Willie Weeks
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Willie Weeks (born 1947) is an American bassist.
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, and counts bassists James Jamerson, Ray Brown, and Ron Carter as inspirations. He has worked in the studio and toured with artists as varied as Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Ronnie Wood, Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Carly Simon, David Bowie, Gregg Allman, Michael McDonald, The Doobie Brothers, Kevin Chalfant, Hank Crawford, Wynonna Judd, Vince Gill, Richard and Linda Thompson, Don McLean and Lyle Lovett. He has also played with legends such as B.B. King, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Joe Walsh, Robert Cray, Bobby Womack, Jimmy Buffett, Bette Midler, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Billy Joel and John Mayer.
Weeks' playing on Donny Hathaway's Live (1972), including a 3 1/2 minute bass solo on "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)", [1] is regarded by many bass players as some of Week's most acclaimed work. Weeks played a 1962 Fender P-Bass through an Ampeg B-15 amplifier on the recording. Weeks also played on the 1975 No. 1 single "Fame" by David Bowie.
Weeks played at the Crossroads Guitar Festival on July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.[2]
Weeks replaces Nathan East as a touring and studio bassist for Eric Clapton since late 2005.
In addition to his red 1962 P-Bass, Weeks also uses a maple-neck 1958 Precision, a 1964 Jazz Bass and a sunburst Marcus Miller signature, as well as a tobacco sunburst Kay 4-string acoustic for Clapton's unplugged repertoire.
Weeks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 and Lightning in a Bottle.
[edit] References
- Clark, Doug (January 21, 2007). "The mark of a musician". The Sampson Independent. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
- Johnston, Richard (August 2005). "Willie Weeks Does It All". Bass Player. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
- Guitar Player. November 1990.
- Eric Clapton's Fan Club
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