Congrats to WILLIE BUCK – Blues Blast Award winner for Best Live Blues Album of the Year!!!

In addition to the Amazing Willie Buck for winning Live Blues Album of the year, a big congrats to all the 2025 Blues Blast nominees, including the following Delmark Records artists:

  1. Bob Stroger – nominated for Traditional Blues Album of the Year for Delmark’s BOB IS BACK! and also nominated for Bass Guitarist of the Year
  2. Tad Robinson – nominated for Soul Blues Album of the Year for Delmark’s SOUL IN BLUE and also nominated for Vocalist of the Year
  3. Johnny Iguana – nominated for Acoustic Blues Album of the Year for Delmark’s AT DELMARK and also nominated for Keyboard Player of the Year

Also nominated are Delmark friends and recording artists – Sax Gordon Beadle for Horn Player of the Year, Lurrie Bell for Traditional Blues Album, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith who won Percussionist of the Year!

2025 Blues Blast Music Awards – Winners Announced

More than 6,000 Blues Blast Magazine readers and Blues fans voted in the 2025 Blues Blast Music Awards. The winners in the fan voting are listed below. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

Contemporary Blues Album Tommy Castro & The Painkillers – Closer To The Bone

Traditional Blues Album Bobby Rush & Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Young Fashioned Ways

Soul Blues Album Curtis Salgado – Fine By Me

Rock Blues Album Tab Benoit – I Hear Thunder

Acoustic Blues Album Giles Robson & John Primer – Ten Chicago Blues Classics

Live Blues Album Willie Buck – Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends

Historical Or Vintage Recording Duke Robillard – Roll With Me

New Artist Debut Album Christopher Wyze & the Tellers – Stuck in the Mud

Blues Band Of The Year Tab Benoit Band

Male Blues Artist Tab Benoit

Female Blues Artist Shemekia Copeland

Sean Costello Rising Star Award Matt “The Rattlesnake” Lesch

Producer Of The Year Mike Zito

Electric Guitarist Of The Year Tab Benoit

Acoustic Guitarist Of The Year Keb’ Mo’

Slide Guitarist Of The Year Derek Trucks

Bass Guitarist Of The Year Danielle Nicole

Keyboard Player Of The Year Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne

Percussionist Of The Year Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith

Harmonica Player Of The Year Charlie Musselwhite

Horn Player Of The Year Vanessa Collier

Vocalist Of The Year Bobby Rush

Blues Video Of The Year Bobby Rush & Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Uncle Esau

2025 Blues Blast Music Awards – Winners Announced – Blues Blast Magazine

WILLIE BUCK & The Delmark All-Stars
Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends – DE 882

“Live At Buddy Guy’s Legends” is Willie Buck’s fourth album on Delmark. First came “The Life I Love”, followed by “Cell Phone Man” and Delmark LLC’s kickoff blues release “Willie Buck Way”. An elder statesman of the Chicago Blues style, who has performed with everybody and knows everyone on the scene, Willie is one of the last standard bearers of the “old school” blues at its best. This album was recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends, ground zero for this genre in Chicago, blues capital of the world. For the occasion, Willie brought his right-hand man of many years, guitarist Thaddeus Krolicki, to join the Delmark All-Stars consisting of some of the most experienced and respected performers of the Chicago tradition.

➊ Jumping (INSTRUMENTAL BLUES JAM) (6:33) (Admin. Delmark Records)
➋ Kansas City (4:23) (Leiber & Stoller) (Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI)
➌ Tried To Work Something Out (5:14) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➍ What We Were Talking About (6:03) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➎ Let’s See if We Can Come Together (4:48) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➏ Snow (6:27) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➐ Willie Buck Talking (1:04) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➑ Rock Me (6:23) (McKinley Morganfield) (Arc Music, BMI)
➒ Walking and Swimming (5:20) (William Crawford) (BMI)
➓ Mannish Boy / Hoochie Coochie Man (6:30) (Willie Dixon) (Hoochie Coochie Music, BMI)

All songs by William Crawford, (BMI) aka Willie Buck
except: track 1 – Admin. Delmark Records
track 2 – Leiber & Stoller (Sony/ATV Songs LLC, BMI)
track 8 – McKinley Morganfield (Arc Music, BMI)
track 10 – Willie Dixon (Hoochie Coochie Music, BMI)

