| Willie Weeks | |
| Landscape: | no |
| Birth Date: | 5 August 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Salemburg, North Carolina United States |
| Instrument: | Bass guitar |
| Genre: | Rock, blues, jazz, blues rock, country |
| Occupation: | Musician, actor |
| Years Active: | 1963–present |
| Label: | Reprise, Tamla, Polydor Records, Epic Records, EMI Records, Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic, Capitol, Columbia, EMI, CBS, Elektra |
Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also gained fame touring with many of rock's heavyweights throughout his career.
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. Weeks counts bassists Ron Carter, James Jamerson, and Ray Brown as early influences.
Weeks has worked in the studio or toured with a wide range of artists, including:
Gregg Allman, David Bowie, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Roy Buchanan, Jimmy Buffett, Kevin Chalfant, Eric Clapton, Hank Crawford, Robert Cray, Pino Daniele, Bo Diddley, The Doobie Brothers, Lou Fellingham, Aretha Franklin, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Isaac Hayes, George Harrison, Donny Hathaway, Etta James, Billy Joel, Rickie Lee Jones, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Neil Larsen, Lyle Lovett, Gail Davies, David Lee Roth, Michael McDonald, Don McLean, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Bette Midler, Randy Newman, Pino Palladino, Leon Russell, Boz Scaggs, John Scofield, Carly Simon, Soulive, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Richard and Linda Thompson, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Ronnie Wood and Eikichi Yazawa.
His playing on Donny Hathaway's Live (1972), including a 3½ minute bass solo on "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)",[1] which is regarded by many bass players as some of Weeks' best work. He played a 1962 Fender P-Bass through an Ampeg SVT amplifier on the recording (though it had initially been reported that he played through an Ampeg B-15).
Weeks' contributions to the Hathaway album impressed many English rock musicians, leading to his work with Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones ("It's Only Rock & Roll"), George Harrison and David Bowie from 1974 onwards.[2] In a press conference for his 1974 North American tour, Harrison cited Weeks' musicianship when dismissing the likelihood of a Beatles reunion, saying he would "rather have Willie Weeks on bass than Paul McCartney".[3]
Weeks played with Ask Rufus, the precursor band to Rufus with Chaka Khan. He appeared on their recording of Al Kooper's song "Brand New Day". Weeks also played with the Fabulous Amazers and Bill Lordan (pre Robin Trower drummer) in the Minnesota group Gypsy. He also played bass guitar for Michael's Mystics back in the 1960s in Minnesota, with Lordan again on drums. That band recorded "Pain" by the Grassroots, a big hit locally for the Mystics.[4]
He also played bass at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival on July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.[5]
In addition to his red 1962 Fender Precision bass, Weeks uses a maple-neck 1958 Precision bass and a 1964 Fender Jazz Bass, as well as a tobacco sunburst Kay four-string acoustic bass for Clapton's "unplugged repertoire". Weeks used a sunburst 1963 P-Bass during Clapton's 2008 European Summer tour. In 2014 he began using his "WW" Willie Weeks signature bass by Bee Basses.
On the 2009 Australasian and British tours, Weeks played Fender, Kay and Alleva Coppolo basses. In 2017, Weeks used a custom-made Alien Audio bass made by Charles "Chopper" Anderson in Nashville.
Weeks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 (in a fictional supergroup along with other musicians he's worked with) and Lightning in a Bottle.
With Gypsy
With Donny Hathaway
With Herbie Mann
With Stevie Wonder
With Gloria Jones
With Splinter
With Aretha Franklin
With Randy Newman
With Ronnie Wood
With Rod Stewart
With George Harrison
With Don McLean
With David Bowie
With James Taylor
With Carly Simon
With Terry Garthwaite
With Kenny Vance
With Al Jarreau
With Richie Havens
With Dianne Brooks
With The Miracles
With Maria Muldaur
With David Batteau
With Steve Winwood
With Cher and Gregg Allman
With Lenny Williams
With Dan Fogelberg
With Joe Walsh
With Rickie Lee Jones
With Bette Midler
With The Whispers
With Adam Mitchell
With Chaka Khan
With Stephen Bishop
With Michael McDonald
With Bill LaBounty
With John Mellencamp
With Patrick Simmons
With Rosanne Cash
With Jimmy Buffett
With William Lee Golden
With Webb Wilder
With Etta James
With Vince Gill
With Kenny Rogers
With Marty Balin
With Ronna Reeves
With Joan Baez
With Wynonna Judd
With Tracy Lawrence
With Billy Burnette
With Chris Norman
With Rodney Crowell
With Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
With Peter Cetera
With Janis Ian
With Tanya Tucker
With Mac Gayden
With Russ Taff
With Lisa Brokop
With Dan Hill
With Lari White
With Anita Cochran
With Mark Nesler
With Tara Lyn Hart
With Sonya Isaacs
With Robert Cray
With Gov't Mule
With The Tractors
With Hal Ketchum
With Alicia Keys
With Keb' Mo'
With Amy Grant
With J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton
With John Mayer
With Eric Clapton
With LeAnn Rimes
With Boz Scaggs
With Leon Russell
With John Oates
With Colin James
With Mark Ronson
With Cyndi Lauper
With Elizabeth Cook
With Ronnie Baker Brooks
With Gloria Gaynor
With Wendy Moten
With Cravity