Joe Williams (jazz singer)
Encyclopedia
Joe Williams was a well-known jazz
vocalist, a baritone
singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.
. His father, Willie Goreed, left the family early on, but Williams' mother, Anne Beatrice Gilbert, who was 18 when she had her only child, provided a strong emotional bond until her death in 1968. Soon after Williams was born, his mother moved them in with her parents, who had enough money to support an extended family. During this time, Anne Gilbert was saving for a move to Chicago
. Once she had made the move — alone — she began saving the money that she earned cooking for wealthy Chicago
ans so that her family could join her. By the time Williams was four, he, his grandmother, and his aunt had joined his mother in Chicago, where they would live for many years.
Probably most important to Williams' later life was the music scene — fueled largely by African-American musicians — that thrived in Chicago in the early 1920s. Years later, he recalled going to the Vendóme Theatre with his mother to hear Louis Armstrong
play the trumpet
. Chicago also offered a host of radio stations that featured the then-rebellious sounds of jazz, exposing Williams to the stylings of Duke Ellington
, Ethel Waters
, Cab Calloway
, Big Joe Turner
, and many others. By his early teens, he had already taught himself to play piano and had formed his own gospel
vocal quartet, known as "The Jubilee Boys", that sang at church functions.
During his mid-teens Williams began performing as a vocalist, singing solo at formal events with local bands. The most that he ever took home was five dollars a night, but that was enough to convince his family that he could make a living with his voice; so, at 16, he dropped out of school. After discussing it with his family, he began using the name "Williams" as a stage name, and he began marketing himself in earnest to Chicago clubs and bands. His first job was at a club called Kitty Davis's. Williams was allowed to sing with the band in the evening and keep the tips, which would sometimes amount to $20.
and saxophone
player Jimmie Noone
invited him to sing with his band. Less than a year later, the young singer was earning a reputation at Chicago dance halls and on a national radio station that broadcast his voice from Massachusetts
to California
. He toured the Midwest in 1939 and 1940 with the Les Hite
band, which accompanied the likes of Louis Armstrong
and Fats Waller
. A year later, he went on a more extensive tour with the band of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins
.
In 1942, Lionel Hampton
hired him to fill in for his regular vocalist, both for the Hampton orchestra's home performances at the Tic Toc Club in Boston
and for their cross-country tours. Williams' work with Hampton ended when the band's former singer returned, but by that time Williams was in great demand, his fame particularly burgeoning back in Chicago. In the mid-'40s he toured with Andy Kirk
and His Clouds of Joy (making his first recording with that band). From 1951 through 1953, he recorded with Red Saunders
and his band for OKeh Records
and Blue Lake Records
.
He got his big break in 1954, when he was hired as the male vocalist for with Count Basie Orchestra
. He remained with Basie until 1961, garnering some of the best exposure a blues and jazz singer could have. His first LP
, Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings, appeared in 1955, containing definitive versions of Memphis Slim
's "Every Day I Have the Blues
" (already his signature song) and "Alright, Okay, You Win." "Every Day" hit number two on the R&B charts, and sparked another LP—1957 The Greatest! Count Basie Swings/Joe Williams Sings Standards—spotlighting Williams' command of the traditional-pop repertory. After 1955, the Basie group stopped every year at the Newport Jazz Festival
, one of the biggest events on the jazz calendar. In 1955, Williams won Down Beat
magazine's New Star Award. That same year, he won Down Beats international critics' poll for Best New Male Singer, as well as their readers' poll for Best Male Band Singer—citations he would continue to accumulate throughout his career. The years 1956, 1957, and 1959 also found the ensemble touring Europe, where the popularity of jazz had skyrocketed.
He appeared with Count Basie and his Orchestra in the 1957 rock and roll movie Jamboree (1957 film)
, released by Warner Brothers.
In the 1960s Williams worked mostly as a single, often accompanied by top-flight jazzmen, including Harry Edison
, Clark Terry
, George Shearing
and Cannonball Adderley. In 1962 Williams sings along with Jimmy Rushing
with Count Basie & His Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival
. In 1971, he and pianist George Shearing
collaborated on a recording, The Heart and Soul of Joe Williams. He became a familiar face on television, appearing on such variety programs as Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show
, Steve Allen
, Joey Bishop
, Merv Griffin
, and Mike Douglas
shows. Williams gained further notoriety when Bill Cosby
cast him as Heathcliff Huxtable's father-in-law "Grandpa Al" Hanks in a recurring role on the hit 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show
.
