Little Willie John: The King Sessions 1958-

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Detailed Information

  • Label: ACE
  • Order number: 9992281
  • Release date: 26.9.2005
  1. 1 Talk me, talk to me Start
  2. 2 Spasms Start
  3. 3 You're a sweetheart Start
  4. 4 Let's rock while the rockin's good Start
  5. 5 Tell it like it is Start
  6. 6 Don't be ashamed to call my name Start
  7. 7 All my love belongs to you Start
  8. 8 Why don't you haul off and love me Start
  9. 9 I'll carry your love wherever I go Start
  10. 10 No regrets Start
  11. 11 No more in life Start
  12. 12 Made for me Start
  13. 13 Leave my kitten ylone Start
  14. 14 Let nobody love you Start
  15. 15 Right there Start
  16. 16 Let them talk Start
  17. 17 My love-is Start
  18. 18 Loving care Start
  19. 19 I'm shakin' Start
  20. 20 A cottage for sale Start
  21. 21 Heartbreak (It's hurtin' me) Start
  22. 22 Do you love me Start
  23. 23 Sleep Start
  24. 24 There's a difference Start

Product Information

Following the excellent "Early King Sessions" collection which took us up to 1957, this sequel picks up Little Willie John's story in early 1958 when, having had a dry spell hit-wise the previous year, he came back and scored a pop hit for King. The one that did it was the melodic Talk To Me, Talk To Me, included here without the later string overdubs (#20 Pop, #5 R&B).

The previous CD focused on Willie's first dozen singles: this one works through the next twelve releases starting with Talk To Me, providing overall a strong up-tempo / mid-tempo / ballads balance. Compiler John Broven has replaced two of the 45 sides by opting for a previously unissued take of Why Don't You Haul Off And Love Me that Willie's intuitive approach has transformed into a gospel-cum-Little Richard-styled hand-clapper; and the fabulous "jazz beat" version of My Love-Is.

There are some fine blues ballads such as the beautiful Tell It Like It Is, and the pacier I'll Carry Your Love Wherever I Go from Fever co-writer Eddie Cooley (himself famous for Priscilla with the Dimples on Royal Roost). Willie's delivery on the tasteful soulful pieces Made For Me, Let Nobody Love You and No Regrets at times bring Sam Cooke to mind. There are also a couple of pop standards from the 1920s, A Cottage For Sale and Sleep, with full orchestra accompaniment. Although the strings may not appeal to everyone, the treatments come off pretty successfully, with Willie adding a bluesy edge to the former, a beat-ballad, and a touch of commercial energy to the latter.

Above all there are lots of good-rockin' tracks, and those with more up-tempo tastes will enjoy Spasms, a wonderfully finger-snappin' piece of R&B, and Willie's inherently rhythmic vocals on Let's Rock While The Rockin's Good, a song I first heard Cuddly Dudley sing on Jack Good's Oh Boy! TV show, probably around the time Willie's version appeared on UK Parlophone. The rocker fans will also rejoice in Leave My Kitten Alone, an excitingly strident piece of stepping R&B; the gospel-rockin' Right There (written by Rose Marie McCoy), and - perhaps wildest of all Willie's breathlessly hectic self-penned Do You Love Me, cut in New Orleans with the Upsetters, with more Little Richard-styled vocals than a bagful of Tutti-Frutti. Wonderful!

As well as being an expert stage performer, Willie John was a superb singer and interpreter of songs, and what really makes the whole thing work so well is material from great writers such as Otis Blackwell and others already mentioned, plus talented New York, Cincinnati and New Orleans session musicians. Bill Dahl's well-researched sleeve notes provide interesting insights from Willie's sister Mable, Lamont Dozier and songwriter Billy Myles (giving the latter's story behind his Fever-like My Love-Is). With the usual high-quality re-mastering giving excellent full-bodied sound reproduction, it all makes for a very strong R&B package.

EUR 18.99

-10%

EUR 16.99*

deliverable within a week
(if available from supplier)