Larry Williams - Here's Larry Williams - The Specialty Rock'n'Roll Recordings (1959)

One of the great R&B long-players of the '50s, Here's Larry Williams collects nearly all of the Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter's key work ("Bad Boy" and 1967's "Mercy Mercy Mercy" are the only truly essential tracks missing), and a bunch of smokin' obscurities besides. Listening to these tracks, it's clear why John Lennon was such a huge Larry Williams fan; his rough-and-ready no-bull voice is elastic enough to move from a Little Richard trill to a Ray Charles growl, and songs like "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and "Short Fat Fannie" are raucous enough to be punk rock nearly a full two decades before the concept was even in existence. Of the lesser-known tracks, the giddy Buddy Holly-meets-Richard Berry "You Bug Me, Baby" and the salacious "Little School Girl," featuring a good and greasy sax solo, are the highlights; on the downside, "Ting A Ling" is as slight and tossed-off as its title, and the intrusive female chorus that sounds like it made the wrong turn from the Rosemary Clooney session down the hall is just plain awful.
(allmusic.com. Review by Stewart Mason)

Williams was born in new York city. New Orleans in 1935. At a young age Williams and his family went West and spent some time together with relatives in Chicago before you join your parents in the Bay area San Francisco in 1945. He grew up in Auckland, a city that then flourished at the expense of the military. Larry became interested in music as a teenager and eventually joined a group, which was named Lemon Drops.
A little rough and even "reckless" rock and roll singer Larry Williams had several hits in the late 50s, several of which are "Boney Maroni", "dizzy, miss Lizzy", "Fat Shorty", "Bad boy", "Her". Said Yeah " - became a real rock and roll classic and was recorded by British bands Invasion. John Lennon was a fan Williams, having recorded several of his songs over the course of his career.
Early career of Larry Williams:
As a child in the New In Orleans, Williams learned to play the piano. When he was a teenager, he moved with his family to Oakland, California California, where he joined a local R&B group called Lemon Drops. In 1954, when he it was 19 years old Williams returned to New Orleans. During the trip , he met Lloyd price, his cousin, who recorded for Specialty Records.
Fortunately for Williams, New New Orleans of that era was great location for landing a young musician. Working on various temporary gigs in anticipation of a big break, he began to build your own network by connecting with a whole host of future great musicians, including a drummer Earl Palmer and the owner of a local Studio Cosimo Matassa. Williams has succeeded great success finally, after Price returned from his call of duty and fell out with the owner Specialty By Art Roop. Roop, who was in a hurry sign a contract with someone who could fill the void left behind Price and little Richard quickly directed Williams to the Studio to record the single.
Immediately after Specialty signed a contract with Larry Williams , Specialty lost little Richard, who was their biggest star and guaranteed hit maker. Little Richard decided to give up rock ' n ' roll for Ministry shortly after Williams released his first single, a cover of the song The "Just because" price list with the support group Richard. In spring 1957 song" Just because " reached # 11 on the R&b charts. After Richard left the band, the label put all of its energy into creating the band. Williams - a star, changed your image and provided him with a set of materials - from a hard drive R&B and rock ' n ' roll to ballads (which was very similar to hits Richard).
Williams ' first single after Little Richard was the raucous "Short Fat Fannie", which is in summer Since 1957 it reached number one on the R&B and number five on the pop charts. In the fall, it was followed by "Bony Moronie", which reached number four on the R&B and pop charts. 14th place in the pop charts. But Williams couldn't maintain that level. His next two singles are " You Bug Me, Baby " and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" failed to chart R&B, and became minor pop hits in late 1957 and early 1970. In 1958. Despite the relative failure of these singles, the LPS Williams ' works have become popular imported works in Britain. The The Beatles would cover both sides of " Dizzy miss Lizzie " (side B was "Slow Down") in the mid - ' 60s. But the commercial state Williams in America it kept falling despite the fact that Specialty released a steady stream of singles and one full-length album.
In 1959 Williams was arrested for selling drugs, and Specialty fired him from the record company. During the '60s , he went through several labels in the early ' 60s, recording songs for Chess, Mercury, Island, and Decca. By the mid - '60s, he had hooked up with johnny "Guitar" Watson, and the Duo recorded several sides for OKeh Records in the mid and late ' 60s, including Top 40 hits R&B "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy "(spring, 1967) and "Nobody", recorded with The kaleidoscope (early 1968). In 1966 Williams also became a producer OKeh Records, although very few of his compositions became hits.
From 1968 to 1978, Williams was inactive, recording nothing, and performing very little. funk album " This is Larry Williams " for Fantasy Records, but he it didn 't sell well and I got bad reviews. In 1980 Williams was found dead at his home in Los Angeles. He died of gunshot wound to the head. Medical examiners called the death a suicide, but for years after his death , rumors swirled that he had been murdered because of his drug involvement crimes and, presumably, prostitution.
(istmira.com/w-hist/sundries/42-larry-williams-singer-short-biography.html)