Joe Willie Wilkins
| Joe Willie Wilkins | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 7, 1921 or 1923 Davenport, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States |
| Died | March 28, 1979 (age 56 or 58) Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Genres | Memphis blues |
| Occupation(s) | Guitarist, singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | Early 1940s–1981 |
| Labels | Various |
Joe Willie Wilkins (January 7, 1921 or 1923 – March 28, 1979) was an American Memphis blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He influenced his contemporaries Houston Stackhouse, Robert Nighthawk, David Honeyboy Edwards, and Jimmy Rogers, but he had a greater impact on up-and-coming guitarists, including Little Milton, B.B. King, and Albert King. Wilkins's songs include "Hard Headed Woman" and "It's Too Bad."
Wilkins was born in Davenport, Coahoma County, Mississippi. He grew up on a plantation near Bobo, Mississippi. His father, Papa Frank Wilkins, a sharecropper and guitarist, was a friend of the country bluesman Charley Patton. Young Wilkins learned to play guitar, harmonica and accordion. His early proficiency on the guitar and devotion to learning from records earned him the nickname Walking Seeburg (the Seeburg Corporation was an early manufacturer of jukeboxes).
Wilkins became a well-known musician in the Mississippi Delta, and by the early 1940s he took over from Robert Lockwood, Jr. in Sonny Boy Williamson II's band. In 1941, Wilkins relocated to Helena, Arkansas, and joined both Williamson and Lockwood on KFFA Radio's King Biscuit Time. Through the 1940s Wilkins was broadcast regularly, playing alongside Williamson, Willie Love, Robert Nighthawk, Elmore James, Memphis Slim, Houston Stackhouse and Howlin' Wolf. He played the guitar on several recordings by Williamson and by Love, and he played the bass accompanying Big Joe Williams.
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