Eddie "Chank" Willis is an African-American musician. Willis played electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 and occasional electric sitar

Sitar

The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...

 for Motown Records

Motown Records

Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

' in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Willis is known for his signature style of muted guitar riffs which added a distinctive tone or "color" to the beat, often timed with the snare, of the hundreds of hit songs recorded at Hitsville U.S.A.

Hitsville U.S.A.

"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters. A former photographers' studio located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, it was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959 and converted into both the record label's administrative building and recording...

 for Motown artists. Among the many Motown recordings WIllis performed on are "Please Mr. Postman

Please Mr. Postman

"Please Mr. Postman" is the debut single by The Marvelettes for the Tamla label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr...

" by The Marvelettes

The Marvelettes

The Marvelettes were an American singing girl group on the Tamla label. Motown's first successful female vocal group, the Marvelettes are most notable for recording the company's first #1 Pop hit, "Please Mr...

, "The Way You Do the Things You Do

The Way You Do the Things You Do

"The Way You Do the Things You Do" was covered in 1989 by the band UB40. It was the sixth single from their 1989 album Labour of Love II. The song was released in 1989 in the major of the European countries .-Track listings:7"-Single...

" by The Temptations

The Temptations

The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...

, "You Keep Me Hanging On" by The Supremes

The Supremes

The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

, and "I Was Made to Love Her

I Was Made to Love Her

I Was Made to Love Her is the seventh studio album by Stevie Wonder, released in 1967 under Tamla Records, a Motown subsidiary.-Track listing:#"I Was Made to Love Her" – 2:36...

" by Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

.

Influences for Willis include Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...

, Wes Montgomery

Wes Montgomery

John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...

, and Albert King

Albert King

Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

. He played a Gibson

Gibson Guitar Corporation

The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...

 Firebird guitar on most his early 1960s work, later moving on to use a Gibson ES 335. On recordings such as The Supremes' "No Matter What Sign You Are", Willis performed on a Coral sitar.

He accepted an offer from Phil Collins

Phil Collins

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

 to perform on his album of Motown and 1960s soul classics Going Back

Going Back (Phil Collins album)

Going Back is Phil Collins's eighth studio album. It was released on 13 September 2010 in the United Kingdom and 28 September 2010 in the United States. and features covers of 60s Motown & Soul standards...

.