Search - Billy Wright :: 1949-1951

Prince Of The Blues

08/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That was Billy Wright's billing during his years with Savoy Records, brilliantly recaptured here by Melodie Jazz in this 2003 release.



Born in 1918 in Atlanta, his style of delivery, which included dancing, gradually became what can best be described as exuberant shouting, and it was while sharing a bill in his home town with blues greats Charles Brown and Wynonie Harris that he came to the attention of saxophonist Paul Williams, whose 1949 Hucklebuck was a monster hit [14 weeks at # 1 R&B] for the Savoy label.



Williams immediately recommended him to label executives who signed him and paired him with Howard Collander and his orchestra on Blues For My Baby, which rose to # 3 R&B in late October 1949. The flipside, You Satisfy, also charted at # 9.



Follow-up hit singles were hard to come by, however, and it wasn't until July 1951, still with Savoy, that Stacked Deck made it to # 9, followed a few months later by Hey Little Girl [also shown as Heh Little Girl] which hit the # 10 slot.



But he had a following on the live circuit where he shocked and titillated audiences by wearing makeup and having his hair prepared in a large pompadour. One who was duly impressed by both his appearance and his musical style was one Richard Penniman from Macon, Georgia, and the two became fast friends. In fact, it was Wright who arranged Little Richard's first recording contract in 1951 with RCA Victor through local DJ Zenas Sears.



Wright remained with Savoy until 1955, but without any further chart success. He followed Little Richard to Peacock Records that year but was no more successful there than his friend who would, however, soon break out with Specialty Records.



For Billy Wright the future was a series of unsuccessful sessions with small labels such as Fire, and continuing local appearances in and around Atlanta. He also began suffering from a series of strokes, one of which took his life on October 28, 1991 at age 73.



One of the forgotten ones who, if nothing else, was the main influence behind one of R&R's greatest legends, and surely had some impact as well on another great, James Brown. Get a copy. In the meantime, are they asleep at the Blues Hall Of Fame?

"