Bill Coday - Right On Baby: The Crajon Recordings

When Bill Coday left us suddenly in the summer of 2008, most of America took no notice.  But the Chitlin' Circuit mourned one of its favorite singers.  While Bill Coday released a number of excellent records during his career, his first recordings, collected here and produced by Willie Mitchell, are the cornerstone of his legacy.

Bill Coday was born in 1942 in Coldwater, Mississippi.   He began his career in music as a teenager, working mostly in Arkansas.  For a while, he was in the same local band as a young Son Seals.  In the 1960s, he moved to Chicago and changed his name to Chicago Willie.  After Denise LaSalle heard him there in 1969, she signed Coday to her Crajon label and sent him to Memphis to record with Willie Mitchell.   One of his first recordings with Mitchell, "Get Your Lies Straight" hit #14 on the national R&B charts.   Coday's powerful performance of the strangely titled composition contributed by Denise LaSalle, "If You Find a Fool, Bump His Head," also charted. But none of the other Crajon singles did as well, despite their high quality.    

 Bill Coday recorded a few other songs for Epic in the mid-70s before essentially retiring from music for ten years.   None other than Denise LaSalle again brought him back to the Southern Soul scene in 1985, where he built a strong following and released a number of LPs on Echo Records until his death.   One of his last Southern hits was a tribute to the Chitlin' Circuit, "On The Chitlin' Circuit."

The Bill Coday heard on these early recordings sounds something like a cross between Wilson Pickett, O.V. Wright, and Johnnie Taylor - not a bad thing!  Whether you happen to be in the mood for a rougher-voiced O.V. or a bluesier Pickett, Bill Coday might just hit the spot.  Add quality material and classic Willie Mitchell arrangements/accompaniments and you have yourself some timeless music that can provide repeated enjoyment.