Andre Williams “The Greasy Chicken”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 13:02:51 +0000

Andre Williams “The Greasy Chicken” b/w “Come On, Baby” 1957. Fortune Records. Another musical legend gone: R&B great Andre Williams “Mr Rhythm” died on Sunday, March 17th at age 82 (b. Zephire Andre Williams, November 1, 1936). “The Greasy Chicken” was one of Williams’ early popular recordings, issued on his first record label, Fortune Records which was located in the back of a Detroit barber shop. He released several other popular tracks on Fortune (including “Bacon Fat” and “Jail Bait”) in the 50′s and a few on Chess Records in the 60′s (including “Cadillac Jack” which went to #46 on the R&B chart). In the 70′s Williams collaborated with Parliament, Funkadelic and Ike Turner. The 80′s weren’t kind to him: he struggled with drug addiction and homelessness. However, in the late 90′s and early 2000′s his career had a resurgence when he partnered with several alternative/indie bands like The Sadies, The Dirtbombs and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (“The Black Godfother”). It was during this part of his career renaissance that we got a chance to see Williams – at least once, maybe twice (memories are hazy!). We for sure saw him play Milwaukee’s Cactus Club and might have gone to Chicago to see him as well. At one of these shows he played ‘The Greasy Chicken” and I recall some lunatic running down a hallway shrieking “greasy chicken! greasy chicken!”

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Andre Williams “Jail Bait”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 15:48:53 +0000

Andre Williams “Jail Bait” a compilation of singles from 1956-1958 on Detroit’s Fortune Records. Today, November 1st, is Andre “Mr. Rhythm” Williams’ birthday (b. Zephire Williams, 1936). Williams’ entertaining lyrics, laid-back rhythmic talk-sing style and often wild live performances earned him another nickname, the “godfather of rap” and some lasting success, including many collaborations with modern indie rockers over the past couple of decades. In the 1990′s and early 2000′s he had releases on Bloodshot Records and recorded with The Sadies, The Dirtbombs and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It was around the time in 2000 when he cut “Lap Dance” and Black Godfather (both on In the Red Records) with JSBX (also recording with Williams on Black Godfather: members of the Cheater Slicks, The Dirtbombs and the Countdowns) that we saw Andre Williams perform at Milwaukee’s Cactus Club. We think we may have also gone down to Chicago to see one of his shows there as well, but recollections from this time are murky at best. It was at one of these shows that I do remember Williams playing ‘The Greasy Chicken” and some lunatic running down a hallway shrieking “greasy chicken! greasy chicken!” “The Greasy Chicken” appears on this LP, as do other local R&B hits like “Going Down to Tia Juana” and “Jail Bait.” One of his biggest hits, “Bacon Fat” does not appear on Jail Bait – Fortune Records leased the song to Epic Records and with their national reach and distribution, that single hit #9 on the Billboard R&B chart. Fortune refused to do the same for Williams’ subsequent singles and the label’s small regional Midwest reach and lack of distribution kept sales modest.

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Andre Williams “The Greasy Chicken”

Andre Williams “Jail Bait”