Joe Williams (jazz singer)
Joe Williams (born Joseph Goreed; December 12, 1918 – March 29, 1999) was an American jazz singer. He sang with big bands, such as the Count Basie Orchestra and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and with small combos. He sang in two films with the Basie orchestra and sometimes worked as an actor.
This article is about the jazz singer. For the Delta blues singer, see Big Joe Williams. For other people named Joe Williams, see Joe Williams (disambiguation).
Joe Williams
Joseph Goreed
December 12, 1918
Cordele, Georgia, U.S.
March 29, 1999 (aged 80)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Singer
1937–1998
Early life[edit]
Williams was born in Cordele, Georgia, the son of Willie Goreed and Anne Beatrice, née Gilbert. When he was about three, his mother and grandmother took him to Chicago;[1] he grew up on the South Side, where he attended Austin Otis Sexton Elementary School and Englewood High School.[1] In the 1930s, as a teenager, he was a member of a gospel group, the Jubilee Boys, and performed in Chicago churches.
Awards and honors[edit]
Williams won the Best Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy Award for his LP Nothin' but the Blues in 1984;[6] it was also the winning Traditional Blues Album in the Blues Music Awards of the Blues Foundation in the following year.[7] Williams was nominated for seven other Grammy awards: for Prez & Joe (1979); "8 to 5 I Lose" (1982); I Just Want To Sing (1986); Every Night: Live At Vine St. (1987); "I Won't Leave You Again" (with Lena Horne, 1988); "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby" (with Marlena Shaw, 1989); and In Good Company (1989).[6]
In 1988, Williams received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.[8] He also was a co-founder of the Fillius Jazz Archive from Hamilton College, where he also received an honorary degree.[9]
In 1992, his 1955 recording of "Every Day I Have the Blues" with Basie was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame for recordings of particular historical or qualitative importance.[2][10] Williams was added to the Jazz Wall of Fame of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in 2001.[11]
In 1988, with his wife Jillean and friends, Williams set up the not-for-profit Joe Williams Every Day Foundation to offer scholarships to talented young musicians.[12][13][14][15]