Willie King started to tour later in life and only recorded 6 CD’s. His Freedom Creek CD was critically acclaimed and won several awards. To really a appreciate him you have to watch a video of him playing in a Juke Joint.
Willie King played Sunday dance night at Bettie’s for almost 15 years and I think this is just the beginning in an explanation of who Willie King was. People close to Willie King said he didn’t like touring much. He held the Freedom Creek Blues Festival at his home in Alabama. Willie King started The Rural Member Association to foster music, woodworking, food preservation and other African-American traditions.
Willie King’s style has been compared to the Voice of Howlin’ Wolf and I think maybe he had a similar outlook on life. Howlin’ Wolf was known for his stance in speaking out against injustice against African Americans and his no nonsense approach for stating his position. Willie King took a similar approach in his songs singing about Martin Luther King and unfair treatment of blacks in rural south. He followed that up with a John Lee Hooker style of guitar which always seemed to say to me “you know what we’re talkin’ about”. Willie King left us a few clear messages of what he thought was important: The Rural Association, Freedom Creek (his critically acclaimed first Album and hopefully his blues Festival of the same name will live on) and his band name, The Liberators. ’nuff said – I don’t think so but I did my best. Willie King died March 8, 2009.
