Willie "Big Eyes" SMITH - Way Back 2006

Willie "Big Eyes" SMITH - Way Back 2006

Blues

With too many pop-aimed "all-star" discs available, this union of journeyman players--featuring former Muddy Waters drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith--just doing their thing is refreshing. Especially since their thing is old-school ensemble-style Chicago blues, played with ironclad taste, feel, and authenticity. What's new is that Smith cedes the drum seat to his son Kenny for most of these songs and compliments his weathered, Arkansas-born country voice with his own capable harmonica playing. James Cotton ups the harp ante on two cuts, and fellow Waters vets bassist Calvin Jones, pianist Pinetop Perkins (who's 92), and guitarist Bob Margolin join in. Smith's own "Blues and Trouble," a spare, haunted duet with Margolin, is especially moving, right from their twined harmonica and slide-guitar introduction. Even on the band numbers there's a respect for space and sonic detail that's the work of masters delivering performances to support and complement each other. Somewhere in heaven, Muddy is smiling down at these men he mentored.
By Ted Drozdowski.
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Willie "Big Eyes" Smith is best known as the longtime drummer in the Muddy Waters Band. With seven W.C. Handy awards for blues drumming and six Grammy awards with the Legendary Blues Band, Smith has already left his mark on the music world. At the age of 17, Willie ventured to Chicago where he saw his first Muddy Waters performance. He was soon hooked on the blues and decided to stay. He played in various groups before settling into the drummer's seat behind Muddy Waters.
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Willie "Big Eyes" Smith is most often recalled as the longtime drummer in the Muddy Waters Band (he occupied the drum chair in the group from 1961 through 1980), but he was a harmonica player well before he was a drummer (his hard-charging harmonica can be heard on Bo Diddley's "Diddy Wah Diddy" from 1955) and he has led his own blues ensembles from time to time. Way Back, a pleasant set recorded in 2005 and produced by Bob Corritore, puts Smith front and center, and while no one would accuse him of being the equal of Muddy Waters as a bandleader, the 73-year-old Smith projects an intangible joy through the 11 songs here, half of which he wrote. Backed by what amounts to a superstar blues band, with the great, unsung Bob Margolin on guitar, a seemingly ageless 93-year-old Pinetop Perkins on piano, and guest shots by James Cotton and others, Smith delivers several variations on the good, old and undeniably durable Chicago blues shuffle, including the opener, a cover of Jimmy Reed's "Don't Say That No More" and a gleeful version of Waters' "Read Way Back," both of which feature Smith's steady and somehow endearingly fragile vocals, and his strong, unhurried harmonica lines. Smith does play drums on a pair of tracks, "Lowdown Blues" and "I Want You to Love Me (Trust Me)," as well, but most of the drumming is from Kenny "Beady Eyes" Smith, Willie's son. The clear highlight is a wonderfully simple, atmospheric, and haunting Willie Smith original, "Blues and Trouble," which builds powerfully on just Smith's vocal and harmonica and Margolin's brilliant electric slide guitar playing. Nothing here is going to reshape the contemporary blues world, and truthfully, these kinds of Chicago blues shuffles have been done a thousand times by a thousand blues bands. But maybe that's the point, actually. Smith is one of the musicians who helped create and shape those rhythms, and this album is evidence that he still knows what to do with them.
By Steve Leggett.
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Willie "Big Eyes" Smith- (Vocals, Harmonica, Drums);
Frank Krakowski- (Guitar);
Bob Stroger, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones- (Bass Guitar);
Billy Flynn, Bob Margolin, Johnny Rapp- (Guitar);
James Cotton , Bob Corritore- (Harmonica);
Pinetop Perkins- (Piano);
Kenny Smith- (Drums).
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01. Don't Say That No More 4:09
02. I Don't Trust You Man 4:18
03. Read Way Back 3:02
04. Tell Me Mama 4:04
05. If You Don't Believe I'm Leaving 3:41
06. Lowdown Blues 4:49
07. Woman's World 5:16
08. Don't Start Me Talkin' 4:14
09. Blues And Trouble 4:41
10. I Want You To Love Me (Trust Me) 2:38
11. Eye To Eye 6:36
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Willie "Big Eyes" SMITH - Born in Arkansas 2008

