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
  • 1971 In the Garden
With Donny Hathaway
  • 1973 Extension of a Man
With Herbie Mann
  • 1973 Turtle Bay
With Stevie Wonder
  • 1973 Innervisions
With Gloria Jones
  • 1973 Share My Love
With Splinter
  • 1974 The Place I Love
With Aretha Franklin
With Randy Newman
  • 1974 Good Old Boys
  • 1977 Little Criminals
  • 1979 Born Again
With Ronnie Wood
  • 1974 I've Got My Own Album to Do
  • 1975 Now Look
  • 2001 Not for Beginners
With Rod Stewart
  • 1974 Smiler
  • 1976 A Night on the Town
With George Harrison
  • 1974 Dark Horse
  • 1975 Extra Texture
  • 1976 Thirty Three & 1/3
  • 1979 George Harrison
  • 1981 Somewhere in England
  • 1982 Gone Troppo
With Don McLean
  • 1974 Homeless Brother
With David Bowie
  • 1975 Young Americans
With Bobby Womack
  • 1975 Safety Zone
With Jorge Calderón
  • 1975 City Music
With James Taylor
  • 1975 Gorilla
  • 1976 In the Pocket
With Carly Simon
  • 1975 Playing Possum
With David Cassidy
With Terry Garthwaite
  • 1975 Terry
With Kenny Vance
  • 1975 Vance 32
With Al Jarreau
  • 1976 Glow
With Richie Havens
With Dianne Brooks
  • 1976 Back Stairs of My Life
With Leon Russell
  • 1976 Wedding Album
With The Miracles
  • 1976 The Power of Music
  • 1977 Love Crazy
With Maria Muldaur
  • 1976 Sweet Harmony
With David Batteau
  • 1976 Happy in Hollywood
With Steve Winwood
  • 1977 Steve Winwood
With Gregg Allman Band
  • 1977 Playin' Up a Storm
With Cher and Gregg Allman
  • 1977 Two the Hard Way
With Lenny Williams
  • 1977 Choosing You
With Dan Fogelberg
  • 1978 Twin Sons of Different Mothers
With Joe Walsh
  • 1978 But Seriously, Folks...
With Richard and Linda Thompson
  • 1978 First Light
With Rickie Lee Jones
  • 1979 Rickie Lee Jones
With Bette Midler
  • 1979 Thighs and Whispers
With The Whispers
  • 1979 Whisper in Your Ear
With Adam Mitchell
  • 1979 Redhead in Trouble
With Chaka Khan
  • 1980 Naughty
With Stephen Bishop
  • 1980 Red Cab to Manhattan
With Michael McDonald
With Bill LaBounty
  • 1982 Bill LaBounty
With John Mellencamp
  • 1983 Uh-huh
  • 1989 Big Daddy
  • 2001 Cuttin' Heads
With The Doobie Brothers
With Patrick Simmons
  • 1983 Arcade
With Rosanne Cash
  • 1985 Rhythm & Romance
With Jimmy Buffett
  • 1986 Floridays
With William Lee Golden
  • 1986 American Vagabond
With Webb Wilder
  • 1989 Hybrid Vigor
With Etta James
  • 1989 Seven Year Itch
  • 1992 The Right Time
With Vince Gill
  • 1989 When I Call Your Name
  • 1991 Pocket Full of Gold
  • 1992 I Still Believe in You
  • 1994 When Love Finds You
  • 2000 Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye
  • 2003 Next Big Thing
  • 2013 Bakersfield
  • 2016 Down to My Last Bad Habit
With Kenny Rogers
  • 1989 Something Inside So Strong
  • 1997 Across My Heart
With Marty Balin
  • 1991 Better Generation
With Ronna Reeves
  • 1991 Only the Heart
With Joan Baez
  • 1992 Play Me Backwards
  • 1997 Gone from Danger
With Wynonna Judd
  • 1992 Wynonna
  • 1993 Tell Me Why
  • 1996 Revelations
  • 1997 The Other Side
  • 2000 New Day Dawning
  • 2003 What the World Needs Now Is Love
With John Michael Montgomery
  • 1992 Life's a Dance
With Tracy Lawrence
With Billy Burnette
  • 1994 Coming Home
With Chris Norman
  • 1994 The Album
With Rodney Crowell
  • 1995 Jewel of the South
With Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
  • 1995 Long Way Home
With Peter Cetera
  • 1995 One Clear Voice
  • 2001 Another Perfect World
With Janis Ian
  • 1995 Revenge
  • 2000 God and the FBI
With Tanya Tucker
  • 1995 Fire to Fire
  • 2002 Tanya
With Mac Gayden
  • 1995 Nirvana Blues
With Russ Taff
  • 1995 Winds of Change
With Lisa Brokop
  • 1996 Lisa Brokop
With Dan Hill
  • 1996 I'm Doing Fine
With Lari White
  • 1996 Don't Fence Me In
With Anita Cochran
  • 1997 Back to You
With Mark Nesler
  • 1998 I'm Just That Way
With Tara Lyn Hart
  • 1999 Tara Lyn Hart
With Sonya Isaacs
  • 2000 Sonya Isaacs
With Robert Cray
  • 2001 Shoulda Been Home
With Gov't Mule
With The Tractors
  • 2001 Fast Girl
With Hal Ketchum
  • 2001 Lucky Man
With Alicia Keys
With Keb' Mo'
  • 2004 Keep It Simple
With Amy Grant
  • 2005 Rock of Ages... Hymns and Faith
With JJ Cale and Eric Clapton
With John Mayer
  • 2006 Continuum
With Eric Clapton
  • 2010 Clapton
  • 2013 Old Sock
With LeAnn Rimes
  • 2013 Spitfire
  • 2014 One Christmas: Chapter 1
  • 2015 Today Is Christmas
  • 2016 Remnants
With Boz Scaggs
  • 2013 Memphis
  • 2018 Out of the Blues
With Leon Russell
  • 2014 Life Journey
With John Oates
  • 2014 Good Road to Follow
With Colin James
  • 2015 Hearts on Fire
With Mark Ronson
  • 2015 Uptown Special
With Cyndi Lauper
  • 2016 Detour
With Elizabeth Cook
  • 2016 Exodus of Venus
With Ronnie Baker Brooks
  • 2017 Times Have Changed
With Gloria Gaynor
  • 2019 Testimony
With Wendy Moten
With Cravity