Willie Buck: vocals
Scott Dirks: harmonica
Thaddeus Krolicki: guitar
Billy Flynn: guitar
Johnny Iguana: piano
Melvin Smith: bass
Willie “The Touch” Hayes: drums

IN MEMORIAM • WILLIE “THE TOUCH” HAYES • 1950-2023

THIS IS WAS THE LAST RECORDING IN THE AMAZING CAREER OF THE GREAT WILLIE HAYES

RECORDED LIVE BY Connor Korte AT Buddy Guy’s Legends, Sunday August 28, 2023.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION & SUPERVISION BY Julia A. Miller and Elbio Barilari

MIXED BY Julia A. Miller AND Elbio Barilari MASTERED BY Julia A. Miller AT Delmark Records
PRODUCED BY Elbio Barilari
PHOTOS BY Peter Hurley GRAPHIC DESIGN BY Al Brandtner, Brandtner Design

Street Date: August 30, 2024

The DELMARK ALL-STARS is a band that showcases a legion of Chicago blues instrumentalists that have been present for years in the label’s catalogue. Some of the most talented guitarists, harmonicists, bassists, keyboardists and drummers, take turns performing with this emblematic ensemble. This album features an experienced and illustrious team among Delmark’s stars, perfectly adapted to play the “old school” blues that Willie loves so much.

“LIVE AT BUDDY GUY’S LEGENDS” IS WILLIE BUCK’S FOURTH ALBUM ON DELMARK, and the label wanted to present something very special. It was agreed to be a live recording, the situation in which WILLIE BUCK feels most comfortable, on stage, with a great band and surrounded by his fans. It was also agreed the recording was going to take place at Buddy Guy’s “Legends”, ground zero for the blues in Chicago, the world capital of this genre.

For such an occasion, Willie and the label assembled the most suitable band for an “old style” blues session. Willie Buck is one of the last “story tellers” in the blues scene, within a tradition that goes back to Muddy Waters and even to the pre-WWII era bluesmen, as far and early as Big Bill Broonzy and other pioneers of the urban blues Chicago tradition.

THE DELMARK ALL-STARS are an outfit which showcases a legion of Chicago blues instrumentalists who have been present for years in the label’s catalogue. Some of the most talented guitarists, harp players, bassists, keyboardists and drummers take turns playing with this emblematic ensemble.

The label appealed to an experienced and illustrious team amongst Delmark’s stars, perfectly adapted to play the “old school” blues that Willie loves so much. Also, Willie brought his right-hand man of many years, guitarist THADDEUS KROLICKI, who studied with Dave Specter and has played with many prominent Chicago blues artists, such as Eddie Taylor Jr, Barrelhouse Chuck, James Wheeler, Lil’ Ed Williams, Eddie C. Campbell, and Tail Dragger. Among his influences Thaddeus includes Louis Myers, Jimmy Rogers, Robert Lockwood, Otis “Big Smokey” Smothers, Left Hand Frank and Sammy Lawhorn.

BILLY FLYNN: Since the 70’s, when he started performing with Jimmy Dawkins, Sunnyland Slim, Mighty Joe Young, and Luther Allison, Billy has become one of the most sought-after blues guitar players. The list of blues celebrities hiring Billy includes Pinetop Perkins, Kim Wilson, Otis Rush, John Primer, Barrelhouse Chuck, Jimmy Burns, Lurrie Bell, Jody Williams, Billy Boy Arnold, Bob Stroger, Johnny Burgin, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Mississippi Heat, The Cash Box Kings, and of course, the Delmark All-Stars.

SCOTT DIRKS: A front row seat at a Muddy Waters performance in the mid 1970’s sent teenage Scott Dirks down the musical path he is still following today. Picking up the harmonica soon afterwards, he began collecting blues records, with a special interest in the many local blues Chicago artists who were still active on the local scene. As a harmonica player, he sought out and played with many musicians who had been associated with blues harp icon Little Walter and learned important lessons playing with post-war blues pioneers Dave and Louis Myers, Jimmy Rogers, Johnny Littlejohn, Jimmie Lee Robinson, Louisiana Red, Jody Williams, and countless others. Dirks has been involved in music production, working with Lurrie Bell, Carey Bell, Jimmy Burns, Willie Buck, and Jimmie Lee Robinson among others. He co-produced the Grammy Award winning box “Little Walter-The Complete Recordings 1950 -1967”, and also co-authored the award-winning book “Blues With A Feeling – The Little Walter Story”. Dirks lives in Chicago, where he has fronted his own band, Chicago Bound, for over 30 years.