Willie "Big Eyes" SMITH - Born in Arkansas 2008
Label: BigEye

Blues

Here’s a fine new release from something of a Chicago blues legend – born in Helena, Arkansas in 1936, and like thousands from the south, relocating to the ‘Windy City’ in the 1950s’, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith became addicted to the blues after seeing Muddy Waters at the Zanzibar – and then became his drummer for some two decades, and also playing with the likes of Bo Diddley, James Cotton, Buddy Guy, and many more.
However on this new album he forsakes the drums to front a fine band with his vocals and harmonica – leaving the ‘engine room’ to his son, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, with Chicago veteran Bob Stroger on bass, Barrelhouse Chuck on keyboards, with the two guitars of Billy Flynn and Little Frank Krakowski completing the line-up.
Twelve of the thirteen tracks are self-penned, with the album produced by Smith on his own label and recorded in Chicago – his harmonica kicking things off in fine style on the mid-tempo shuffle of “When I Left”, followed by the very Muddy-sounding “Rub My Back”, and the jaunty “Money Talk” – driven along by the twin guitars.
The sweet “Dreamin’ ” takes the pace down, with some lovely chromatic harmonica, before a dip into Elmore James territory on the slide guitar-driven “Sitting Here Drinkin’ “.
“I’m The Creeper” rides along on a nice groove with Barrelhouse Chuck to the fore, pushed along by the rhythm section of Bob Stroger and Kenny Smith; with “Can’t Rest For Worry” taking us back to a Muddy Waters feel – and after Smith’s close association with the late legend, why not?
Anyone with a love of pure, classic Chicago blues will love this album – beautifully played and recorded with a very nice feel indeed, and at 72 years of age Smith seems to be having a ball – highly recommended!
By GRAHAME RHODES.
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What would 10-year-old Willie Smith have said back in 1946 if asked what he wanted to be when he grew up? The Legendary Bluesman would have had the same answer as most any other boy his age in Arkansas: a train conductor, better yet, a freight ...    Full Descriptiontrain conductor. In that Mississippi Delta River town of Helena, Arkansas where he was born, Willie knew only what surrounded him, and to Willie, that meant the farming life. He knew how to “pick cotton, pull cotton, and bail cotton” and he knew that for every hundred pounds he bagged he made $2 in cash. Willie knew how to make sticks and stones into bats and balls. He knew how to ride his prized bicycle, given to him by his adored mother, Lizzie Mae Smith. Willie knew he loved the blue river, the flatlands, and most of all, he knew he loved The Music. Through his RCA Victor Phonograph Gramophone, Willie experienced Robert Johnson, Tampa Red, Leroy Carr and Memphis Minnie, among others. Even now, hearing their songs brings Willie back, as he says, to the days of “jukin’ in smoky, uptown cafes.” It was not until his teenage years that Willie realized musicians could travel the world to play music. After fifty-three years in the music business, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith has proven time and time again that he has found his calling and was born to play the blues. Just one look into his eyes when he’s performing and you know that Willie feels the same excitement about the music now that he did when he first heard Muddy Waters’ electrifying sounds back in 1953, at Zanzibar in Chicago. You’ll often hear him say “nothin’ but the blues, ya’ll” and to Willie, that couldn’t be more true. His only passion is to be a “part of the wheels turnin’” and it doesn’t matter to Willie if that means being a sideman or a leader, as long as he can play the drums and blow his harp. Willie works hard for the blues community and his fans, often writing songs into the early hours of the morning, requiring his wife Lou to pull him off to bed. What is the secret to finding this absolute happiness? Once you’ve heard Willie laugh, you’ll know that he knows it. And by creating Born in Arkansas, he’s sharing it with you.Willie “Big Eyes” Smith has some of the finest artists performing with him on this CD. Mr. Bob Stroger is an extraordinary bass player who has played with the likes of Otis Rush, Sunnyland Slim, and Eddie Taylor, to name a few. Along side Bob, Barrelhouse Chuck, who tickles the ivory, studied under Little Brother Montgomery and Pinetop Perkins and continues to pay tributes to all those who came before him. Billy Flynn, one of the most versatile guitarists and a legend in his own right, has played with Jimmy Dawkins and was a member of the Legendary Blues Band. Also on guitar, Little Frank Krakowski specializes in‘50 and ‘60s style blues music and has been playing with Willie since his teen years. Playing the back beat, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, son of Willie Smith, has been playing drums since the age of 4, and is now one of the hardest working drummers around.Willie “Big Eyes” Smith is proud to present Born In Arkansas and he’d like to thank you for supporting and keeping the blues alive!
From CD Universe.
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01. When I Left (4:01)
02. Rub My Back (4:59)
03. Money Talk (3:33)
04. Ain't That a Shame (4:40)
05. Old Woman Sweetheart (4:20)
06. Dreamin' (4:09)
07. Sittin' Here Drinkin' (4:28)
08. Born In Arkansas (3:30)
09. World In An Uproar (5:02)
10. I'm The Creeper (4:31)
11. Can't Rest For Worry (5:15)
12. Believe Me (3:40)
13. Overcoat Mama (4:24)
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