Joe Willie Wilkins (January 7, 1921 –
March 28, 1981) was an American Memphis blues guitarist, singer and
songwriter. Whilst he influenced contemporaries such as
Houston Stackhouse,
Robert Nighthawk,
David Honeyboy Edwards, and
Jimmy Rogers, Wilkins' bigger impact was on
up and coming guitarists, including Little
Milton, B.B. King, and
Albert King. Wilkins' songs included 'Hard
Headed Woman' and 'It's Too Bad.'
Biography
Wilkins was born in Davenport, Coahoma County, Mississippi. He grew up on a
plantation near Bobo. His father, Papa Frank Wilkins, was a local
sharecropper and guitarist, whose friend was the country bluesman,
Charley Patton. Young Wilkins learned to
play guitar, harmonica and accordion. His early proficiency of the guitar,
and slavish devotion to learning from records, earned him the nickname of
'Walking Seeburg' (Seeburg Corporation being an early manufacturer of
jukebox).
Becoming a well-known musician in the Mississippi Delta, by the early 1940s
Wilkins took over from Robert
Lockwood, Jr. in Sonny Boy
Williamson II's band. In 1941, Wilkins reloacted to Helena, Arkansas,
and joined both Williamson and Lockwood on KFFA Radio's 'King Biscuit Time'.
Through the 1940s Wilkins broadcast regularly playing alongside Williamson,
Willie Love,
Robert Nighthawk,
Elmore James,
Memphis Slim, Houston Stackhouse
and Howlin' Wolf. His guitar playing
appeared on several recordings by Williamson, Love and
Big Joe Williams, for the latter of
whom he played bass.
For Muddy Waters, Wilkins was noted as the
first guitarist from the Delta who played single string guitar riffs without
a slide. Later on Waters stated
Charley Booker's final recording was as a guest with Wilkins at a 1973 blues
festival at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The same year, Mimosa Records
released a single of Wilkin's debut vocal performance. Adamo Records later
issued a live album of some of his concert dates.
His working relationship and friendship with Houston Stackhouse endured over
the years, with Stackhouse at one time living in the same premises as
Wilkins and his wife. Wilkins and Stackhouse played at various blues music
festivals, and were part of the traveling Memphis Blues Caravan. After
undergoing a colostomy in the late 1970s, Wilkins still continued to perform
until his final East Coast tour in 1981.
Wilkins is buried near Memphis in the Galilee Memorial Gardens.
Confusion over dates
There is some confusion over both the precise date of birth, and death, for
Wilkins. Various sources quote 1923 as his year of birth, and many cite 1979
for his death. However, in the latter respect Allmusic stated 'his final
performances were an East Coast tour in 1981, and he died in the week
following these engagements.
Biography