West, Willie
Can't Help Myself
For five decades, deep soul man Willie West has been one of New Orleans' best kept secrets. He has performed with some of the very best musicians in the business and has always created lasting friends and fans wherever he has performed. Born and raised in the New Orleans area, Willie first broke into the business in 1958 with his band The Sharks. Members of that band later joined up with Joe Tex, Fats Domino and Otis Redding. In the early 60's he and the band signed to Rustone Records. They had a regional hit titled 'Did You Have Fun?' which lead to gigs with Jimmy Reed and Solomon Burke. In 1966 Willie signed to Allen Toussaint's Deesu Records and together they recorded several incredible singles. Willie sang the title track to the Warner Bros movie Black Sampson and had two singles released by Warner Brothers. The early 70's saw Willie join one of the most popular New Orleans acts, The Electric Soul Train. Later in the 70's Willie joined the legendary band, The Meters for whom he sang lead vocals until they disbanded in 1980. Just a few of the people Willie has performed with are: Maxine Brown, Lee Dorsey, Mary Wells, Aaron Neville, Little Feat, Jimmy Buffet, Eddy Floyd, Joe Tex, Albert King, Freddie King, Jimmy Reed, Lightning Hopkins, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Big Joe Turner, Al Green, Jean Knight, OV Wright, Johnny Nash, Dr. John, King Floyd, Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Paul McCartney, James Brown, Gregg Allman, Allen Toussaint, Ike and Tina Turner, Little Milton, Latimore, and Bobby Blue Bland.