Williams sang the lead in 1975 in Cannonball Adderley's musical play Big Man (based on the John Henry
legend) in Carnegie Hall
. Helped by Cannonball's brother Nat Adderley
, he composed music for a full-blown, nearly-hour-long theater piece, which he called a "folk musical", the subject of which is John Henry, the mythical black hero.
Williams continued to perform regularly at jazz festivals, both in the U.S. and aboard, as well as on the nightclub circuit. Williams had performed at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival
12 times, spanning from 1959 thru 1993, sharing the stage with jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan
, Dianne Reeves
, Thelonious Monk
, Oscar Peterson
, Miles Davis
, Cal Tjader
, Carmen McRae
, Herbie Hancock
, Nat Adderley
, and Dizzy Gillespie
. During the 1980s Williams appeared at Chicago's, Playboy Jazz Festival
ten times.
He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983, next to Basie's. When Basie died in 1984, Williams sang a rendition of Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" at his funeral. The 1984 movie All of Me starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin gives credit to Williams as performer of the title track. In 1985, Williams received a Grammy Award
for Best Jazz Vocalist for the album I Just Want to Sing. In 1991 Williams attended his own gala tribute, "For the Love of Joe", which celebrated the contribution that he had made and was still making to music. In 1992, he won his second Grammy Award, for the release Ballad and Blues Master—"I Just Want to Sing." In 1997, Williams sang a duet with Nancy Wilson
during the opening show of the San Francisco Jazz Festival
, singing the song "You're Too Good to Be True."
Williams enjoyed a successful career and worked regularly until his death.
Williams died at age 80, on March 29, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He collapsed on a city street a few blocks from his home after walking out of Sunrise Hospital, where he had been admitted for a respiratory ailment. The hospital had reported him missing several hours before his body was found. "He's an adult and chose to leave," Ann Lynch, vice president for human services at the hospital, said. "We don't confine people here. Upon finding him missing, the facility was checked, and then the police were notified to continue the search." Ron Flud, the Clark County Coroner, said Mr. Williams had apparently died of natural causes.
He is buried at Palm Valley View Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
vocalist, a baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards.
Early life
Williams was born Joseph Goreed in the small farming town of Cordele, GeorgiaCordele, Georgia
Cordele, also known as The Watermelon Capital of the World, is a city in Crisp County, Georgia, United States. The population was 11,608 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Crisp County...
. His father, Willie Goreed, left the family early on, but Williams' mother, Anne Beatrice Gilbert, who was 18 when she had her only child, provided a strong emotional bond until her death in 1968. Soon after Williams was born, his mother moved them in with her parents, who had enough money to support an extended family. During this time, Anne Gilbert was saving for a move to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Once she had made the move — alone — she began saving the money that she earned cooking for wealthy Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
ans so that her family could join her. By the time Williams was four, he, his grandmother, and his aunt had joined his mother in Chicago, where they would live for many years.
Probably most important to Williams' later life was the music scene — fueled largely by African-American musicians — that thrived in Chicago in the early 1920s. Years later, he recalled going to the Vendóme Theatre with his mother to hear Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
play the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. Chicago also offered a host of radio stations that featured the then-rebellious sounds of jazz, exposing Williams to the stylings of Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress. She frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.Her best-known recordings includes, "Dinah", "Birmingham Bertha",...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner
Big Joe Turner was an American blues shouter from Kansas City, Missouri. According to the songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." Although he came to his greatest fame in the 1950s with his pioneering rock and roll recordings, particularly "Shake, Rattle and...
, and many others. By his early teens, he had already taught himself to play piano and had formed his own gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
vocal quartet, known as "The Jubilee Boys", that sang at church functions.
During his mid-teens Williams began performing as a vocalist, singing solo at formal events with local bands. The most that he ever took home was five dollars a night, but that was enough to convince his family that he could make a living with his voice; so, at 16, he dropped out of school. After discussing it with his family, he began using the name "Williams" as a stage name, and he began marketing himself in earnest to Chicago clubs and bands. His first job was at a club called Kitty Davis's. Williams was allowed to sing with the band in the evening and keep the tips, which would sometimes amount to $20.
Career
Williams had his first real break in 1938 when clarinetClarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
player Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone
Jimmie Noone was an American jazz clarinetist.- Background :...
invited him to sing with his band. Less than a year later, the young singer was earning a reputation at Chicago dance halls and on a national radio station that broadcast his voice from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He toured the Midwest in 1939 and 1940 with the Les Hite
Les Hite
Les Hite was an American jazz bandleader.Hite attended the University of Illinois and played saxophone with family members in a band in the 1920s. Following this, he played with Detroit Shannon and then the Helen Dewey Show, but when this group disbanded abruptly, Hite relocated to Los Angeles...
band, which accompanied the likes of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
. A year later, he went on a more extensive tour with the band of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Randolph Hawkins was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument. As Joachim E. Berendt explained, "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn"...
.
In 1942, Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, bandleader and actor. Like Red Norvo, he was one of the first jazz vibraphone players. Hampton ranks among the great names in jazz history, having worked with a who's who of jazz musicians, from Benny Goodman and Buddy...
hired him to fill in for his regular vocalist, both for the Hampton orchestra's home performances at the Tic Toc Club in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and for their cross-country tours. Williams' work with Hampton ended when the band's former singer returned, but by that time Williams was in great demand, his fame particularly burgeoning back in Chicago. In the mid-'40s he toured with Andy Kirk
Andy Kirk
Andrew Dewey Kirk was a jazz saxophonist and tubist best known as a bandleader of the "Twelve Clouds of Joy," popular during the swing era....
and His Clouds of Joy (making his first recording with that band). From 1951 through 1953, he recorded with Red Saunders
Red Saunders (musician)
Theodore Dudley "Red" Saunders was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He also played vibraphone and timpani....
and his band for OKeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
and Blue Lake Records
Blue Lake Records
Blue Lake was a Chicago-based record label founded in 1954 by disc jockey Al Benson. It specialized in blues, doo-wop, jazz, and gospel. A subsidiary of Benson's Parrot operation, it lasted until mid-1956...
.
He got his big break in 1954, when he was hired as the male vocalist for with Count Basie Orchestra
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella...
. He remained with Basie until 1961, garnering some of the best exposure a blues and jazz singer could have. His first LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings, appeared in 1955, containing definitive versions of Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim
Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...
's "Every Day I Have the Blues
Every Day I Have the Blues
"Every Day I Have the Blues" or "Everyday I Have the Blues" is a classic of the blues that has been recorded by numerous artists. The song is usually credited to Peter Chatman and is often associated with jazz singer Joe Williams and B.B. King...
" (already his signature song) and "Alright, Okay, You Win." "Every Day" hit number two on the R&B charts, and sparked another LP—1957 The Greatest! Count Basie Swings/Joe Williams Sings Standards—spotlighting Williams' command of the traditional-pop repertory. After 1955, the Basie group stopped every year at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
, one of the biggest events on the jazz calendar. In 1955, Williams won Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine's New Star Award. That same year, he won Down Beats international critics' poll for Best New Male Singer, as well as their readers' poll for Best Male Band Singer—citations he would continue to accumulate throughout his career. The years 1956, 1957, and 1959 also found the ensemble touring Europe, where the popularity of jazz had skyrocketed.
He appeared with Count Basie and his Orchestra in the 1957 rock and roll movie Jamboree (1957 film)
Jamboree (1957 film)
Jamboree is the name of a black and white 1957 rock 'n' roll motion picture directed by Roy Lockwood that runs for 71 minutes in mono RCA sound...
, released by Warner Brothers.
In the 1960s Williams worked mostly as a single, often accompanied by top-flight jazzmen, including Harry Edison
Sweets Edison
Harry "Sweets" Edison , born in Columbus, Ohio, was an American jazz trumpeter and member of the Count Basie Orchestra.-Biography:He spent his early childhood in Kentucky, where he was introduced to music by an uncle...
, Clark Terry
Clark Terry
Clark Terry is an American swing and bop trumpeter, a pioneer of the fluegelhorn in jazz, educator, NEA Jazz Masters inductee, and recipient of the 2010 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award...
, George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
and Cannonball Adderley. In 1962 Williams sings along with Jimmy Rushing
Jimmy Rushing
James Andrew Rushing , known as Jimmy Rushing, was an American blues shouter and swing jazz singer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, best known as the featured vocalist of Count Basie's Orchestra from 1935 to 1948.Rushing was known as "Mr...
with Count Basie & His Orchestra at the Newport Jazz Festival
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
. In 1971, he and pianist George Shearing
George Shearing
Sir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
collaborated on a recording, The Heart and Soul of Joe Williams. He became a familiar face on television, appearing on such variety programs as Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
, Steve Allen
The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964....
, Joey Bishop
The Joey Bishop Show (talk show)
The Joey Bishop Show is an American talk show which was first broadcast on ABC on April 17, 1967, hosted by Joey Bishop and featuring Regis Philbin in his first concentrated national television exposure, as Bishop's sidekick/announcer...
, Merv Griffin
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
, and Mike Douglas
The Mike Douglas Show
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that aired in syndication from 1961 to 1982, distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations.The program featured light banter with...
shows. Williams gained further notoriety when Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
cast him as Heathcliff Huxtable's father-in-law "Grandpa Al" Hanks in a recurring role on the hit 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
.
Williams sang the lead in 1975 in Cannonball Adderley's musical play Big Man (based on the John Henry
John Henry (folklore)
John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
legend) in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. Helped by Cannonball's brother Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
, he composed music for a full-blown, nearly-hour-long theater piece, which he called a "folk musical", the subject of which is John Henry, the mythical black hero.
Williams continued to perform regularly at jazz festivals, both in the U.S. and aboard, as well as on the nightclub circuit. Williams had performed at the legendary Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
12 times, spanning from 1959 thru 1993, sharing the stage with jazz greats such as Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
, Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Reeves is an American jazz singer. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado.-Early life:Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan to a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke, is a...
, Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
Callen Radcliffe Tjader, Jr. a.k.a. Cal Tjader was a Latin jazz musician, though he also explored various other jazz idioms. Unlike other American jazz musicians who experimented with the music from Cuba, the Caribbean, and Latin America, he never abandoned it, performing it until his...
, Carmen McRae
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae was an American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable...
, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
Nathaniel Adderley was an American jazz cornet and trumpet player who played in the hard bop and soul jazz genres. He was the brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley....
, and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
. During the 1980s Williams appeared at Chicago's, Playboy Jazz Festival
Playboy Jazz Festival
The Playboy Jazz Festival is an annual event sponsored by Playboy Enterprises to celebrate jazz as well as feature both established and up and coming musicians of the genre. It was founded by Hugh Hefner and was first held in Chicago, Illinois at the Chicago Stadium in 1959. However, the second...
ten times.
He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1983, next to Basie's. When Basie died in 1984, Williams sang a rendition of Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" at his funeral. The 1984 movie All of Me starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin gives credit to Williams as performer of the title track. In 1985, Williams received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Jazz Vocalist for the album I Just Want to Sing. In 1991 Williams attended his own gala tribute, "For the Love of Joe", which celebrated the contribution that he had made and was still making to music. In 1992, he won his second Grammy Award, for the release Ballad and Blues Master—"I Just Want to Sing." In 1997, Williams sang a duet with Nancy Wilson
Nancy Wilson (singer)
Nancy Wilson is an American singer with more than 70 albums, and three Grammy Awards. She has been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer." The title she prefers, however, is song stylist...
during the opening show of the San Francisco Jazz Festival
San Francisco Jazz Festival
Debuting in 1983, the San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week celebration of today's best music, with over 30 concerts. Produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education...
, singing the song "You're Too Good to Be True."
Williams enjoyed a successful career and worked regularly until his death.
Williams died at age 80, on March 29, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He collapsed on a city street a few blocks from his home after walking out of Sunrise Hospital, where he had been admitted for a respiratory ailment. The hospital had reported him missing several hours before his body was found. "He's an adult and chose to leave," Ann Lynch, vice president for human services at the hospital, said. "We don't confine people here. Upon finding him missing, the facility was checked, and then the police were notified to continue the search." Ron Flud, the Clark County Coroner, said Mr. Williams had apparently died of natural causes.
