Willie "Big-Eyes" Smith
Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith (January 19, 1936 – September 16, 2011) was a Grammy Award-winning American electric blues vocalist, harmonica player, and multi-award-winning drummer. He was best known for several stints with the Muddy Waters band beginning in the early 1960s.
Born in Helena, Arkansas, Smith learned to play harmonica at age seventeen after moving to Chicago. Smith's influences included listening to the 78's and the KFFA King Biscuit radio show. On a Chicago visit in 1953, his mother took him to hear Muddy Waters at the Zanzibar club, where Henry Strong's harp playing inspired him to learn that instrument. In 1956, at the age of eighteen, he formed a trio. He led the band on the harp. As "Little Willie" Smith he played in the Rocket Four, led by blues guitarist Arthur "Big Boy" Spires, and made recordings that were later reissued on the Delmark label. In 1955 Smith played harmonica on Bo Diddley's recording of the Willie Dixon song "Diddy Wah Diddy" for the Checker label. Drummers were in more demand than harp players so Smith switched to drums and started playing with the Muddy Waters band. Smith recorded with Muddy on the 1960 album Muddy Waters Sings Big Bill Broonzy, a tribute to Big Bill Broonzy.
In 1961, Smith became a regular member of the Muddy Waters band, which then consisted of George "Mojo" Buford, Luther Tucker, Pat Hare, and Otis Spann. By the mid-'60s, he'd left the band for more steady work as a cab driver. In the late '60s, he rejoined the Muddy's band and remained a permanent member until 1980. All of Muddy's Grammy Award-winning albums were released between 1971 and 1979 during Smith's tenure with the band. Though he did not play on all of these albums, Smith is estimated to have participated in twelve sessions yielding eighty-four tracks.
In June 1980, Smith and other members of Muddy's band Pinetop Perkins (piano), Calvin Jones (bass), and Jerry Portnoy (harmonica) struck out on their own, also recruiting veteran Chicago bluesman Louis Myers (harmonica/guitar) to form The Legendary Blues Band, with the vocals shared by all. Later that year, Smith and the Legendary Blues Band appeared backing John Lee Hooker in the movie The Blues Brothers (1980). Smith was the only band member, besides Hooker, to appear on screen in a close-up. With varying personnel over the years, the Legendary Blues Band recorded seven albums between 1981 to 1993. By 1993, Smith had become a very credible singer. The Legendary Blues Band toured with Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton.
His first solo recording started in 1995 with Bag Full of Blues, with Pinetop Perkins, and harpist Kim Wilson. In 1999, Smith recorded with Muddy Waters' son Big Bill Morganfield on his album Rising Son
In June 2010, Smith released Joined at the Hip with Pinetop Perkins. Joining these two in the studio were Bob Stroger, and Kenny Smith on drums. John Primer, who was another Muddy Waters band alumnus, joined on lead guitar.
On February 13, 2011, Smith won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined at the Hip, an album he recorded with Pinetop Perkins.
Smith died following a stroke on September 16, 2011.
(Willie "Big Eyes" Smith at the Riverfront Blues Festival 2009)