Those of you who have been here for a long time may wonder why I am revisiting this post and why they should bother with a download. Well here is the deal...of the 33 tracks I offered last time, all but 3 have been replaced with far superior remasters, not only that but I have added ELEVEN MORE TRACKS to make this the first ever COMPLETE Billy Wright (at least according to my discography.) So there you go as far as motivation, this is the best sounding yet and only complete set that exists. You will see that I've left the source covers on each track.
my original post: I told you there was a Founding Father for Little Richard and Esquerita and here he is! Given how good this dude was it is so sad that no one even remembers him. He mentored Richard and inspired Esquerita and he is so obscure that I'd never even heard the name till Cliff hipped me! When you listen to Wright, then Richard and Esquerita, tell me if you think we ever have a James Brown without these guys. James was just the first straight guy in the line.
Here is the entire wiki history: "Billy Wright was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Throughout his career, he was known as the "Prince of the Blues."He was a key figure in Atlanta blues after World War II and had a major influence on rock and roll pioneer Little Richard, whom he helped get his first recording contract.
He recorded his last sides in 1959. He continued to do shows around Atlanta until he suffered a stroke, and then died of a pulmonary embolism, just before his 1991 Halloween Show at the
Royal Peacock in Atlanta."
"A prime influence on Little Richard during his formative years, "Prince of the Blues" Billy Wright's hearty shouting delivery was an Atlanta staple during the postwar years.
Wright was a regular at Atlanta's 81 Theatre as a youth, soaking up the vaudevillians before graduating to singing and dancing status there himself. Saxist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams caught Wright's act when they shared a bill with Charles Brown and Wynonie Harris at Atlanta's Auditorium, recommending the teenaged singer to Savoy Records boss Herman Lubinsky.
Wright's 1949 Savoy debut, "Blues for My Baby," shot up to number three on Billboard's R&B charts, and its flip, "You Satisfy," did almost as well. Two more of Wright's Savoy 78s, "Stacked Deck" and "Hey Little Girl," were also Top Ten R&B entries in 1951. The flamboyant Wright set his pal Little Richard up with powerful WGST DJ Zenas Sears, who scored the newcomer his first contract with RCA in 1951. It's no knock on Richard to note that his early sides sound very much like Wright.
(except for being nowhere near as good of course!)
Wright recorded steadily for Savoy through 1954, the great majority of his sessions held in his hometown with hot local players (saxist Fred Jackson and guitarist Wesley Jackson were often recruited). After he left Savoy, Wright's recording fortunes plummeted -- a 1955 date for Don Robey's Peacock discery in Houston and sessions for Fire (unissued) and Carrollton in 1959 ended his discography. Wright later MCed shows in Atlanta, remaining active until a stroke in the mid-'70s slowed him down." AMG
The final 2 tracks, "Wind It Up/If I Didn't Love You", do not appear in the Blues Discography but were on the Have Mercy Baby compilation, they come from a 45 on the Chris Records imprint out of Atlanta. I don't have a certain date for them but I'd guess they were around 1959, possibly a little later.
note: there are 4 links because I rushed my upload and omitted 2 tracks (#'s 36 and 44), you will need all 4 to have a complete set.
