Michael G. Nastos, as "one of the Midwest's true blues treasures".
, Arkansas
, but moved with his family at the age of thirteen to Lake Village, Arkansas
. He was taught by Caleb King
to play the guitar
, and played in his own blues ensemble around the Mississippi Delta
. His band's singer, Guitar Slim
was, in turn, taught guitar playing techniques by Warren, and they toured around Louisiana
in the latter half of the 1940s.
Warren relocated to Chicago
by the early 1950s and joined Otis Rush
's band. He later played alongside Freddie King
and Jimmy Reed
, plus he also backed Morris Pejoe, when Pejoe recorded tracks for Chess Records
.
Warren formed the House Rockers back in Arkansas in 1959, and by the early 1970s had moved to Detroit to work and record with Bobo Jenkins
. From 1974 to 1976 he was also a featured performer, along with Baby Boy Warren
(no relation), with the Progressive Blues Band, a popular blues band that played in many of Detroit's best blues venues. When Baby Boy died in 1977, Wille D. Warren took up the band's frontman duties.
In 1977, Warren finally recorded his debut solo album, which was released on Jenkins' Big Star label
. In addition, Warren turned songwriter
, penning the lyrics to two songs ("Door Lock Blues" and "Detroit Jump") that Jenkins himself recorded for his own Detroit All Purpose Blues album. Warren's own work then appeared on a small number of compilation album
s. His live album
, Live, for the No Cover Productions label, was not released until after Warren's death. His then backing band, Mystery Train, included his old friend Jim McCarty
.
Warren died in Detroit, in December 2000, at the age of 76. He left one son, Willie Hairston, of Detroit, Michigan.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, bass player
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
and singer. In a long career, he worked with Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
, Al Benson, Little Sonny Cooper, David Honeyboy Edwards
David Honeyboy Edwards
David "Honeyboy" Edwards was a Delta blues guitarist and singer from the American South. Edwards was the last Delta bluesman before his 2011 death.-Life and career:Edwards was born in Shaw, Mississippi...
, Baby Boy Warren
Baby Boy Warren
Baby Boy Warren was an American blues singer and guitarist, who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues scene in the 1950s.-Early life:...
, Guitar Slim
Guitar Slim
Eddie Jones , better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do"...
, Freddie King
Freddie King
Freddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...
, Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Morris Pejoe, Bobo Jenkins
Bobo Jenkins
Bobo Jenkins was an American Detroit blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit...
and Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty (guitarist)
James William McCarty is an American blues rock guitarist from Detroit, Michigan. He has performed with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, the Buddy Miles Express, Cactus, the popular Detroit rock band The Rockets, the Detroit Blues Band, and more recently, Mystery Train.He also recorded with...
. One of Warren's better known recordings
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...
was "Baby Likes to Boogie".
He was described by Allmusic journalist
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, Michael G. Nastos, as "one of the Midwest's true blues treasures".
Biography
Warren was born in StampsStamps, Arkansas
Stamps is a city in Lafayette County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,131 at the 2000 census.Stamps was the shop headquarters for the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railway until the relocation in the early 1920s to Minden, Louisiana....
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, but moved with his family at the age of thirteen to Lake Village, Arkansas
Lake Village, Arkansas
Lake Village is a city in Chicot County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,823 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Chicot County.Lake Village is named for its location on Lake Chicot, an oxbow lake formed from the Mississippi River...
. He was taught by Caleb King
Caleb King
Caleb King is an American football running back, who plays for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2011, and then was cut on September 3. He was re-signed to the Minnesota Vikings practice squad on September 5...
to play the guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and played in his own blues ensemble around the Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
. His band's singer, Guitar Slim
Guitar Slim
Eddie Jones , better known as Guitar Slim, was a New Orleans blues guitarist, from the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song, produced by Johnny Vincent at Specialty Records, "The Things That I Used to Do"...
was, in turn, taught guitar playing techniques by Warren, and they toured around Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in the latter half of the 1940s.
Warren relocated to 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...
by the early 1950s and joined Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
's band. He later played alongside Freddie King
Freddie King
Freddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...
and Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, plus he also backed Morris Pejoe, when Pejoe recorded tracks for Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
.
Warren formed the House Rockers back in Arkansas in 1959, and by the early 1970s had moved to Detroit to work and record with Bobo Jenkins
Bobo Jenkins
Bobo Jenkins was an American Detroit blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit...
. From 1974 to 1976 he was also a featured performer, along with Baby Boy Warren
Baby Boy Warren
Baby Boy Warren was an American blues singer and guitarist, who was a leading figure on the Detroit blues scene in the 1950s.-Early life:...
(no relation), with the Progressive Blues Band, a popular blues band that played in many of Detroit's best blues venues. When Baby Boy died in 1977, Wille D. Warren took up the band's frontman duties.
In 1977, Warren finally recorded his debut solo album, which was released on Jenkins' Big Star label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. In addition, Warren turned 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...
, penning the lyrics to two songs ("Door Lock Blues" and "Detroit Jump") that Jenkins himself recorded for his own Detroit All Purpose Blues album. Warren's own work then appeared on a small number of compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
s. His live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Live, for the No Cover Productions label, was not released until after Warren's death. His then backing band, Mystery Train, included his old friend Jim McCarty
Jim McCarty (guitarist)
James William McCarty is an American blues rock guitarist from Detroit, Michigan. He has performed with Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels, the Buddy Miles Express, Cactus, the popular Detroit rock band The Rockets, the Detroit Blues Band, and more recently, Mystery Train.He also recorded with...
.
Warren died in Detroit, in December 2000, at the age of 76. He left one son, Willie Hairston, of Detroit, Michigan.
Compilation albums
- Hastings Street Grease Vol. 1 (1998) - Blue Suit Records
- Hastings Street Grease Vol. 2 (1999) - Blue Suit Records