He is buried at Palm Valley View Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Grammy Award
| Joe Williams Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... History |
|||||
| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | In Good Company | Jazz | Nominee | |
| 1989 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" is a 1944 Louis Jordan song, released as the B-side of single with "G.I. Jive". "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" reached #1 on the US folk/country charts. The Louis Jordan recording also peaked at number two for three weeks on the pop chart and peaked at... |
Jazz | Nominee | with Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw Marlena Shaw is an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in hip hop music, and used in television commercials.-Biography:She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player... |
| 1988 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | I Won't Leave You Again | Jazz | Nominee | with Lena Horne Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the... |
| 1987 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | Every Night | Jazz | Nominee | |
| 1986 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | I Just Want to Sing | Jazz | Nominee | |
| 1984 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | Nothin' But the Blues Nothin' but the Blues (Joe Williams) Nothin' but the Blues is a 1984 album by the American jazz and blues singer Joe Williams with Red Holloway & His Blues All-Stars... |
Jazz | Winner | |
| 1982 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | 8 to 5 I Lose | Jazz | Nominee | |
| 1979 | Best Jazz Vocal Performance | Prez and Joe | Jazz | Nominee | |
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame was established by The Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973 to honor recordings of "lasting qualitative or historical significance" that are at least 25 years old.| Year Recorded | Title | Genre | Label | Year Inducted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Everyday I Have the Blues | Jazz (Single) | Clef | 1992 | with Count Basie Orchestra Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late '40s decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella... |
The Blues Foundation Awards
| Joe Williams: Blues Music Awards | ||||
| Year | Category | Title | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Traditional Blues Album | Nothin' But The Blues | Winner | |
Honors
| Year | Category | Result | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame | Inducted | ||
| 1995 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | Inducted | ||
| 1993 | NEA Jazz Masters NEA Jazz Masters The National Endowment for the Arts , every year honors up to seven jazz musicians with Jazz Master Awards. The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians... |
Winner | ||
| 1993 | Ebony Lifetime Achievement Award | Winner | ||
| 1983 | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Honored | at 6508 Hollywood Blvd. next to Count Basie Count Basie William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years... |
|
Legacy
Prior to his death, Joe Williams, with his wife Jillean and some of his closest friends and collaborators, created the not-for-profit "Joe Williams Every Day Foundation". Its aim—to provide support for music and musicians, especially those in jazz, and to create career opportunities for deserving young talent.Selected discography
| Year | Title | Label | Billboard Chart Top Jazz Albums |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Definitive Joe Williams | Verve | ||
| 2001 | The Heart and Soul of Joe Williams and George Shearing | Verve | ||
| 1993 | Every Day: The Best of the Verve Years | Verve | #2 | |
| 1992 | Ballad and Blues Master | Verve | #7 | |
| 1997 | The Best of Joe Williams: The Roulette, Solid State & Blue Note Years | Verve | #20 | |
| 1989 | In Good Company | Verve | #5 | |
| 1984 | Nothin' But the Blues Nothin' but the Blues (Joe Williams) Nothin' but the Blues is a 1984 album by the American jazz and blues singer Joe Williams with Red Holloway & His Blues All-Stars... |
Delos | ||
| 1979 | Dave Pell's Prez Conference | GNP Crescendo | ||
| 1973 | Joe Williams Live | Fantasy | ||
| 1985 | I Just Wanna Sing | Delos | ||
| 1964 | Me and the Blues | RCA | ||
| 1963 | At Newport '63 | RCA | ||
| 1958 | A Man Ain't Supposed To Cry | Roulette | ||
| 1957 | One O'Clock Jump | Verve | ||
| 1956 | Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings is a 1956 album by the American jazz and blues singer Joe Williams, with the Count Basie Orchestra.-Track listing:# "Every Day I Have the Blues" – 5:29# "The Come Back" – 5:28... |
Verve | ||
| 1955 | "A Night at Count Basie's" | Vanguard | ||
Filmography
- 1991 Jazz at the Smithsonian (Kultur Video) - Rereleased in the Jazz Masters Series on DVD by Shanachie (2005)
- 1992 Joe Williams with George ShearingGeorge ShearingSir George Shearing, OBE was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s...
: A Song is Born (VIEW) - Rereleased on DVD by VIEW (2004)
External links
- Grouse, Leslie. Everyday: The Story of Joe Williams, Quartet (1985) - ISBN 0-7043-2466-0
- http://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/31/arts/joe-williams-jazz-singer-of-soulful-tone-and-timing-is-dead-at-80.html?scp=1&sq=joe%20williams&st=cse
- Program for Joe Williams' funeral, written by friend and publicist Devra Hall
- Joe Williams Collection, part of the International Jazz Collections at the University of Idaho Library