Chuck Willis

by Bill DahlThere were two distinct sides to Chuck Willis. In addition to being a convincing blues shouter, the Atlanta-born Willis harbored a vulnerable blues balladeer side. In addition, he was a masterful songwriter who penned some of the most distinctive R&B numbers of the 1950s. He cant be granted principal credit for his 1957 smash adaptation of C.C. Rider, an irresistible update of a classic folk-blues, but Willis did write such gems as I Feel So Bad (later covered by Elvis Presley, Little Milton, and Otis Rush), the anguished ballads Dont Deceive Me (Please Dont Go) and Its Too Late (the latter attracting covers by Buddy Holly, Charlie Rich, and Otis Redding) and his swan song, Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes.Harold Willis (he adopted Chuck as a stage handle) received his early training singing at YMCA-sponsored Teenage Canteens in Atlanta and fronting the combos of local bandleaders Roy Mays and Red McAllister. Powerful DJ Zenas Daddy Sears took an interest in the young vocalists career, hooking him up with Columbia Records in 1951. After a solitary single for the major firm, Willis was shuttled over to its recently reactivated OKeh R&B subsidiary.In 1952, he crashed the national R&B lists for OKeh with a typically plaintive ballad, My Story, swiftly encoring on the hit parade with a gentle cover of Fats Dominos Goin to the River and his own Dont Deceive Me the next year and Youre Still My Baby and the surging Latin-beat I Feel So Bad in 1954. Willis also penned a heart-tugging chart-topper for Ruth Brown that year, Oh What a Dream.Willis moved over to Atlantic Records in 1956 and immediately enjoyed another round of hits with Its Too Late and Juanita. Atlantic strove mightily to cross Willis over into pop territory, inserting an exotic steel guitar at one session and chirpy choirs on several more. The strategy eventually worked when his 1957 revival of the ancient C.C. Rider proved the perfect number to do the Stroll to; American Bandstand gave the track a big push, and Willis had his first R&B number one hit as well as a huge pop seller (Gene Daddy G Barges magnificent sax solo likely aided its ascent).Barge returned for Williss similar follow-up, Betty and Dupree, which also did well for him. But the turban-wearing crooners time was growing short — he had long suffered from ulcers prior to his 1958 death from peritonitis. Much has been made of the ironic title of his last hit, the touching What Am I Living For, but it was no more a clue to his impending demise than its flip, the joyous Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes. Both tracks became massive hits upon the singers death, and his posthumous roll continued with My Life and a powerful Keep A-Driving later that year.