JOHNNY IGUANA was Junior Wells’ pianist of choice. When he was 22 he moved from his hometown of Boston to Chicago, to join Junior’s band. He was also part of the band for Willie Buck’s previous album on Delmark, the best-selling “Willie Buck Way”. Among many other accomplishments, Johnny toured with the Junior Wells Band for three years, also toured with Otis Rush and recorded with Carey and Lurrie Bell, Lil’ Ed, and more. Johnny went on to play on Grammy-nominated albums by Junior Wells, “Chicago Blues History” and the “Muddy Waters 100 Band”, and he played all the piano on the “Chicago Plays the Stones” album (2018). Those releases feature Johnny playing with Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Derek Trucks, Gary Clark Jr., Johnny Winter, Shemekia Copeland, and more. After appearing on dozens of blues albums released by other artists, Johnny released his debut blues album as a leader, on Delmark Records. “Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular” which features Lil’ Ed, John Primer, Billy Boy Arnold, Bob Margolin, Matthew Skoller, Billy Flynn, Kenny Smith, Bill Dickens, and Michael Caskey. He also recorded for Delmark a full solo piano album on a luxurious reel-to-reel all analogue format, to be released in 2024!

MELVIN SMITH: bass player extraordinaire – his career includes long periods of working with Koko Taylor, as well as Lurrie Bell, Billy Branch, Deitra Farr, Lefty Dizz, Zora Young, John Primer, and more. He is on several Delmark albums, some of them with one of his favorite drummers, the late Willie Hayes. “For an outstanding example of just how well Smith and ‘The Touch’ work together, slide Lurrie Bell’s critically-acclaimed 2013 disc – ‘Blues In My Soul’ (Delmark Records) – into the CD player. That’s old school Chicago blues at its finest”, wrote Terry Mullins in “Bluesblast”.

WILLIE “THE TOUCH” HAYES, who sadly passed away November 5th 2023, was one of the greatest drummers in blues history. “Live At Legend’s” is the last session Willie ever recorded. When he was 14 he was already on the road with Mighty Joe Young and with Koko Taylor. At 16 he became Magic Sam’s drummer. When he was 18 he joined Jimmy Johnson. His legendary nickname, “The Touch”, was given to him by Luther Allison. He performed blues, jazz, funk and R&B, and also played with Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows, Son Seals, Lurrie Bell, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, The Temptations, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and Ike and Tina Turner. As an actor, Willie Hayes appeared in movies such as “Thief,” “Ali,” “Hardball” and “Road to Perdition.” While selecting the band members for this live album, Willie “The Touch” Hayes was the obvious choice.

THE ONE AND ONLY WILLIE BUCK
WILLIE BUCK was born Willian Crawford, 1937, in the small town of Houston, Mississippi. The closest “big” town was Tupelo, around 40 miles away. His father was a minister, as were many of his uncles and as is his son. Willie’s grandmother was Native American. Several of the family members played guitar, including Willie’s two sisters. “My grand-mother also had a wind-up phonograph at home. We used to have records by Big Boy Crudup, I remember one record he made, ‘I Love Your Mellow Peaches’, I used to play that all the time”, says Willie.

“Willie’s legendary life includes working on a paper mill for $5 an hour and singing around town in the evenings. During his youth he was a popular figure in what it was called the “Chitlin Circuit”, performing all across the South.

Willie’s earliest live blues experience happened when B.B. King arrived in town to play at Sally’s Juke Joint.

“I was too young to get inside the door, but I sat outside and listened. I never will forget, the last time he came to my hometown. Some of the guys, they got a little jealous, and cut his tires. He never did come back no more!”, Willie reminisces.

He also heard B.B. King broadcasting from Memphis on WDIA: “I used to listen to him on that station, he’d come on around 12:00, 12:15 in the afternoon, advertising Pepticon. He would sing that, ‘Pepticon sure is good!’”

