Andre Williams (musician)
Andre Williams (born Zeffrey Williams in Bessemer, Alabama, in 1936) is American R&B and rock and roll musician.
Williams, who is a black convert to Judaism, started his career with Fortune Records, recording tunes such as "Greasy Chicken", "Jail Bait" and "Please Pass the Biscuits". His biggest hit, "Bacon Fat", was recorded for Fortune but nationally released by Okeh Records. It was his only charted song.
After leaving Fortune, Williams became a freelance songwriter and producer, most notably writing "Twine Time" for Alvin Cash & The Crawlers and "Shake a Tailfeather" for The Five Du-Tones (later performed by Ray Charles for the 1980 film The Blues Brothers).
In the mid-1960s , he was hired by Motown Records and produced records by Ike & Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, The Dramatics, and The Chi-Lites.
He also wrote songs for Funkadelic.
Williams, who was nicknamed Mr. Rhythm by comedian Redd Foxx, resurfaced in the 1990s with an album for Swamp Dogg's SDEG imprint, and later with the equally sleazy rock album "Silky" (1998) for In the Red Records, paving the way for his most recent "The Black Godfather" CD.
In 1999, he recorded a country album with the Sadies, called "Red Dirt".
He still plays shows in the USA, and toured Europe in 2001 (with dutch band Green Hornet as backing band), 2005 and 2006 (with the Marshall Brothers).
Selective Discography
- 1960: Bacon Fat
- 1986: Bacon Fat
- 1990: Directly from the Streets
- 1994: Mr. Rhythm is Back
- 1996: Mr. Rhythm
- 1996: Greasy
- 1998: Silky
- 1999: Red Dirt
- 2000: The Black Godfather
- 2001: Bait & Switch
- 2003: Holland Shuffle (Live)
- 2006: Aphrodisiac