Willie Henderson is an American soul music

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

ian. Henderson moved to Chicago with his family while still a child, and began playing the baritone saxophone

Baritone saxophone

The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...

. He gigged 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...

, Syl Johnson

Syl Johnson

Syl Johnson is an American blues and soul singer and record producer.-Biography:Born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States, Johnson sang and played with blues artists Magic Sam, Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf in the 1950s, before recording with Jimmy Reed...

, Alvin Cash

Alvin Cash

Alvin Cash was an American pop singer and actor.-Biography:Born Alvin Welch in St. Louis, Missouri, and a graduate of St. Louis's Sumner High School , he and three brothers moved to Chicago, where they sang and danced while in search of a recording contract...

, and Harold Burrage while in his twenties, and began working for Brunswick Records

Brunswick Records

Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...

 in 1968. Henderson and producer Carl Davis

Carl Davis (record producer)

Carl H. Davis is an American record producer and music executive, who was particularly active in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s when he was responsible for hit R&B records by Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Tyrone Davis and others.-Life and career:He was...

 did arrangements for musicians such as The Chi-Lites

The Chi-Lites

The Chi-Lites are a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal quartet from the early 1970s, one of the few from the period not to come from Memphis or Philadelphia...

, Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson

Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...

, Tyrone Davis

Tyrone Davis

Tyrone Davis , born Tyrone Fettson, was a leading American soul singer with a distinctive style, recording a long list of hit records over a period of more than 20 years. He had three no...

, and Barbara Acklin

Barbara Acklin

Barbara Jean Acklin was an American soul singer and songwriter who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" in 1968...

; Henderson played on many of these records

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 and also did some production work himself. Henderson co-wrote the tunes "I Made a Mistake" and "Slow Motion (Part I)" with Johnny Williams

John Williams

John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...

, the latter of which became a Top Ten hit in the US. Henderson released a few singles, which included the Lowrell Simon

Lowrell Simon

Lowrell Simon is an American soul singer. He began as a singer in The LaVondells, which became The Vondells which featured Butch McCoy and Jessie dean and enjoyed some regional success in the 1960s with the song "Lenore". When the Vondells broke up, Simon formed the group The Lost Generation...

-written 1974 instrumental "Dance Master", "Funky Chicken (Part I)" (as Willie Henderson and the Soul Explosions), "Break Your Back" b/w "Same", and "Gangster Boogie Bump" b/w/ "Let's Merengue". He also released the full-length Funky Chicken on Brunswick in 1970.

Henderson left Brunswick in 1974 and began working independently as a producer. He produced the group Essence for Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, continuing to produce into the 1980s and occasionally self-releasing singles on his label, NowSound. He formed the Chicago Music Organization in 1999, and still occasionally performs in the Chicago area.