Little Willie John gives me fever

Posted on June 13, 2009 
Filed Under Little Willie John

Little Willie John (aka William Edward John)

He was born William Edward John in Cullendale, Arkansas, moving with his family to Detroit, Michigan when he was four.

Although barely over 5 feet in height his singing voice was moving. He achieved popularity amongst R&B fans in the 1950s and early 1960s and had already had 3 R&B top tens before the age of 18. He is most famous for the song “Fever” which was an important recording for him. It was his first record to cross over to the white market and enter Billboard’s Top 100 pop charts, where it debuted at position 50 in July 1956 and peaked at the 24th spot. Peggy Lee reworked the lyrics and recorded it in May of 1958. Her version rose to 8th position on the pop charts in August 1958 and quickly became a classic. Since then, “Fever” has been recorded by artists from nearly every musical genre, including pop, rock ‘n’ roll, country, folk, and soul in addition to R&B and jazz. Another of my favorites of his is “Need Your Love So Bad” which was covered by the original Fleetwood Mac and was a big hit in Europe.

Willie suffered from alcoholism and was known to carry a gun. In 1965 he was convicted of manslaughter for a stabbing in Seattle,and was sentenced to a 10-year prison term. He died under mysterious circumstances in Washington State Prison in 1968. He was just 30 years old at the time.

Although his life was short, his musical abilities were well respected by other artists like Jerry Butler, B.B. King and James Brown who recorded a tribute album Thinking Of Little Willie John… And A Few Other Nice Things. He also inspired Stevie Wonder and the Beatles.

Comments

One Response to “Little Willie John gives me fever”

  1. shercy ramos on August 23rd, 2009 1:18 am

    This is a sad story to recall. Willie John had the talent, he was already able to make his mark in the music industry. It’s sad how a great story like his could have such a tragic end. And this is not even fiction, it’s real life.

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