Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
The longtime drummer with the Muddy Waters Band, bluesman Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was born in Helena, AK, on January 19, 1936; raised by his sharecropper grandparents, as a child his neighbors included the likes of Robert Nighthawk and Pinetop Perkins. At 17 he traveled to Chicago to visit his mother, and never returned home; instead Smith taught himself harmonica and drums, and with harpist Clifton James and guitarist Bobby Lee Burns formed a blues trio. Upon marrying his first wife in 1955, Smith agreed to retire from performing, but within a year he was backing Arthur "Big Boy" Spires; after a brief attempt at fronting his own band, he returned to his drum kit, joining Hudson Shower's Red Devil Trio. After a few lean years that forced him to go on welfare, Smith joined Waters in 1961 and remained with the blues giant until 1980, when he co-founded the Legendary Blues Band. His first solo recording, Bag Full of Blues, did not appear until 1995; Nothin' But the Blues Y'all followed four years later and Blues from the Heart was issued in fall 2000. Bluesin' It appeared in 2004 from Electro-Fi while the pleasant Way Back was released in 2006 by Hightone Records.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
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Discography
7 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Eye to Eye
Ronnie Earl, Pinetop Perkins, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Blues - Released by Sledgehammer Blues on Jan 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues from the Heart
Blues - Released by Electro-Fi Records on Sep 1, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Wrapped in My Baby
Morris Pejoe, Arthur 'Big Boy' Spires, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Blues - Released by Delmark Records on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Born in Arkansas
Blues - Released by BiGEYE RECORDS on Jan 1, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manish Boy (Rare Recordings No. 2)
Chris Kramer, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Blues - Released by Blow Till Midnight Records on Feb 19, 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live Blues Protected By Smith & Wilson
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Roger "Hurricane" Wilson
Blues - Released by Bluestorm Records on Aug 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo