BIOGRAPHY AND DISCOGRAPHY

 

One of the more versatile mid-century performers on record who dabbled in rock but was more aligned publicly with the blues, scoring no national hits but very popular around Texas with his singing, guitar playing and songwriting.

Williams was born in the small Texas town of Groveton in 1920 but grew up in Houston where after serving in the Army during the war he became enamored with local star T-Bone Walker who was redefining the blues with his electric guitar throughout the 1940’s. Deciding upon a music career Williams enrolled in the prestigious New England Conservatory Of Music, ironically to study piano and voice, presumably because guitar was still seen as something of a lower-class instrument. He wound up teaching himself to play that however upon his return to Houston and signed his first contract with the newly established Macy’s Recordings in town. His first record, a plaintive song called “Winter Time Blues” he’d written about missing his family across the country became a local hit.

Possessing a flexible voice with a somewhat higher-pitched nasal tone and buttressed by horns as well as his own guitar, Williams’s material cut across genres. At the same time he was cutting pure blues songs he was also delving into rock ‘n’ roll from the start with the flip side of his debut record and some of his most well remembered records to come were firmly in the rock field.

When Macy’s folded he found his way to the much larger companies Specialty, then another Houston indie, Duke, followed by a brief stop at Imperial in the mid-1950’s, but having not achieved any chart success with his singles he now was resigned to being a local act across the south primarily concentrating on the blues.

Though never a star he did get a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in 1953 and achieved some lasting recognition for a few of his songs, especially when covered by bigger names, including B.B. King who turned in a rendition of Williams’s 1952 classic “I Can’t Lose With The Stuff I Use”. Williams remained a fixture in blues circles for years, touring Europe in the 1980’s and singing until his death in 1990 at the age of seventy.
 

LESTER WILLIAMS DISCOGRAPHY (Records Reviewed On Spontaneous Lunacy):

I’M SO HAPPY I COULD JUMP AND SHOUT
(Macy’s 5000; December, 1949)
A storming ode to the joy of sex, honest and exuberant, each aspect of the arrangement fitting together well without needing to resort to lyrical crudity or musical flamboyance to convey the proper spirit. (7)

I KNOW THAT CHICK
(Macy’s 5004; January, 1950)
A really good arrangement with strong solos by the sax and Williams’ guitar in addition to his enthusiastic vocals are hampered by the fact that the song’s plot goes nowhere, just offering just a few perfunctory lines with no resolution which is a definite letdown. (5)

DOWLING STREET HOP
(Macy’s 5006; June, 1950)
A misleading title as this is far too subdued to earn the “hop” designation and though the lyrics give a fair assessment of the action on Houston’s main black thoroughfare Williams comes across as an outsider rather than a participant in the activities. (4)

DON’T TREAT ME SO LOW DOWN
(Macy’s 5006; June, 1950)
Caught between the blues in its lyrical perspective and rock with its saxophone-led arrangement, the song is really too indistinct to make an impression in either realm with Williams’s subservient outlook further hampering its ability to connect. (3)

TEXAS TOWN
(Macy’s 5009; August, 1950)
An effective low-key sales pitch for the charms of Houston as a city delivered by one of its local stars featuring a really nice three pronged opening with guitar, piano and horns before settling in to a subdued arrangement that lets Williams’ voice gently win you over. (6)

HEY JACK
(Macy’s 5016; January, 1951)
Despite some technical shortcomings such as Williams’s own oddly pitched voice and the lack of deeper horns, the genuine expression of giddy joy shown here and the rousing instrumental framework make this an endearing performance all around. (6)

MY HOME AIN’T HERE
(Specialty 422; February, 1952)
A good arrangement featuring a nice blend of instruments to allow both rock and blues audiences to feel a connection to it with Williams’ usual engaging vocals on top is hampered by the lyrics whose verses have been taken from other sources and awkwardly patched together. (5)

I CAN’T LOSE WITH THE STUFF I USE
(Specialty 422; February, 1952)
The high point of Williams’ rock career, a confident boast that remains endearing thanks to how joyful he is in proclaiming it as the lyrics never take shots at others to make himself look better while the music falls in line giving his claims their full support. (8)

LET ME TELL YOU A THING OR TWO
(Specialty 431; April, 1952)
Another good upbeat rocker with a very nice arrangement, particularly the dramatic back and forth opening between guitar and piano, while Williams is his usual efficient self on vocals with a compact instrumental break with guitar and horns to top it off. (6)

SWEET LOVIN’ DADDY
(Specialty 437; August, 1952)
Another record that tries balancing blues and rock but does so by taking the least appealing aspects of each resulting in something that’s uninteresting even if it’s competently done, while doing little to advance either style’s standing. (3)

LOST GAL
(Specialty 437; August, 1952)
Here Williams seeks to confound our expectations yet again, giving us a blues story wrapped in a pure rock arrangement replete with an optimistic vocal to throw off our senses, not that we mind a bit with that addictive guitar pattern tossed in free of charge. (6)

IF YOU KNEW MUCH I LOVE YOU
(Specialty 450; December, 1952)
Another arrangement that leaves no doubt as to his intention of rocking and exceedingly well done with a great rhythm laid down by piano and drums while the horns add color to Williams’ rather giddy declaration of love that is endearing in spite of his overall naivety. (5)

BRAND NEW BABY
(Specialty 450; December, 1952)
A slam-bang rocker that hits on almost every cylinder, from the churning arrangement and unrelenting backbeat to the dueling sax solos and Williams’s giddy suggestive vocal that sounds every bit as enjoyable for him to sing as it does for us to listen. (8)