Poor Little Willie recorded some great music, was covered by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, and Peggy Lee, and then got convicted for manslaughter. He had a short a fuse and decided to knife someone after a show in Seattle in 1966. But did that stop Little Willie from making music? Hell no! He appealed against his conviction, and while the case was being reconsidered, he went into the studio and recorded what was to be his comeback album. The thing is, it's hard to launch a comeback from jail. That album wasn't released until 2008 and Little Willie John died in jail, two years after his conviction. Some say he had a heart attack, others say he was asphyxiated... but I guess we'll never know what really happened.
These are two of his lesser known songs from 1957. "Uh Uh Baby" on the A-side kicks things off with an energetic R&B stomper. Dinner Date on the flip is the intriguing side to me, as it credits vocal duties to "Little Willie John and His Girl Friend." His "girl friend" managed to squeak out this voice that sounds like a pissed off mouse, and it's just enough to set the track apart.
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