Willie Weeks


Willie Weeks is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also gained fame touring with many of rock's heavyweights throughout his career.

Career

Weeks was born in Salemburg, North Carolina, and began playing the electric bass in the early 1960s. His earliest influences were the country, pop and R&B music he heard on the radio. Weeks counts bassists Ron Carter, James Jamerson, and Ray Brown as early influences.
Weeks has worked in the studio or toured with a wide range of artists, including Gregg Allman, David Bowie, Jimmy Buffett, Kevin Chalfant, Eric Clapton, Hank Crawford, Bo Diddley, The Doobie Brothers, Lou Fellingham, Aretha Franklin, Isaac Hayes, George Harrison, Vince Gill, Donny Hathaway, Etta James, Billy Joel, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Neil Larsen, Lyle Lovett, Gail Davies, David Lee Roth, Michael McDonald, Don McLean, John Mayer, Bette Midler, Randy Newman, Andy Newmark, Pino Palladino, Boz Scaggs, John Scofield, Carly Simon, Soulive, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Ronnie Wood and Eikichi Yazawa.
His playing on Donny Hathaway's Live, including a 3½ minute bass solo on "Voices Inside ", which is regarded by many bass players as some of Weeks' best work. He played a 1962 Fender P-Bass through an Ampeg SVT amplifier on the recording.
Weeks' contributions to the Hathaway album impressed many English rock musicians, leading to his work with Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones, George Harrison and David Bowie from 1974 onwards. In a press conference for his 1974 North American tour, Harrison cited Weeks' musicianship when dismissing the likelihood of a Beatles reunion, saying he would "rather have Willie Weeks on bass than Paul McCartney".
Weeks played with Ask Rufus, the precursor band to Rufus with Chaka Khan. He appeared on their recording of Al Kooper's song "Brand New Day". Weeks also played with the Fabulous Amazers and Bill Lordan in the Minnesota group Gypsy. He also played bass guitar for Michael's Mystics back in the 1960s in Minnesota, with Lordan again on drums. That band recorded "Pain" by the Grassroots, a big hit locally for the Mystics.
He also played bass at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival on July 28, 2007 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Equipment

In addition to his red 1962 Fender Precision bass, Weeks uses a maple-neck 1958 Precision bass and a 1964 Fender Jazz Bass, as well as a tobacco sunburst Kay four-string acoustic bass for Clapton's "unplugged repertoire". Weeks used a sunburst 1963 P-Bass during Clapton's 2008 European Summer tour. In 2014 he began using his "WW" Willie Weeks signature bass by Bee Basses.
On the 2009 Australasian and British tours, Weeks played Fender, Kay and Alleva Coppolo basses. In 2017, Weeks used a custom-made Alien Audio bass made by Charles "Chopper" Anderson in Nashville.
Weeks appeared in the films Blues Brothers 2000 and Lightning in a Bottle.

Discography

With Gypsy
With Donny Hathaway
With Herbie Mann
With Stevie Wonder
With Gloria Jones
With Splinter
With Aretha Franklin
With Randy Newman
With Ronnie Wood
With Rod Stewart
With George Harrison
With Don McLean
With David Bowie
With Bobby Womack
With Jorge Calderón
With James Taylor
With Carly Simon
With David Cassidy
With Terry Garthwaite
  • 1975 Terry
With Kenny Vance
  • 1975 Vance 32
With Al Jarreau
With Richie Havens
With Dianne Brooks
With Leon Russell
With The Miracles
With Maria Muldaur
With David Batteau
  • 1976 Happy in Hollywood
With Steve Winwood
With Gregg Allman Band
With Cher and Gregg Allman
With Lenny Williams
  • 1977 Choosing You
With Dan Fogelberg
With Joe Walsh
With Richard and Linda Thompson
With Rickie Lee Jones
With Bette Midler
With The Whispers
With Adam Mitchell
  • 1979 Redhead in Trouble
With Chaka Khan
With Stephen Bishop
With Michael McDonald
With Bill LaBounty
With John Mellencamp
With The Doobie Brothers
With Patrick Simmons
  • 1983 Arcade
With Rosanne Cash
With Jimmy Buffett
With William Lee Golden
  • 1986 American Vagabond
With Webb Wilder
  • 1989 Hybrid Vigor
With Etta James
With Vince Gill
With Kenny Rogers
With Marty Balin
With Ronna Reeves
  • 1991 Only the Heart
With Joan Baez
With Wynonna Judd
With John Michael Montgomery
With Tracy Lawrence
With Billy Burnette
  • 1994 Coming Home
With Chris Norman
  • 1994 The Album
With Rodney Crowell
With Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
With Peter Cetera
With Janis Ian
With Tanya Tucker
With Mac Gayden
  • 1995 Nirvana Blues
With Russ Taff
With Lisa Brokop
With Dan Hill
With Lari White
With Anita Cochran
With Mark Nesler
  • 1998 I'm Just That Way
With Tara Lyn Hart
With Sonya Isaacs
  • 2000 Sonya Isaacs
With Robert Cray
With Gov't Mule
With The Tractors
  • 2001 Fast Girl
With Hal Ketchum
With Alicia Keys
With Keb' Mo'
With Amy Grant
With JJ Cale and Eric Clapton
With John Mayer
With Eric Clapton
With LeAnn Rimes
With Boz Scaggs
With Leon Russell
With John Oates
With Colin James
  • 2015 Hearts on Fire
With Mark Ronson
With Cyndi Lauper
With Elizabeth Cook
  • 2016 Exodus of Venus
With Ronnie Baker Brooks
  • 2017 Times Have Changed
With Gloria Gaynor
With Wendy Moten
With Cravity