US songwriter, bassist, organist. House bass player at King Records and had learned to play organ from Bill Doggett. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Willis picked up his first bass at a pawnshop after he was discharged from the Marines in 1954. A self-taught player, Bill premiered as a professional performer two years later at the Zanzibar in Buffalo, backing Billie Holiday, who gave Bill the nickname “Namesake.” Ultimately, Bill joined Holiday’s quartet, performing around western New York and Toronto. Such valuable experience helped Willis develop his bass chops more fully, and when he landed in Cincinnati in 1957, he was ready to emerge as staff bassist at the King Records studios. As bassist on many of Freddie King’s recordings, he provided solid, driving, bedrock support on such gems as “Have You Ever Loved a Woman,” “Hide Away,” “See See Baby,” “I’m Tore Down.” Bill played on many other seminal sides, including Little Willie John’s “Sleep,” Hank Ballard’s “Let’s Go,” Bobby Turner’s “Tossing and Turning,” and James Brown’s “This Old House.” Bill’s remarkable, unobtrusive, masterful touch also graces the King Records LP Charles Brown Sings Christmas Songs [1961]. Bill’s Fender bass playing, among the earliest recorded and widely disseminated on blues recordings, helped establish the sound and patterns of countless bass players.
1931–2010