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" As I got older, I started writing songs and singing, and I got pretty good. "
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By Norm Shaw
Levi Williams has probably played before more people on Beale Street than most musicians. But you've never seen his name in lights or on the flyers of the clubs that line the historic street. Odds are, though, that if you've spent any time near W.C. Handy Park, you've heard Williams. Williams leads the Low End Blues Band, which can be found regularly playing the park during the tourist season. Soon, though, you'll be able to hear Williams on his first record, produced by Big River Productions at 315 Beale Street recording studio for Beale Street Records. "I kept hearing Levi playing in the park," says Skip McQuinn of 315 Beale and Big River. "I asked him if he had any originals, and I got bombarded with 10 great songs. I immediately wanted to record him. His songs are so meaningful, so real." Like so many before him, Williams traces his musical roots to three strings of wire nailed to the side of his house. Born in Forrest City, Ark., he moved to Memphis at a young age. A friend gave him an acoustic guitar, but it wasn't until he was about 18 that he got serious. "I went back to Forrest City and got married," he says. "I told my wife I wanted an electric guitar. She said, 'No we ain't able to get an electric guitar.' Well I worked and I learned how to be a bricklayer. Then I slipped to the store and bought me an electric guitar and an amplifier, brought it home and hid it up under the bed. "When she was gone to work, I'd bam and bam and bam. By the time she was fixing to come home from work, I'd slip it back under the bed. One day she caught me. But I was doing too good to stop." Williams moved back to Memphis and continued working. He says he would get out the guitar every so often, but he wasn't playing a lot. His interest returned as he got older, the 61-year-old says. "As I got older, I started writing songs and singing," he says. "And I got pretty good." Of that, there is no doubt. Williams' style is classic electric blues. He has a gift for simple lyrics that come from the heart. There is nothing phony about Williams. His "Ain't Picking Cotton No More" is an anthem for any working stiff. "He's singing about stuff that means something," McQuinn says. "And the park is the greatest place in the world to test songs. Levi is still going to play the park. He can make more money there than going to festivals." But plans are under way to leave the park for at least little while. Williams and fellow Big River artist Billy Earl McClelland are planning a European tour later this year. After that, Williams will go where his music takes him. "Blues is my life," he likes to say. When you get a chance, stop by the park and share Williams' life with him. It may well be some of the best blues you'll ever hear on Beale Street.
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