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Artist
Willie Egan
12+ albums
bluesdoo wopshim sham shimmy
about
Willie Lee Egan (October 1, 1933 - August 5, 2004) was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist. Willie Egan is a boogie-woogie bluesman of undeserved obscurity. Born to poor sharecropper parents in bayou country, (Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana), he moved to Los Angeles at the age of nine, to live with an uncle who had an old upright piano. Living next door was a music teacher named Arthur Alexander who taught him to play boogie woogie. Willie has mentioned Amos Milburn, Hadda Brooks, Camille Howard and Nellie Lutcher as his main influences. But the impact of Fats Domino is also undeniable and some of the melodies that Willie composed are barely disguised rewrites of Domino tunes. Egan has claimed that his first record, "Dream House Blues"/"Whipped Cream" came out in 1949, on John R. Fullbright's Elko label. However, no evidence has been found that this record actually exists. Two tunes that did get a release on Elko (911) are "It's a Shame"/"Willie's Boogie" (1954), the latter being an instrumental. "It's A Shame" has recently been uploaded to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k95Y5DBEYM4 and was later rerecorded for Mambo under the title "What A Shame". Egan made his best records in 1955-56, for the Mambo and Vita labels in Pasadena, owned by Larry Mead. At least six singles were released, good rocking material that demonstrated why he was known in L.A. clubs as the House Rocker. But poor distribution and scarce airplay kept him from flourishing outside of
top songs
albums
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Music For Mad Men - Robust Blues
Wow Wow Rockin' The Blues
The Devil Is A Busy Man
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Shim Sham Shimmy
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Murder In The First Degree
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Wow Wow - Rockin' the Blues: The Complete Vita/Mambo Sessions
Legendary Bop, Rhythm & Blues Classics: Willie Egan (Digitally Remastered)
Rockin' The Blues
Come On
Come On: Early Recordings 1954-1958
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Doo-Wop Classics Vol. 4 [Vita Records]
Wow Wow: Rockin' The Blues