Like many of his peers, he migrated to Chicago, in 1953, becoming one of the usual entertainers at the mythological “Maxwell Street” scene. “My brother-in-law was real good friends with Muddy and this guy that used to run the radio station, WOPA, I believe it was, Big Bill Hill. He was on the air five days a week. And by my brother-in-law being such good friends with everyone, they used to let me in the clubs, at least until the owner saw me and kicked me out! We used to see Muddy down at 35th and Indiana, Smitty’s Corner. And on 43rd Street, I was to sing with him, it was called Johnny Pepper’s. Also at Sylvio’s. He used to play in there a lot.”

Though many blues lovers have enjoyed Willie exclusively as a vocalist, it would be interesting to learn that Willie also played bass until he broke his wrist in 1964. Among others, he played bass with Magic Sam. Around 1970 Willie started putting together his own bands. “I used to hire Fred Below on drums, we’d go pick him up. Odie Payne played drums with me too. Odie Payne played on ‘Disco Blues’”.

He also had Louis Myers, Eddie Taylor, Sammy Lawhorn, Byther Smith, pianist Johnny “Big Moose” Walker, harp player Big Leon Brooks, and other Chicago “old-timers”. Willie has played with everybody and he knows everybody. When Willie and his band are joined on stage by Buddy Guy, at “Legends”, which happens frequently, Buddy likes to tell the audience how “When I started playing in Chicago, Willie was one of the guys that was already here”. Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Sammy Lawhorn, Bobby Blue Bland, “Pine Top” Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Bob Margolin, “Moose” Walker, the Myers brothers, you name them, Willie has been on stage with all of them.

In the 80’s Willie owned a club for four years. It was located at 1249 N. Clybourn, the “New Fun Lounge” where he used to present Big Time Sarah, Melvin Taylor and Junior Wells, among others.
During the 80’s, Willie also owned also an auto shop, “C & T Towing & Auto Service”. The traditional pinup calendar issued by Willie’s company would also promote the bands, including Willie, of course, and artists such as Big “Moose” Walker, Louis Myers, Odie Payne Jr. and “Dimestore” Fred. “I worked with the Myers brothers (Dave and Louis) for a long time. They were called ‘The Aces’. We were always respectful of each other when we got together. Matter of fact, they played with me until they wasn’t able to play anymore. We had some great times together. Me and them and Junior Wells used to play at a place called the Auxiliary Club, a great big place on 37th and Indiana. We played there every Friday and Saturday night for I don’t know how long.”

His loyalty to the “old-school” blues has paid-off: in 2004 Willie Buck was inducted to the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.

Willie’s discography on Delmark includes:

“THE LIFE I LOVE”, originally recorded in 1985 with a cracking band including the Myers brothers, Louis on guitar and Dave on bass, John Primer also on guitar, Little Mac Simmons on harmonica and “Big Moose” Walker on keyboards.

“CELL PHONE MAN”, featuring Johnny Burgin (known at the time as Rockin’ Johnny) and Muddy Waters’ guitar player Rick Kreher.

“WILLIE BUCK WAY”, with Thaddeus Krolicki, Billy Flynn, Johnny Iguana, and Scott Dirks, all present also on Willie’s new album, “LIVE AT LEGEND’S”.

– ELBIO BARILARI • DELMARK ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Willie Buck – Live At Buddy Guy’s Legends on AirPlay Direct

Willie Buck & the Delmark All Stars – LIVE at Buddy Guy’s Legends

“Live At Buddy Guy’s Legends” is Willie Buck’s fourth album on Delmark. First came “The Life I Love”, followed by “Cellphone Man” and Delmark LLC’s kickoff blues release “Willie Buck Way”. An elder statesman of the Chicago Blues style, who has performed with everybody and knows everyone in the scene, Willie is one of the last standard bearers of the “old school” blues as its best. This album was recorded at Buddy Guy’s Legends, ground zero for this genre in Chicago, blues capital of the world. For the occasion, Willie brought his right-hand man of many years, Thaddeus Krolicki, to join the Delmark All-Stars consisting of some of the most experienced and respected performers of the Chicago tradition.

