Willie Weeks

Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) 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, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Roy Buchanan, Jimmy Buffett, Kevin Chalfant, Eric Clapton, Hank Crawford, Robert Cray, Pino Daniele, Bo Diddley, The Doobie Brothers, Lou Fellingham, Aretha Franklin, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Isaac Hayes, George Harrison, Donny Hathaway, Etta James, Billy Joel, Rickie Lee Jones, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, B.B. King, Lyle Lovett, Gail Davies, David Lee Roth, Michael McDonald, Don McLean, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Bette Midler, Randy Newman, Pino Palladino, Leon Russell, Boz Scaggs, John Scofield, Carly Simon, Soulive, Rod Stewart, The Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Richard and Linda Thompson, Joe Walsh, Steve Winwood, Bobby Womack, Stevie Wonder, Ronnie Wood and Eikichi Yazawa.
His playing on Donny Hathaway's Live (1972), including a 3½ minute bass solo on "Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)", 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 (though it had initially been reported that he played through an Ampeg B-15).
Weeks' contributions to the Hathaway album impressed many English rock musicians, leading to his work with Ronnie Wood, The Rolling Stones ("It's Only Rock & Roll"), 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 (pre Robin Trower drummer) 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 (in a fictional supergroup along with other musicians he's worked with) 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
1974 Let Me in Your Life
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 (Read All About It)
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 James Taylor
1975 Gorilla
1976 In the Pocket
With Carly Simon
1975 Playing Possum
With Terry Garthwaite
1975 Terry
With Kenny Vance
1975 Vance 32
With Al Jarreau
1976 Glow
With Richie Havens
1976 The End of the Beginning
With Dianne Brooks
1976 Back Stairs of My Life
With Maria Muldaur
1976 Sweet Harmony
With David Batteau
1976 Happy in Hollywood
With Steve Winwood
1977 Steve Winwood
With Cher and Gregg Allman
1977 Two the Hard Way
With Dan Fogelberg
1978 Twin Sons of Different Mothers
With Joe Walsh
1978 But Seriously, Folks...
With Rickie Lee Jones
1979 Rickie Lee Jones
With Bette Midler
1979 Thighs and Whispers
With Adam Mitchell
1979 Redhead in Trouble
With Chaka Khan
1980 Naughty
With Stephen Bishop
1980 Red Cab to Manhattan
With Michael McDonald
1982 If That's What It Takes
1986 No Lookin' Back
2017 Wide Open
With Bill LaBounty
1982 Bill LaBounty
With John Mellencamp
1983 Uh-huh
1989 Big Daddy
2001 Cuttin' Heads
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
1994 I See It Now
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 The Tractors
2001 Fast Girl
With Hal Ketchum
2001 Lucky Man
With Alicia Keys
2003 The Diary of Alicia Keys
With Keb' Mo'
2004 Keep It Simple
With Amy Grant
2005 Rock of Ages... Hymns and Faith
With J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton
2006 The Road to Escondido
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
2020 I've Got You Covered
With Cravity
2020 Season 2. Hideout: The New Day We Step Into
References
External links
Clark, Doug (January 21, 2007). "The mark of a musician". The Sampson Independent. Retrieved on August 31, 2007.
Johnston, Richard (August 2005). "Willie Weeks Does It All". Bass Player. Retrieved on August 31, 2007. (See web archive version)
Guitar Player. November 1990.
Eric Clapton's Fan Club
Bass Player.com Willie Weeks
American country bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
American rock bass guitarists
American session musicians
The Doobie Brothers members
1947 births
Living people
People from Sampson County, North Carolina
Guitarists from North Carolina
20th-century American bass guitarists
Gypsy (band) members
Country musicians from North Carolina
20th-century American male musicians
The David Lee Roth Band members