SOUNDING Off The Best In Recorded Music - African American music - Brief Article

Ebony, June, 1999 by Lynn Norment

THE rich musical legacy of the mellifluous-voiced Joe Williams will live on as a contribution to music history. Until the illness that hospitalized him before his recent death, Williams had continued to entertain and inspire audiences with his bluesy baritone, perfect diction, impeccable timing, regal stage presence and congenial personality. He was and is a legend, as are Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington, all of whom he worked with during an illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years.

Born Joseph Goreed in Cordele, Ga., in 1918, Williams moved to Chicago at age 4 and grew up singing in the church. As a teen he performed in Chicago clubs. While working as a stage doorman at the Regal Theater in the early '40s, he joined the Lionel Hampton band. In 1954, he teamed with the Count Basic Orchestra. Their first album, Count Basic Swings, Joe Williams Sings (Verve, 1955) was a hit and offered a new version of a Williams favorite, Memphis Slim's "Every Day (I Have the Blues)."

Throughout the '70s and '80s, when other jazz artists had difficulty, finding work, Williams continued to be a popular performer, appearing frequently on television, especially the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and getting regular bookings in Las Vegas and elsewhere. He settled in Las Vegas with his fourth wife, Jillean, but was on the road for 40 weeks a year. A highlight of his career was reuniting with Count Basic in 1974 for a performance in New York, and over the next decade he appeared frequently with the Basic Orchestra.

The 1980s was a rewarding decade for the veteran performer. In 1983, Williams' star was placed next to Basie's on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (At Basie's 1984 funeral, he sang Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" in tribute to his friend and mentor) In addition, his album, Nothin' but the Blues (Delos), won him a Grammy Award in 1984 as best jazz vocalist. Also in the '80s, Williams occasionally appeared on The Cosby Show in a role that exposed him to a new generation of fans. His signature song, "Every Day (I Have the Blues)," was added to the Grammy Awards Hall of Fame for recordings in 1992. That year, Williams also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from EBONY Publisher John H. Johnson at the American Black Achievement Awards program, where he sang (above) his hit song, "Here's To Life."

According to singer Robert Goulet, Williams could sing better at age 80 than most at age 20. "He was one of the greatest jazz and blues singers of all time," Goulet said. He never lost his range, and his rich baritone seems to have gotten better with age. "His voice is bronze and burnt sienna and golden, warm and enveloping, just an incredible instrument," says jazz singer Cassandra Wilson.

In recent years, Joe Williams recorded on Verve and Telarc Records. His last album, a collection of spirituals titled Feel The Spirit, was released on Telarc in 1995. Other Joe Williams titles available on Telarc are Joe Williams with the Count Basic Orchestra, Feel The Spirit, Here's To Life, and Triple Play, a box set. Recordings available on Verve include Live At Vine Street, Ballad and Blues, In Good Company, That Holiday Feeling, 75th Birthday Anthology, Jazz `Round Midnight, and One O'Clock Jump with Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basic.