Willie “Big Eyes” Smith Knocked ‘Em Dead
The Silver Dollar on Sat. November 2, 2002
by Joe Curtis

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, renowned drummer formerly with the Muddy Waters Band, knocked ‘em dead in the aisles at Toronto’s Silver Dollar Room to a packed house of blues lovers on Saturday, November 2, 2002. The energy was intense, and the band was hot! Willie was singing up a storm in the Chicago blues fashion he’s well known for. In between his raw, exuberant vocals, he played some rousing blues harp. Willie started on harp back in the early ‘50s on Chicago’s bluesy south side. Due to stiff competition from the likes of Little Walter, Willie wisely felt he should go to another instrument. That’s when he took up playing drums. And man, can he rock those skins ‘n high hat! For most of this great evening Willie was on vocals and harp, (rare to see, I think! – at least in these parts, long from the Illinois border -- and the 49th parallel too!) The whole crowd was really getting off on classic old blues tunes, plus several originals and a few classics off the last two CD’s Willie recorded up here in Toronto. Blues promoter extraordinaire Andrew Kempa who brought Willie to Canada for this important and much desired tour, also produced those two fine CD’s on his own all-Canadian label, Juke Joint Records. Some of the fine musicians who appeared on those CD’s were up on stage with Willie that night at the Dollar. One of those Northern Blues Legends is the irreplaceable Jack de Keyzer. He played his heart out on guitar all night long, with every beautiful blues lick he could dream up. Another of these legends is Alec Fraser. Alec effortlessly pumped out some very fine bass lines to the crowd’s delight. Besides being a respected and gifted musician, Alec also owns Liquid Sound, one of the most professional recording studios anywhere! Mike Fonfara, himself a studio wizard, was playing the ivories with tinkling accuracy and precision all night long. An amazingly beautiful keys solo performed by him later in the evening, was a true joy to hear. He’s long-time keys guy for the Downchild Blues Band, (and was an integral part of Electric Flag with Nick Gravenites in the late ‘60’s.) His friendliness off stage goes hand-in-hand with the high degree of proficiency he displays as a musician and music producer. Al Lerman, an equally well-respected bluesman, known for his skill and grace on harp and sax, was also part of this all-star lineup at the Dollar. His harp and sax solos went wild with natural exuberance. Al displays this expertise in Juno award winning blues band Fathead, which he founded and leads. They opened this great night of blues at the Dollar, with several rousing and meaningful selections off their new MapleBlues-nominated CD, First Class Riff-Raff, on the Electro-Fi label. Fathead’s incredible drummer, Chuck Keeping, rocked Willie’s band most of the evening, as well as Fathead earlier on. His skill on the skins, makes listening to the percussive side of things a real, enjoyable experience. After Fathead’s successful opening and two fast-paced sets by Willie et al, the encore featured Willie back on the skins to take this baby right back to Chicago’s southside chessboard! The band’s energy was deliriously appreciated right down to it’s last bluesy drop. The musical meal we took in that night, is such that it can be savored again and again in our memories and in our hearts!