Willie Weeks

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This article is about the American bass guitarist. For the British songwriter, see William Ernest Weeks.

Willie Weeks
Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic, Capitol, Columbia, EMI, CBS, Elektra

Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American

rock
's heavyweights throughout his career.

Career

Weeks was born in Salemburg, North Carolina and began playing the electric bass in the early 1960s. His earliest influences were the country, pop and R&B music he heard on the radio. Weeks counts bassists Ron Carter, James Jamerson, and Ray Brown as early influences.

Weeks has worked in the studio or toured with a wide range of artists, including:

Richard and Linda Thompson, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Ronnie Wood and Eikichi Yazawa
.

His playing on Donny Hathaway's Live (1972), including a 3½ minute bass solo on "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)",[1] which is regarded by many bass players as some of Weeks' best work. He played a 1962 Fender P-Bass through an Ampeg SVT amplifier on the recording (though it had initially been reported that he played through an Ampeg B-15).

Weeks' contributions to the Hathaway album impressed many English rock musicians, leading to his work with Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones (

Beatles reunion, saying he would "rather have Willie Weeks on bass than Paul McCartney".[3]

Weeks played with Ask Rufus, the precursor band to Rufus with Chaka Khan. He appeared on their recording of Al Kooper's song "Brand New Day". Weeks also played with the Fabulous Amazers and Bill Lordan (pre Robin Trower drummer) in the Minnesota group Gypsy. He also played bass guitar for Michael's Mystics back in the 1960s in Minnesota, with Lordan again on drums. That band recorded "Pain" by the Grassroots, a big hit locally for the Mystics.[4]

He also played bass at Clapton's

Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.[5]

Equipment

In addition to his red 1962 Fender Precision bass, Weeks uses a maple-neck 1958 Precision bass and a 1964 Fender Jazz Bass, as well as a tobacco sunburst Kay four-string acoustic bass for Clapton's "unplugged repertoire". Weeks used a sunburst 1963 P-Bass during Clapton's 2008 European Summer tour. In 2014 he began using his "WW" Willie Weeks signature bass by Bee Basses.

On the 2009 Australasian and British tours, Weeks played Fender, Kay and Alleva Coppolo basses. In 2017, Weeks used a custom-made Alien Audio bass made by Charles "Chopper" Anderson in Nashville.

Weeks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 (in a fictional supergroup along with other musicians he's worked with) and Lightning in a Bottle.

Discography

With Gypsy

With Donny Hathaway

With Herbie Mann

With Stevie Wonder

With Gloria Jones

With Splinter

With Aretha Franklin

With Randy Newman

With Ronnie Wood

With Rod Stewart

With George Harrison

With Don McLean

With David Bowie

With James Taylor

With Carly Simon

With

Terry Garthwaite

  • 1975 Terry

With Kenny Vance

  • 1975 Vance 32

With Al Jarreau

With Richie Havens

  • 1976 The End of the Beginning

With Dianne Brooks

  • 1976 Back Stairs of My Life

With Maria Muldaur

With David Batteau

  • 1976 Happy in Hollywood

With Steve Winwood

With Cher and Gregg Allman

With Dan Fogelberg

With Joe Walsh

With Rickie Lee Jones

With Bette Midler

With Adam Mitchell

  • 1979 Redhead in Trouble

With Chaka Khan

With Stephen Bishop

With Michael McDonald

With Bill LaBounty

  • 1982 Bill LaBounty

With John Mellencamp

With Patrick Simmons

  • 1983 Arcade

With Rosanne Cash

With Jimmy Buffett

With William Lee Golden

  • 1986 American Vagabond

With Webb Wilder

  • 1989 Hybrid Vigor

With Etta James

With Vince Gill

With Kenny Rogers

With Marty Balin

With Ronna Reeves

  • 1991 Only the Heart

With Joan Baez

With Wynonna Judd

With John Michael Montgomery

With Tracy Lawrence

With Billy Burnette

  • 1994 Coming Home

With Chris Norman

  • 1994 The Album

With Rodney Crowell

With Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

  • 1995 Long Way Home

With Peter Cetera

With Janis Ian

With Tanya Tucker

With Mac Gayden

  • 1995 Nirvana Blues

With Russ Taff

With Lisa Brokop

With Dan Hill

  • 1996 I'm Doing Fine

With Lari White

With Anita Cochran

With Mark Nesler

  • 1998 I'm Just That Way

With Tara Lyn Hart

With Sonya Isaacs

  • 2000 Sonya Isaacs

With Robert Cray

With The Tractors

  • 2001 Fast Girl

With Hal Ketchum

With Alicia Keys

With Keb' Mo'

With Amy Grant

With J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton

With John Mayer

With Eric Clapton

With LeAnn Rimes

With Boz Scaggs

With Leon Russell

With John Oates

  • 2014 Good Road to Follow

With Colin James

  • 2015 Hearts on Fire

With Mark Ronson

With Cyndi Lauper

With Elizabeth Cook

  • 2016 Exodus of Venus

With Ronnie Baker Brooks

  • 2017 Times Have Changed

With Gloria Gaynor

With Wendy Moten

  • 2020 I've Got You Covered

With Cravity

References

  1. ^ "Donny Hathaway Live". Chris.quietlife.net. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4234-0609-9
    .
  3. ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8
    .
  4. ^ "Mystics / Michael's Mystics". MinniePaulMusic.com. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "Pictures and Photo Galleries". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Willie_Weeks&oldid=1215209514"