Willie Buck & the Delmark All Stars – LIVE at Buddy Guy’s Legends – DELMARK RECORDS

Posted on by Steve Jones

Willie Buck and the Delmark All-Stars – Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends | Album Review

Willie Buck and the Delmark All-Stars – Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends

Delmark Records

10 tracks

Born in 1937 in Houston, Mississippi, Willie Crawford was the son of a minister and loved to listen to music on his family’s wind up Victrola. He heard BB King play at Sally’s Juke Joint. Too young to go in, he sat outside and listened. He also sang around the clubs locally near his home.  In 1953 he left for Chicago and became Willie Buck and was a regular on Maxwell Street. He played and sang with all the big names. He was a bass player along with singing until he broke his wrist in 1964. He owned his own club for 4 years and then owned a towing and auto service. His diligence paid off and he was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in 2004. This is his fourth Delmark album.

The Delmark All Stars are Thaddeus Krolicki and Billy Flynn on guitar, Scott Dirks on harp, Johnny Iguana on piano, Melvin Smith on bass and Willie “The Touch” Hayes on drums. Hayes passed away after this recording; this was the last session recorded with Willie. Six of the tracks are Willie’s, one is a jam and the remaining three are Chicago blues classics.

The album opens with the band jamming on an instrumental entitled “Jumping” before Willie comes on the stage. Willie them breaks into the classic “Kansas City” before laying into five of his own tunes.

“Tried To Work Something Out” begins his original cuts, a cool straight blues with some pretty guitar and piano work. Willie gives it his all here and then lets the harp take us home. ”What We Were Taking About” follows and Willie does another fine job as do the guitar soloists.

“Let’s See If We Can Come Together” is next, a gritty, slow blues that gets down and dirty. Guitar, harp and piano add to the grit and grime. Up next is “Snow,” a traditional blues cut with Willie howling out the lead in another slow and delightful cut. Greasy harp and backing by the guitars and piano add well to the mix.

Willie then talks to the crowd before going into Muddy Water’s “Rock Me.” The band works hard in support. Willie then does his song “Walking And Swimming,” another slow and classic sounding tune. He concludes with “Hoochie Coochie Man” which is right up his alley. He delights in the Muddy Waters cut and he and the band again give it their all.

It’s fun to hear one of Chicago’s elder statesmen out and about plying his craft ad working the crowd at Buddy’s club. Willie Buck is joined by Thaddeus Krolicki, his right-hand man, and an all-star band doing what he does best- singing the blues!

Willie Buck and the Delmark All-Stars – Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends | Album Review – Blues Blast Magazine

‘You Got to Be in It to Do It,’ Says 87-Year-Old Chicago Bluesman Willie Buck – American Blues Scene

‘You Got to Be in It to Do It,’ Says 87-Year-Old Chicago Bluesman Willie Buck

At 87, Buck’s music is shaped by a deep connection to the city’s storied blues scene, which he entered in 1953. His album ‘Willie Buck and The Delmark All-Stars Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends’ reflects his lifelong dedication to the genre, with both original tracks and classic covers.

Don WilcockBy Don Wilcock January 10, 2025

Willie Buck at Chicago Blues Festival in 2023 / Credit: Michael Lepek for American Blues Scene

His music may sound like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, but Willie Buck doesn’t fit the old blues man stereotype.

First of all, music is his after-hours gig, but not an all-consuming obsession. He’d owned his own business for half a century. He’s had 18 kids. And he knows all of them. He still plays Rosa’s nightclub in Chicago every Thursday night. His fourth album for Delmark Records, Willie Buck and The Delmark All-Stars Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends, includes six originals in the style of his mentors Muddy and The Wolf, both of whom he’s played with. At age 87, his advice to me at 81 is to just keep moving. And if I get depressed? “Well, just don’t worry about it as long as you can keep doing what you’re doing. That’s what I do. I don’t worry about it.”

What’s the most important lesson he’s learned in eight decades of living in the fast lane? “Everything I’ve done I learned how to coordinate with people. I learned it from the older guys because, I’ll tell ya, they taught me a lot. 

“The older guys were about taking care of business. Those were the guys I wanted to be with, and that’s who I hung with. I didn’t want to hang with the young guys because I didn’t like what they were doing.”

He remembers Howlin’ Wolf. “He was a wild singer. They had a long bar at Silvio’s, and he would get up on that bar and walk from end to end. I did a show with him in ’76, but I can’t remember exactly when it was at the Amphitheater in Chicago on 43rd and Halsted. Believe it or not, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were on that show I did with Howlin’ Wolf, and I got to meet them for the first time.”

