All 15 of His Chart Hits 1953-1962

by Little Willie John

Overview

Little Willie John was a unique talent, with a voice that conveyed pain and hurt at an emotional pitch seldom encountered in pop music in the 1950s, or since. John's impassioned, gospel-tinged vocals influenced singers as diverse as Sam Cooke and John Lennon and paved the way for the concept of soul. This guy knew how to put himself over (he sang with both Duke Ellington and Count Basie's bands, remember), and his work for Syd Nathan's King Records from 1953 to 1962 is indispensable. This collection features his biggest hits for the label, including his best-known track, "Fever," which he co-wrote, and his first and last hits, "All Around the World" and "Sleep," and the incredible, burn-the-night-down vocals of "Need Your Love So Bad." A diminutive man with a volatile temper and a drinking problem, John stabbed a man and was sent to prison for manslaughter in 1966, where he died two years later at the age of 31, robbing the world of its first true soul singer, and his story is one of the most tragic in all of pop. The release has the same running order as King's 1996 issue under the same title, but sports different artwork. ~ Steve Leggett

Product Details

Release Date:	11/27/2006
Label:	King
UPC:	0792014013120
Rank:	53038

Tracks

1. All Around the World
2. Need Your Love So Bad
3. Fever
4. Talk to Me, Talk to Me
5. You're a Sweetheart
6. Leave My Kitten Alone
7. Let Them Talk
8. A Cottage for Sale
9. Heartbreak (It's Hurtin' Me)
10. Sleep
11. Walk Slow
12. The Very Thought of You
13. (I've Got) Spring Fever
14. Now You Know
15. Take My Love (I Want to Give It All to You)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Little Willie John   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Willard Robison   Composer
Jimmy McHugh   Composer
Titus Turner   Composer
R. Szolkowski   Illustrations
Larry Conley   Composer
Little Willie John   Liner Notes,Composer
John Davenport   Composer
Eddie Cooley   Composer
Harold Adamson   Composer
Mertis John Jr.   Composer