Willie spoke about his unique relationship with Muddy Waters, noting that, unlike Muddy’s children, he had the opportunity to be around him often and witness the full scope of his life and career. “They weren’t raised with him. Some of them I know. I can tell a better story about him than some of them. I can because I was around him so much – so many events. None of his kids knew any of that stuff.”

Willie Buck and The Delmark Allstars Live at Buddy Guy’s Legends is a wayback machine journey into an alternate reality. Yes, there are covers of Muddy’s “Hoochie Coochie Man” and Willie Dixon’s “Rock Me,’ but there are also originals that come from a guy who was there with Buddy Guy and John Primer and still is. Each got their chops performing in South and West Side Chicago clubs in the ’50s and ’60s. Willie moved to Chicago in 1953 at age 16. His first job was at a carwash. 

He describes what it was like leading two lives at a day job and late night entertainment back in the day. “Sometimes if they closed the place at 2 o’clock I had to be there at 2 o’clock. I might not get home until 3 o’clock. Then I’d get to work at 8 o’clock the next morning. “You got to be in it in order to be able to do it,” he says about his traditional postwar electric style.

Willie Buck and Bob Stroger at Chicago Blues Festival in 2023 / Credit: Michael Lepek for American Blues Scene

“There’s younger guys that are out there now trying to play it, but I got some guys that are putting out music because they study my music and I tell you, you wouldn’t believe the last band that Muddy Waters had when he passed away. All them guys played with me before they played with him, all of them. I’m the first one John Primer ever recorded with. We’re close friends. I see him tomorrow.”

He’s one of the last guys standing. “The groove I do nobody doing but me. Ain’t nobody can. I got a little grandson that’s coming. He got the same type of music that I have, and he’s really gonna be great. He’s only nine years old, but he knows what to do. He can sing, too.”

Willie has four records for Delmark, the Chicago blues label founded by the late Bob Koester the same year Willie moved to Chicago in 1953. We both agree that Bob was one of the nicest guys in the business. He was the first label head to send me review copies of his albums to review in 1970.

“He was a really nice man. I really liked him, yeah. I hated him giving up the business, but he had the business so long. When it’s time… That’s the way it was with me. I stayed in (my day job) for 50 years, and I just gave it up.

“I started when you could get a coat for five dollars, but I decided 50 years was long enough for me. So, I just went into music full time. No more work for me after that, but I had a nice retirement plan that I took out in the early ’60s. It was one of those plans that was hard to get, but I got it from an insurance man. I serviced his car and became a mechanic, and my insurance guy turned me onto the retirement plan, and it was great of him to do that.

“Delmark has been approaching me for a long time. I just decided to get on there with ’em. This guy Jimmy Dawkins was the coordinator. (Note: Dawkins died in 2013 at age 75.) He’d been approaching me for a long time. I didn’t go with them for a long time. I had my own label and I just decided to go with them, and I’ve been with them ever since.” 

It used to be thought that wisdom came with age. “My parents always told us to respect the best way to go, and I never did forget that. If you teach a child when he’s young, he’ll fight you. And that’s true. I went on her word and tried to raise my kids the same way, and I was pretty lucky with them. I didn’t have any trouble with my kids. They were very respectful and still are. It’s a blessing when kids turn out like they do. That’s the way I taught ’em.”

Willie Buck’s real name is William Crawford given to him by his mother. Whatever name he’s called, his music is as fundamental as the masters with whom he first played.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=I_OXMoQAouc%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Order Willie Buck & the Delmark All Stars – LIVE at Buddy Guy’s Legends

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“The Muddy Award” Tribute to Muddy Waters
Outstanding Music Contributions to the Blues​
Born Willie Crawford in Houston, Mississippi in 1937, Buck arrived in Chicago in 1953.   In Mississippi he had been introduced to the blues listening to records on the family’s wind-up Victrola, and he also  heard the music on radio station WDIA, broadcasting from Memphis – he has remembered hearing B.B. King’s famous show on WDIA that was sponsored by the patent medicine Pepticon.  When a visiting celebrity like King would come through town, young Willie would sit outside the club with his ears attuned.

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